Milan or Piran?

Piran has the sea on its doorstep, and that settles it. People swim from platforms and ladders below the old walls and around the Punta. Fiesa's pebble cove, Portoroz's small sandy beach and the cliff-backed shore at Strunjan are all within walking distance or a short shuttle ride. It is a place to swim rather than to sunbathe on sand, but the swimming is part of every summer day.

Milan has no coast at all. Locals cool off at the Idroscalo basin or the city pools. A proper swim means a day out by train to the pebbly lidos of Lake Como or Lake Maggiore, so the water is something you visit rather than live beside.

Milan gives you far more range. Its own cooking is rich and butter-based, with saffron risotto, ossobuco and cotoletta. As a magnet for Italians from every region, it also serves good Neapolitan pizza, Sicilian pastry and serious fine dining. Then there is the aperitivo ritual in the Navigli, Brera and Isola.

Piran eats simply and well from the sea: grilled fish, squid and scampi buzara in konobas on the Punta, with Malvazija, Refosk and Istrian olive oil from the hills. The harbour menus repeat one another, though, and anything more ambitious means heading inland or to Portoroz.

Milan holds a handful of first-rank treasures: the Duomo with its rooftop among the spires, Leonardo's Last Supper, the Brera's paintings and Michelangelo's Rondanini Pietà in the Castello Sforzesco. They come in clusters within a largely modern city, but together they fill several days.

Piran works the other way round. The whole old town is the sight, with Venetian Gothic houses around Tartini Square, St George's campanile and the walls above the red roofs. The museums are small, and a day covers everything.

Milan has a real night out. Aperitivo drifts into bars spilling onto the Navigli towpaths, quieter evenings in Brera and Isola, the gay scene around Porta Venezia, and clubs from dressy Corso Como to warehouse nights on the edges of the city. Expect it to be well dressed rather than wild.

Piran's evening is a glass of wine on Tartini Square or the Punta at sunset, and then the town goes quiet. Portoroz adds a casino and a few summer clubs, but no one should come for the nightlife.

Milan itself is flat and often hazy. What puts it ahead is what lies an hour north: Lake Como and Lake Maggiore under steep wooded slopes, the Grigne ridges for proper hiking and via ferrata, and Alpine ski valleys within a long day's reach. The canal towpaths also make easy cycling into the rice fields.

Piran's outdoors is gentler and starts at the edge of town. You can walk the cliff path at Strunjan, watch wading birds on the Secovlje salt pans, kayak below the flysch cliffs or cycle the Parenzana through olive groves. The Karst and the Skocjan caves are an hour inland, but there are no high mountains nearby.

Both make good bases, but Milan's high-speed trains give it the edge. Verona, Turin and Bergamo's upper town are each about an hour away, and Bologna is not far beyond. Add Lake Como's villages, the Certosa di Pavia, Mantua, Parma and even Lugano, all reachable without a car.

Piran's strength is its position where three borders meet. Trieste, Rovinj, Motovun and Predjama Castle are close, Ljubljana is under two hours away, and summer boats cross to Venice. Most of this needs a hire car, though.

Neither place is built around children, and they suit different kinds of family trip. Milan offers the science and technology museum with its submarine, playgrounds in Parco Sempione and theme parks such as Leolandia and Gardaland. That is more to keep older children busy, but in a hot city whose main sights are aimed at adults.

Piran is calmer and safer for little ones. There are no cars in the old town, the sea is warm and still, and Portoroz has a shallow sandy beach. Swimming from concrete ledges and the steep lanes to the church make it best for a few easy days rather than a long stay with restless teenagers.

Milan is easier to get around at every scale. Its flat centre puts the Duomo, Brera and the Castello within walking distance, and five simple metro lines and old orange trams fill the gaps. Direct trains run out to the lakes and towns. The weak points are stuffy platforms in summer and the long ride in from Malpensa.

Piran's car-free peninsula takes a quarter of an hour to cross, and a shuttle links the edge-of-town garage and Portoroz. Beyond that there is no railway and buses are slow, so exploring Istria or the Karst usually means hiring a car.

This is the widest gap between the two. Milan is a world fashion capital, with the great Italian houses on Via Montenapoleone and Via della Spiga, the old shops of the Galleria, everyday chains on Corso Buenos Aires, design showrooms and antique markets on the Navigli.

Piran has a few craft shops and souvenir stalls. Its best buys are edible: salt flower from the Secovlje pans, olive oil and coastal wine.

Piran is the gentler on the wallet, though it is not cheap. High-summer rooms in the old town and waterfront tables carry a premium. Staying in Portoroz, eating in plain konobas or coming outside July and August brings costs down, and the swimming and walking are free.

Milan is Italy's most expensive city. Hotel rates soar during trade fairs and fashion weeks. Lunchtime set menus, aperitivo standing in for supper and a room near a metro stop outside the centre help, but the overall bill stays higher.

La Scala alone puts Milan far ahead. Its opera and ballet season opens each December on Sant'Ambrogio, and gallery seats make it reachable for a determined visitor. The Piccolo Teatro, a fine symphony orchestra, musicals at the Arcimboldi, jazz rooms and summer stadium concerts at San Siro fill out the year.

Piran's offer is small and seasonal. There are summer concerts in honour of Tartini in churches, the monastery cloister and on the square, plus the occasional recital at the little theatre.

Piran is the restful one. Portoroz grew up as a spa resort, with seawater pools and salt-pan mud. There is an open-air thalasso spa among the Secovlje lagoons and a seawater health resort at Strunjan. The car-free town, especially in May, June and September, does the rest.

Milan has its thermal spa complex with outdoor pools, a few hotel spas and the 1930s Bagni Misteriosi for a summer afternoon. Still, it is a city of work and pace, and most people looking for real calm take the train to the lakes.