Milan or Pisa?

Milan is landlocked. Summer swimming means the Idroscalo basin near Linate, the open-air city pools, or an hour on the train to the pebbly lidos of Lake Como and Lake Maggiore. That makes a swim an occasional outing, not part of the day.

Pisa has the coast on its doorstep. Tirrenia and Calambrone have wide sandy beaches backed by pine woods, with shallow, warm water that suits paddling, and Versilia is a short train ride north. The water near the Arno mouth is rarely clear, but a beach afternoon fits easily into a sightseeing stay.

Milan has the richer and more varied table. There is buttery northern cooking such as saffron risotto, ossobuco and cotoletta, and because people come from all over Italy, there is good Neapolitan pizza and Sicilian pastry as well. Fine dining is serious here. Aperitivo in Brera, Isola or along the canals is a meal in itself.

Pisa eats plainly and well, but within a narrow range. Expect hot cecina from wood ovens, ribollita and game in the trattorias around the Piazza delle Vettovaglie market. Avoid the tourist menus by the tower.

Milan has the heavier art. Leonardo's Last Supper, the Brera's Italian paintings, Michelangelo's Rondanini Pietà and the rooftop of the marble Duomo give it greater depth. These sights come in clusters within a modern business city, and the Last Supper must be booked well ahead.

Pisa has one of Italy's great ensembles in the Piazza dei Miracoli, where cathedral, baptistery, tower and Camposanto stand together on the lawn. Beyond it, Piazza dei Cavalieri, Santa Maria della Spina and the medieval works in San Matteo complete a city that two unhurried days cover.

Milan has a proper night out. Navigli bars spill onto the towpaths, Porta Venezia is the centre of the gay scene, and the clubs range from dressy Corso Como venues with strict doors to warehouse nights on the edge of the city. It is stylish rather than wild, and it goes quiet in August.

In Pisa, evenings mean students drinking wine in the small squares around the old market during term, and beach bars in summer. There are few clubs, and the tower district is empty after dark.

The two are broadly level, but the landscapes differ. Milan sits on a flat, hazy plain. Its reward lies an hour north by train: steep wooded slopes around Como and Maggiore, sailing on the lakes, and via ferrata on the Grigne above Lecco.

Pisa's outdoors starts at the city's edge. The San Rossore park has pine forest, wetland and wild dunes to explore by bike or on horseback, with fallow deer about. The olive-terrace paths of Monte Pisano rise just east, and the Apuan Alps offer tougher hiking further out.

Both are excellent bases, but they lead to different places. From Milan, high-speed trains reach Verona, Turin and Bologna, and Bergamo's upper town, Bellagio on Lake Como and Swiss Lugano are all within easy reach. That makes it a base for exploring northern cities and lakes.

Pisa is a base for Tuscany and the Ligurian coast. Florence is about an hour away and Lucca under half an hour, with the Cinque Terre a little further. Volterra and San Gimignano are best reached by car.

Milan's best day with children is indoors, among the submarine and trains of the science and technology museum. Pisa's is on the sand at Tirrenia. In Milan, the small aquarium sits next to the playgrounds of Parco Sempione, and older children can be taken to Leolandia, under an hour away, or to Gardaland on Lake Garda.

Pisa has fewer attractions but the outdoor days are easier. There is the photo propping up the tower and shallow water at Tirrenia and Calambrone, and you can cycle or ride horses in San Rossore. Only older children can climb the tower. Midsummer heat is the thing to plan around in both cities.

Milan works best with its metro and trams, while in Pisa you can walk everywhere. Milan's five metro lines take a contactless card at the gates, and the old orange trams fill the gaps, though the Duomo, Brera and the Castello are close enough to walk between. The weak points are the hot platforms in summer and the long ride in from Malpensa.

In Pisa, the walk from the station along Corso Italia and up Borgo Stretto reaches the cathedral square in about half an hour. A shuttle train from the airport reaches the station in moments. The buses to the tower and the beaches are slow, so a bike on the flat streets is often quicker.

Milan is one of the world's fashion capitals. The great Italian houses have flagships in the Quadrilatero della Moda, La Rinascente stands by the Duomo, and the Galleria's old shops sit under the glass roof. Add independent boutiques in Brera and Porta Ticinese, design showrooms and the Navigli antique markets, and shopping alone could justify the trip.

In Pisa, shopping is everyday: high-street chains on Corso Italia, smarter shoes and pastry shops under the arcades of Borgo Stretto, and a monthly antiques market by the river.

Milan is Italy's most expensive city. Hotels are dear, and they become hard to find at sensible rates during trade fairs and fashion weeks. Aperitivo snacks, office-worker lunch menus and a room near a metro stop outside the centre ease the cost.

Pisa is noticeably kinder to a budget. Rooms are mid-range, and the trattorias that feed the students keep meals honest. The main extra costs are the tower climb and summer beach loungers.

Milan has La Scala, one of the world's great opera houses. Its season opens on the feast of Sant'Ambrogio, and gallery seats are within reach of a determined visitor. The Piccolo Teatro, a symphony orchestra at the Auditorium, jazz rooms and big summer concerts at San Siro complete the programme.

Pisa's stage is mainly the Teatro Verdi, a 19th-century horseshoe theatre. It offers an unpretentious night of opera between autumn and spring. For anything bigger, Pisans go to Florence.

Neither city is somewhere people go mainly to unwind, and the real difference is where the water is. Milan keeps its spa inside the city. The thermal complex on the southern side of the centre, and the open-air Bagni Misteriosi in summer, let you fit an afternoon in a pool between sights. Real quiet is further away, though: an hour on the train north to the lakes.

Pisa works the other way round. The city has no bathing culture of its own, but it is small enough to feel calm without trying, and the old springs of San Giuliano Terme are a short hop out at the foot of Monte Pisano. Here the slow pace comes with the town, and a soak is an easy half-day outing.