Milan or Turin?

Neither city has a beach, but Milan makes a summer swim easier. Lake Como and Lake Maggiore are about an hour away by train, with pebbly lidos and swimming platforms, and the Idroscalo basin near Linate offers a swim without leaving town.

From Turin the nearest warm sea is the Ligurian Riviera around Savona, close to two hours away, and the local options are small lakes such as Avigliana. For a quick dip on a hot afternoon, Milan's lakes are the more practical answer.

Both cities eat very well, but in different ways. Milan's strength is range. Alongside saffron risotto, ossobuco and cotoletta, it has good cooking from all over Italy and a serious fine-dining tier, and its aperitivo is at its liveliest around the Navigli and Isola.

Turin goes deeper into one region. There are agnolotti del plin, vitello tonnato, Alba truffles in autumn and lists of Barolo and Barbaresco. Vermouth and gianduiotto were born here, bicerin is served in the arcaded cafés, and Porta Palazzo market gives it the street-level food life Milan lacks.

In weight the two are evenly matched, but in character they differ. Milan's culture comes as a handful of famous works: the Duomo's rooftop among the spires, the Last Supper (book well ahead), Brera's painting and the Rondanini Pietà in the Castello. Between them lies a modern, businesslike city.

Turin works more as a whole. Its baroque former royal capital holds the Royal Palace, Palazzo Madama and the Shroud cathedral, and the Savoy residences ring the city. It has a wider spread of museums too, with the Egyptian collection, cinema in the Mole, cars, and contemporary art at Rivoli.

Milan has more going on after dark. The Navigli canals fill with bars spilling onto the towpaths, Porta Venezia is the heart of the gay scene, and clubs run from dressy places around Corso Como, where appearance counts, to warehouse nights on the edges.

Turin's evenings are smaller and more sociable. There are wine bars in the Quadrilatero Romano, students crowding San Salvario's pavements and the Murazzi by the Po in summer, and the city goes quiet outside term time. It is good for a long evening of drinks, less so for a big night of clubbing.

Turin has the mountains on its doorstep. Gran Paradiso's ibex and high trails, the Susa valley and the Via Lattea ski slopes are an hour or so away, and closer still are the hills up to Superga and the walled forest of the Mandria.

Milan's own surroundings are a flat, often hazy plain with canal towpaths for cycling. Its outdoors begins at Lake Como and Lake Maggiore, with ferries and lakeside paths, and the Grigne ridges offer hiking and via ferrata. Its ski resorts take a full day, where Turin's are an easy morning's drive.

Both make excellent bases, but Milan has the edge because so much lies within an hour on fast trains. Verona's arena, Bergamo's upper town, Bellagio and Varenna on Lake Como, and Turin itself are all that close. The Certosa di Pavia, Mantua, Cremona and Swiss Lugano add more.

Turin's best outings are fewer and different in kind. The Langhe and Roero wine country, with Alba, Barolo and Bra, is an hour south, and the Sacra di San Michele crowns its rock above the Susa valley. Genoa and Aosta take about two hours.

Children fare about equally in the two cities, for different reasons. Milan has the bigger outings: the science and technology museum with its submarine, and the theme parks of Leolandia and Gardaland within reach.

Turin is the easier city to be in. Its flat grid and long arcades shelter pushchairs, crowds are light, and the glass lift up the Mole and the Egyptian mummies win over older children. It has no theme park, though, and its zoo park at Cumiana really needs a car.

Milan's transport is the more complete. Its five colour-coded metro lines take contactless cards at the gates, and a dense tram network, including the old orange cars, fills the gaps. Direct trains from three stations reach the lakes, though the transfer from Malpensa airport is long.

In Turin, the arcaded grid makes walking the natural way to get about between Porta Nuova, Piazza Castello and the Po. Beyond that there is a single driverless metro line, and the trams and buses are slower and take some working out.

Milan is in another league here. The Quadrilatero della Moda, around Via Montenapoleone and Via della Spiga, holds the flagships of houses founded in the city. Add the Galleria, La Rinascente beside the Duomo, the design and lighting showrooms, and vintage shops in Brera and Porta Ticinese.

Turin has luxury labels under the arcades of Via Roma, but its real strength is food. It sells chocolate, truffles, cheese and Piedmontese wine, and has antique dealers on Via Maria Vittoria and the Balon flea market at Porta Palazzo. Anyone after designer clothes will find little choice.

Turin is clearly kinder to the wallet. Central hotels are fairly priced for most of the year, and neighbourhood trattorie, bakeries and Porta Palazzo market keep everyday eating cheap. Costs climb mainly with fine dining and the white truffle season.

Milan is Italy's most expensive city. Rooms are dear and very hard to find at fair rates during fashion weeks and trade fairs, and drinks in the smart bars of Brera match. Lunchtime set menus for office workers and a base near an outlying metro stop help soften it.

La Scala gives Milan an evening that draws people from abroad, with an opera and ballet season that opens each December. The Piccolo Teatro, a fine symphony orchestra and big summer concerts at San Siro add to it, though opera goes quiet in summer.

Turin's programme is solid and runs all year. There is opera at the Teatro Regio, the RAI orchestra, concerts at Renzo Piano's Lingotto auditorium and festivals of jazz and electronic music. What it lacks is a single headline stage, and its theatre is almost all in Italian.

Neither city is a place to unwind, and both send people elsewhere for real rest. In Milan there are at least places to go: a thermal spa complex south of the centre with outdoor pools, the 1930s Bagni Misteriosi in summer, and quiet lake villas an hour away.

Turin's calm comes from its pace. It is a city of long café breaks, evening walks under the arcades and afternoons in Valentino park. For thermal waters you travel close to two hours, to Acqui Terme or the Aosta valley.