Monaco or Rome?

Neither is a true beach destination, but in Monaco the sea is part of the stay. Larvotto is short and groomed, but its water is calm and clear enough to see the bottom. The coves of Cap d'Ail are a walk over the border, and the long beaches of Menton and Nice are a short train ride away.

From Rome, the sea means Ostia or Fregene, half an hour out by suburban train. There you find dark sand, rows of paid lido umbrellas and water that is rarely clear. Romans crowd there on summer weekends, and for pretty coves you have to go as far as Sperlonga, so a swim becomes an outing rather than part of the day.

Rome eats far better and far more freely. Its own cuisine, from carbonara and cacio e pepe to Jewish-style artichokes and the offal dishes of Testaccio, is at its best in plain trattorias. Street food such as supplì and pizza al taglio means a good meal at any hour.

Monaco's strength lies at the other end: starred hotel dining rooms and harbour terraces serving Riviera and Ligurian food. Its local bite is barbagiuan from the Condamine market. Casual eating is scarce and dinner means dressing up, which is why many visitors eat in Nice or Menton instead.

This is the widest gap between the two cities. Rome has the Colosseum, the Forum, the Pantheon, St Peter's and the Sistine Chapel, as well as Bernini's piazzas and Caravaggios in side chapels, and a week barely makes a start on it.

Monaco's sights fit on the Rock and around the Casino: the Prince's Palace with its changing of the guard, Grace Kelly's grave in the cathedral, and the Oceanographic Museum of 1910. They are handsome and easy to see in a day or two, but the setting impresses more than what is on show.

Rome has the livelier and more varied evenings. Aperitivo leads on to crowded piazzas and wine bars in Trastevere, cocktail bars in Monti, cheap student drinking in San Lorenzo and an arty crowd in Pigneto, though there is not much clubbing.

Going out in Monaco is dressier and narrower: hotel bars around the Casino square and a few glossy clubs on the Larvotto seafront and at the port. It is busiest in summer and on Grand Prix weekend. Outside those times it goes to bed early, and there are no casual bars to wander between.

Monaco has the more dramatic surroundings. Limestone mountains rise straight from the sea, mule paths climb from Èze-sur-Mer up to Èze, and the Tête de Chien cliff looks over the whole principality. The clear water makes snorkelling, diving and paddleboarding easy.

Rome's outdoors is gentler and full of history. There are the villa parks of Borghese and Pamphili, a bike ride along the Appian Way past tombs and aqueducts, and the crater lakes of the Alban Hills. Real mountains in the Apennines are about ninety minutes away.

Both make excellent bases, with Rome slightly ahead for the weight of what lies within reach. Ostia Antica, Hadrian's Villa and the Villa d'Este at Tivoli are close by. Orvieto and the Etruscan tombs of Tarquinia lie to the north, and fast trains put Florence and Naples within about ninety minutes.

Monaco's trips are shorter hops along a single coast. Villefranche and Nice lie to the west, Menton to the east and Èze up the hill, with Antibes, Saint-Paul-de-Vence or Sanremo in Italy further out, and nearly all of it is reachable by train or bus.

Monaco is the easier place with children. It is safe, small and clean, and the public lifts take the strain off the hills. The aquarium has sharks and turtles, and Larvotto's sheltered water suits small swimmers. With formal restaurants and little else on offer, though, a couple of days is plenty.

Rome welcomes children in every trattoria, and gladiators, catacombs and the Bioparco zoo in Villa Borghese all help hold their interest. The great sights are aimed at adults, however, and long queues, cobbles that defeat pushchairs and summer heat make for tiring days.

Monaco is barely 3km end to end, and free public lifts and escalators link its levels, so walking works once you know the shortcuts. The station in the hillside connects you to the whole coast.

Rome is also a city for walking, with the Colosseum, the Pantheon and Piazza Navona close together, but it covers far more ground. The metro barely reaches the historic core, buses stall in traffic, and cobbles and scooters wear you down.

Rome offers much more range. The big fashion houses line Via Condotti below the Spanish Steps and Via del Corso has the chains. Monti has vintage shops and young designers, Porta Portese holds a huge Sunday flea market, and leather and handmade shoes are good buys.

Shopping in Monaco is almost entirely the luxury cluster of the Carré d'Or around the Casino gardens, which you can walk in a quarter of an hour. Beyond that there is a small mall and the souvenir shops on the Rock. Window-shopping is part of the evening scene, but for variety people go to Nice.

Neither city is cheap, but Monaco is in a different league. Hotels are priced for the very wealthy and even a café coffee is steep. Most budget travellers sleep in Nice, Menton or Beausoleil and come in for the day, making use of the free lifts, the gardens and the Rock.

In Rome the cost lies mainly in accommodation and the big ticketed sights. Day to day it is kind: standing espresso, pizza by weight, trattoria lunches and free water from the fountains, with churches full of art open to everyone.

The two are well matched, and the difference is one of kind. Monaco has an opera company, an internationally known ballet company and a philharmonic orchestra, which is a lot for so small a state. The opera performs in the gilded Salle Garnier inside the Casino, where works by Massenet and Puccini had their premières. Its season runs mostly from winter to spring, at the same time as the Printemps des Arts.

Rome's classical life is spread more widely. In summer the Teatro dell'Opera moves outdoors to the Baths of Caracalla, and the Santa Cecilia orchestra plays at the Auditorium Parco della Musica. Church concerts and jazz clubs also offer music on an ordinary night, which Monaco rarely does.

Monaco is the more restful place. The large thalassotherapy centre beside the Casino carries on an old tradition of sea-bathing cures with heated seawater pools, and the grand hotels have big spas. The Japanese Garden and the quiet ramparts make for calm mornings outside Grand Prix week.

Rome has hotel spas and hammam-style day spas, but its centre is loud with scooters and crowds. For real thermal water you go out to Bagni di Tivoli or the free hot pools near Viterbo. In town, the villa gardens and the Aventine are the quiet places to stop.