Lyon or Milan?

Neither city is a beach destination, and swimming in both means a lake. Milan has the easier escape: Como and Maggiore are about an hour by train, with pebbly lidos and swimming platforms, and the Idroscalo near Linate covers hot afternoons in town.

From Lyon, the clear Alpine water of Annecy and the Lac du Bourget is further, closer to two hours and better by car. In town, the bathing lake at Miribel-Jonage is the local fallback.

Lyon has the edge for anyone who travels to eat. The bouchon is a cuisine of its own, with quenelles, andouillette and praline tart served with a pot of red. On top of that come the Mères lyonnaises fine-dining heritage, Les Halles Paul Bocuse, and Beaujolais and the northern Rhône on either side.

Milan cooks richly too, with saffron risotto, ossobuco and cotoletta. Its strengths lie elsewhere, though: the aperitivo ritual around the Navigli and Brera, and the chance to eat well from every Italian region in a single city. Lyon is the place for a focused regional meal, Milan for range and for the early-evening glass.

These two are evenly matched, but the shape of a visit differs. Lyon gives you continuity. Roman theatres on Fourvière, the Renaissance lanes and traboules of Vieux Lyon and the silk-weavers' hill of Croix-Rousse make up one long UNESCO-listed walk, with the Beaux-Arts as its great museum.

Milan has fewer sights, but they are famous. The Duomo's rooftop, the Last Supper, the Brera paintings and Michelangelo's Rondanini Pietà sit in clusters within a largely modern city. Choose Lyon for wandering old quarters, Milan for a short list of masterpieces you book ahead.

Milan offers more to do after dark. Aperitivo flows into the canal-side bars of the Navigli, Porta Venezia anchors the gay scene, and the clubs run from dressy Corso Como to warehouse nights, with appearance counting at the door.

Lyon is looser and more student-led. Its wine bars sit on the Presqu'île, its pubs in Vieux Lyon, and the barges along the Rhône are its signature. Outside weekends and term time, nights there wind down earlier than visitors expect.

The outdoors are on a par, but where you find them differs. Lyon's green life sits inside the city: car-free Rhône quays, the large Tête d'Or park and the steep stairways of its two hills. The Monts d'Or and Beaujolais offer gentle walking and cycling, with Chartreuse and Vercors further off by car.

Milan itself is flat and hazy, but the lakes and the Prealps rise within about an hour by train. There you can sail on Como or tackle via ferrata on the Grigne, which is more dramatic than anything on Lyon's doorstep.

Both make good bases, but Milan is the stronger hub. High-speed trains put Verona's arena, Turin's Egyptian Museum and Bologna about an hour away. Bergamo, Lake Como, the Certosa di Pavia, Mantua and the Borromean Islands are all easy outings too.

Lyon's day trips are slower and more rural: Roman Vienne, medieval Pérouges, the Beaujolais villages and Burgundy's wine towns. It suits travellers who want cellars and small towns. Milan suits those who want to tick off a string of major cities.

Lyon is the easier city with children, and most of that comes down to one park. The Tête d'Or has a free zoo, pedalos, playgrounds and a miniature train. Add the dinosaurs at the Musée des Confluences, Guignol puppet theatres and the Fourvière funiculars, and you have several days of child-friendly outings.

Milan has a fine science museum with a submarine and trains, plus space to run in Parco Sempione. Its best family days, though, are at Leolandia or Gardaland outside the city, and its headline sights mostly appeal to adults.

Both are easy without a car. Milan's centre is flat, with five simple metro lines and old orange trams, though transfers from Malpensa are long.

Lyon packs most sights onto the walkable Presqu'île and uses funiculars and a rack metro to climb its hills, which makes some journeys a climb or a change. The riverside bike paths and bike-share make cycling an easy option.

This is the widest gap between the two cities. Milan is a world fashion capital: the flagships of the Quadrilatero della Moda, the historic shops under the Galleria's glass roof, La Rinascente beside the Duomo, plus design showrooms and vintage shops in Brera and Porta Ticinese.

Lyon offers comfortable high-street shopping and a large mall at Part-Dieu. Its most memorable buys are silk from the weaving heritage, antiques on rue Auguste Comte, and pralines and cheese to carry home.

Neither city is cheap, but Lyon stretches a budget further. Its hotels are reasonable for most of the year, and its bouchon set lunches are some of the best value eating in France.

Milan is Italy's most expensive city. Hotels and stylish bars set a high bar, so savings come from aperitivo snacks, office-worker lunch menus and staying near a metro stop outside the centre. In both cities, trade fairs make rooms scarce.

Milan has the bigger stage, and La Scala is the reason. Its season of opera and ballet is world-famous, and gallery seats make it reachable. The Piccolo Teatro, a fine orchestra and summer concerts at San Siro add depth.

Lyon is stronger than its size suggests, especially in dance, with the Maison de la Danse and the Biennale. In summer it has the edge with the Nuits de Fourvière, which stages concerts in the Roman theatres just as Milan's opera season goes quiet.

Lyon relaxes you through its pace rather than through spas: long lunches, quiet Sunday mornings by the Saône and laps in the open-air pool on the Rhône quays. Milan has more to book. There is a thermal spa complex with outdoor pools and saunas in the south of the centre, and the restored 1930s Bagni Misteriosi make a good summer afternoon.

For a proper day of rest, Lyon looks to the thermal baths of Aix-les-Bains, about an hour and a half away. Milan's escape is the quiet lakeside villas an hour to the north.