Milan or Stuttgart?

Neither city is a place for a beach vacation, but Milan gives you an easier way to swim. Lake Como and Lake Maggiore are about an hour away by train, with pebbly lidos and bathing platforms in warm August water, and the Idroscalo basin covers a quick dip in town.

Stuttgart has only its outdoor pools, some fed by mineral springs, because the Neckar is a working river. Lake Constance is more than two hours away, so swimming there is a full excursion, not an afternoon trip.

Milan eats better and more widely. Alongside saffron risotto, ossobuco and cotoletta, it serves the cooking of the whole of Italy and a serious fine-dining tier, and the aperitivo spread around Brera, Isola and the canals can turn into an evening of grazing.

Stuttgart's Swabian cooking is narrower but has a strong character of its own: Maultaschen, Käsespätzle and onion-topped roast beef in wine taverns, the Art Nouveau Markthalle, and Trollinger poured from vineyards inside the city. The seasonal Besen taverns in growers' houses are a local pleasure Milan has nothing like, but there is less variety overall.

Milan's sights are better known and more important. The Duomo's rooftop among the spires, Leonardo's Last Supper, the Brera's Italian paintings and the Rondanini Pietà at the Castello are each worth the journey alone.

Stuttgart's culture is about engineering and modern design. The Mercedes-Benz and Porsche museums, the postmodern Staatsgalerie and the Le Corbusier houses at the Weissenhof Estate interest people curious about the twentieth century more than art pilgrims. Wartime bombing left the old heritage of both cities in clusters, but Stuttgart's runs out sooner.

Milan has a longer, smarter night out. Aperitivo carries straight on into the bars along the Navigli towpaths, Porta Venezia is the centre of a well-established gay scene, and clubs range from dressy Corso Como to warehouse parties, though August is quiet.

Stuttgart is sociable but more limited. Most of the action is the bar strip on Theodor-Heuss-Strasse and basement clubs, and outside the Cannstatter Volksfest and the late-summer wine village the city goes to bed early on weekdays.

The two are about level, but the outdoors works differently in each. Milan's own surroundings are flat and often hazy, so its rewards are a train ride away: the steep wooded shores of Como and Maggiore, sailing and windsurfing, and proper Prealpine hiking and via ferrata on the Grigne.

Stuttgart is green on its doorstep. Vineyard trails and the deer forests of the Rotwildpark start close to the centre, and the Swabian Jura escarpments and the northern Black Forest are about an hour out. It offers gentler country than the Alpine foothills, but you can get to it more easily.

Both make excellent bases, but Milan's options are grander and more varied. High-speed trains put Verona, Turin and Bologna within easy reach, the lakes and Bergamo's upper town are about an hour away, and the Certosa di Pavia, Mantua and even Swiss Lugano are on the list too.

From Stuttgart, the outings are to German baroque palaces and half-timbered towns: Ludwigsburg, Esslingen, Tübingen's punts, Heidelberg's castle and Hohenzollern on its hill. Strasbourg makes a long day across the border.

Stuttgart is the easier city with children. Wilhelma's zoo and botanical garden among Moorish pavilions is a full day out, the rack railway and Killesberg's miniature train are fun in their own right, and Ludwigsburg has a fairy-tale garden for younger children. The hills can be hard work with a pushchair.

Milan manages with the science museum's submarine and trains and the playgrounds of Parco Sempione, and it has the theme parks, Leolandia and Gardaland, that Stuttgart lacks. Otherwise its sights and its humid summers suit adults better.

Both have flat, walkable centres, and Milan's is a little easier to cover. The Duomo, Brera and the Castello are short walks apart, five simple metro lines take contactless cards, and the old orange trams make the journeys part of the sightseeing. The weak points are stuffy platforms in summer and the long ride in from Malpensa.

Stuttgart's centre is just as compact, but past it the city climbs steeply up its basin. A single ticket covers the Stadtbahn, S-Bahn, rack railway and funicular, and the public stairways called Stäffele are shortcuts on foot. The airport is easy to reach.

Milan is in a different league here, and for many visitors shopping is the reason to come. Its fashion district holds the flagships of houses founded in the city, La Rinascente stands beside the Duomo, and Brera and Porta Ticinese add vintage and independent shops, with design showrooms as a second speciality.

Stuttgart is for high-street brands, along the long Königstrasse and at the Breuninger department store, with outlet bargains in Metzingen half an hour away. It has less for browsers.

Neither is cheap, but Stuttgart takes a little less out of your wallet. Its hotels get noticeably cheaper at weekends and in the quieter months, and tavern and beer-garden meals give you a lot for your money.

Milan is Italy's most expensive city, and rooms are scarce and dear during the trade fairs and fashion weeks. Aperitivo snacks in place of supper, weekday set lunches and staying near a metro stop outside the centre all help.

La Scala gives Milan the edge: one of the world's great opera houses, with gallery seats for anyone determined to get in, backed by the Piccolo Teatro, a fine symphony orchestra and big summer concerts at San Siro.

Stuttgart has more on its stages than you would expect for its size. The opera is known for daring productions, the Stuttgart Ballet is among Europe's most respected companies, and the Liederhalle keeps up a strong Bach tradition. If ballet matters more to you than opera, Stuttgart is the better place to see it.

Stuttgart is the better place to slow down, thanks to a bathing culture built on some of Europe's most productive mineral springs. The Mineralbad Cannstatt and Mineralbad Leuze have warm, naturally carbonated pools indoors and out, and quiet vineyard walks are close by.

Milan is busier and more work-driven. It has a thermal spa complex with outdoor pools and the restored 1930s Bagni Misteriosi in summer, but most visitors looking for real rest take the train to the lakes.