Lyon or Pisa?

Pisa has a real coast within reach and Lyon does not. About 12km west, Tirrenia and Calambrone have long sandy beaches backed by pine woods and shallow water for paddling, though the sea near the mouth of the Arno is rarely clear.

Lyon is far inland. Summer swimming there means the supervised lake at Miribel-Jonage, or a day out to the clear Alpine water of Lake Annecy. Both are pleasant, but neither is a beach afternoon on the Mediterranean.

Food is where Lyon has its biggest lead. The bouchons serve quenelles, andouillette and praline tart in small, cluttered rooms, and the line from the Mères lyonnaises to the famous chefs keeps fine dining strong. Les Halles Paul Bocuse and the Saône markets make food shopping a pleasure, and Beaujolais and the northern Rhône are close by.

Pisa eats simply and well rather than memorably: ribollita, game and hot cecina from wood ovens in the trattorias around Piazza delle Vettovaglie. The range is narrow, and the menus near the tower are best avoided.

Lyon has more to see, spread over more days. Its UNESCO-listed core runs from the Roman theatres on Fourvière through the Renaissance lanes and traboules of Vieux Lyon to the Musée des Beaux-Arts and the Musée des Confluences. There is no single famous landmark, but there is a great deal of history.

Pisa works the other way round. It has one world-class ensemble in the Piazza dei Miracoli, with the cathedral, the baptistery, the Camposanto and the Leaning Tower you can climb, and beyond it a quieter city of palazzi along the river and medieval art at San Matteo. Two days cover Pisa, while Lyon needs several.

Lyon goes out more often and stays out later. Wine and cocktail bars crowd the Presqu'île, the péniches moored along the Rhône turn into bars and clubs, and the warehouse venues towards Gerland carry a serious electronic scene, with Nuits Sonores in spring.

Pisa's evenings are students drinking in the squares near the old market and an aperitivo along Borgo Stretto. It has few clubs, and the tower district is quiet after dark. Both cities depend on term time, but Pisa winds down sooner.

The two are about level outdoors, but the settings are very different. Lyon's outdoor life is urban and centred on the rivers: car-free quays for running and cycling, boating in the Parc de la Tête d'Or, and the limestone massifs of Chartreuse and Vercors about an hour away by car for serious hiking.

Pisa's best asset is wilder and closer. The San Rossore park of pine forest, wetland and dunes begins at the edge of the city, with fallow deer and paths for bikes and horses. The Monte Pisano and the Apuan Alps add hill and mountain walking, which is best in spring and autumn.

Pisa has the stronger list, mostly because Florence is about an hour away by train and Lucca under half an hour. The Cinque Terre, Volterra, San Gimignano and Siena are all within reach for a day. Few bases put so much of Italy's best-known art and landscape this close.

Lyon is a good base too, and its trips are mostly about wine and old towns: Roman Vienne a short train ride south, medieval Pérouges, the Beaujolais villages, Burgundy around Beaune, and Annecy towards the Alps. None of them quite has the pull of Florence.

Lyon does more for children. The Parc de la Tête d'Or can fill a day on its own, with its free zoo, pony rides, pedalos and small train. The dinosaurs at the Musée des Confluences, the Guignol puppet shows and the funiculars up Fourvière add more.

Pisa is flat and easy to get around, but little there is made for children beyond the tower photo and the climb for older ones. Its family days are on the shallow beaches of Tirrenia and Calambrone, a summer option Lyon cannot offer.

Both are easy without a car, but in different ways. Lyon is a larger city with four metro lines, trams, funiculars and bike-share, all on one ticket, though the hills mean some climbs and changes. Pisa is small and flat enough to cross on foot in about half an hour, the airport is unusually close and linked by a shuttle train, and the station is the starting point for most day trips.

Lyon gives shoppers far more. The chains on the rue de la République, the luxury labels around Place des Jacobins and the large Part-Dieu mall cover the basics. The silk scarves and the workshops on Croix-Rousse add things you will only find here.

In Pisa, shopping is everyday Italian along Corso Italia and under the arcades of Borgo Stretto, plus a monthly antiques market by the river. Serious shoppers go to Florence. In both cities, food makes the best thing to take home.

Pisa is the cheaper of the two. Rooms are mid-range, the student trattorias are good value, and the small centre costs almost nothing to get around. The main expenses are the tower climb and, in summer, the seaside loungers.

Lyon is cheaper than Paris but not a budget city, and rooms become scarce and expensive during trade fairs and the Fête des Lumières. What saves money there is the generous set lunch in bouchons and bistros.

Lyon has much the richer stage life. The Opéra de Lyon under its glass vault, the Orchestre National at the Auditorium, the Célestins and the TNP fill a full season. Dance is the city's speciality, with the Maison de la Danse, the Biennale and summer performances in the Roman theatres during the Nuits de Fourvière.

Pisa's stage life rests largely on the Teatro Verdi, a horseshoe-shaped opera house that runs opera, concerts and drama from autumn to spring, with chamber music and church recitals besides. It makes a pleasant night out, but for bigger productions you have to go to Florence.

Neither city has a bathing culture of its own, and in both the rest comes from long lunches and a slow pace. The difference is how far away the springs are. Pisa has the thermal waters of San Giuliano Terme, used since Roman times, just beyond the city in an 18th-century bath palace, and Casciana Terme's public pool further inland.

From Lyon, the nearest thermal bathing is at Aix-les-Bains, about an hour and a half away. In the city itself, wellness means hammams, hotel spas and the open-air pool on the Rhône quays.