Lugano or San Marino?

Neither place has a beach of its own, and the swimming is very different. In Lugano you swim in the lake, from lidos with lawns, decks and ladders right in town, and boats carry you to small lake baths in the villages.

From San Marino you drive or take the bus down to the Adriatic, about half an hour away, for long sandy beaches with rows of umbrellas, shallow water and a warmer sea. It is a proper beach day, but it is an outing rather than a quick dip after lunch.

Lugano eats better. Its grotti, rustic taverns set against cool rock cellars and often under chestnut trees, serve polenta, braised meats and risotto with local Merlot, and the town adds good pastry shops and a weekly market.

San Marino's Romagna cooking of hand-rolled pasta, passatelli and piadina is honest, but the summit restaurants rely on the view. The better meals are down in Borgo Maggiore or across the border.

San Marino has more to show. The town itself is the attraction: a walled ridge with three towers on the rock, a cliffside path between Guaita and Cesta, and the Palazzo Pubblico, where the ceremonies of one of the world's oldest republics are still held.

Lugano's sights are gentler and more scattered: arcaded Lombard streets, Luini's Passion fresco in Santa Maria degli Angioli and the art collection at LAC. Neither takes long, but San Marino leaves the stronger impression.

Both are quiet, but Lugano at least has an evening routine: aperitivo on the lakefront, a long dinner, a few cocktail bars and a promenade that stays lively on summer weekends. San Marino has a handful of wine bars and terraces looking down at the lights of the coast, and anyone who wants a real night out drives down to the Riviera clubs at Rimini.

Here Lugano is far ahead. Steep wooded mountains rise from the lake, two funiculars start at the edge of town, the Gandria path follows the shore, and the green water of the Verzasca and Maggia valleys is about an hour away. You can also hire kayaks and paddleboards on the lake.

San Marino has one limestone ridge of about 740m, with cliffs and views to the Adriatic and the Apennines. Its paths and the quiet Montefeltro roads suit a morning walk or a cycle, not days of hiking.

Lugano is the stronger base, with more places in reach and nearly all of them by train or boat. Milan's cathedral, The Last Supper and the Brera are just over an hour away. Como is about half an hour, and the World Heritage castles of Bellinzona are a short ride, with Locarno, Ascona and the Borromean Islands beyond. Boats run to Morcote, and Bergamo's upper town and even Lucerne make possible days out.

San Marino has a good second list: the rock fortress of San Leo, Renaissance Urbino, Ravenna's Byzantine mosaics and Roman Rimini below the mountain. Most of it needs a car, though, because the only regular public link is the bus down to Rimini.

Lugano is easier with children because the fun is built into getting about: boat rides to villages, slides at the lidos, funiculars and the Generoso rack railway, plus the miniature Switzerland park at Melide.

In San Marino children love the battlements and the cable car, but the summit has little else for them. The waterparks, Italia in Miniatura and shallow beaches are on the coast, so a family really needs a car. Both towns are steep work with a pushchair.

Lugano is much simpler without a car. A short funicular links the station to the old town, buses climb the hillsides, lake boats and mountain railways do the rest, and the Swiss trains run to Milan and Locarno.

San Marino's car-free centre is easy enough on foot apart from the steps, and a cable car drops to Borgo Maggiore. Beyond that there is just the bus to Rimini, and village buses are infrequent.

Lugano has the more polished offer. Via Nassa's porticoes hold Swiss watchmakers, jewellers and Italian fashion houses, the old-town lanes add delicatessens and wine shops, and there is a designer outlet near Mendrisio.

San Marino's streets are mostly souvenirs and decorative crossbows, along with perfume and spirits that cost less because taxes are lower than in Italy. Its stamps and coins are the one real speciality, and they mainly interest collectors.

Lugano is the costly one of the pair, and while you sleep in town there is no real way round that. You can soften it at midday, when a set lunch or a plate of polenta in a grotto is the gentler way to eat well. Many visitors also save their bigger dinners for Como or the Italian lakeside villages on a day out.

San Marino asks far less of a budget, and a little planning makes it lighter still. Stay a few kilometres below the summit rather than beside the towers, and avoid August. Taxes are lower than in Italy, so fuel is cheaper, which helps when the hill towns need a car, and spirits are worth taking home.

Lugano has a real season. The LAC hall is home to the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana and stages drama and dance, and Estival Jazz fills Piazza della Riforma with free summer concerts.

San Marino offers a small theatre and occasional local concerts. Its highlight is the summer Medieval Days festival, with costumed musicians and crossbow contests, which is more spectacle than concert.

Neither has thermal baths, but Lugano is the easier place to slow down. There are lido afternoons, benches in Parco Ciani, long grotto lunches, large hotel spas and an indoor pool and sauna complex near Rivera.

San Marino's calm arrives only in the evening, after crowded summer days around the towers. A walk along the walls at dusk is lovely, and the coastal spas mean a separate outing.