Monaco or Verona?

Monaco wins this easily, though it is a sea town rather than a beach resort. Larvotto gives calm, clear water within walking distance of your hotel, and the coves of Cap d'Ail and the longer beaches at Menton and Nice are a short hop by path or train.

Verona has no sea at all. Swimming means half an hour out to the southern shore of Lake Garda, with lidos, lawns and Sirmione's limestone shelves. That makes a pleasant summer outing, but it is not a daily beach life.

Verona has the deeper regional table. Its osterie around Piazza delle Erbe and in Veronetta cook the food of the Veneto hinterland: Amarone risotto, bigoli with duck, bollito with pearà. The Valpolicella, Amarone and Soave vineyards are a short drive away, so a glass at a wine counter becomes part of every evening. Go there for local cooking and wine rather than variety, since street food and international choice are thin.

Monaco's strength is at the top end, in starred hotel dining rooms and Riviera cooking with a harbour view, where the setting matters as much as the plate. Below that the choice is thin, apart from barbagiuan and socca at the Condamine market.

Verona has much more to see. Its UNESCO centre layers a Roman amphitheatre and theatre, the medieval squares of the della Scala lords, Romanesque San Zeno and Scarpa's Castelvecchio museum, and it rewards two or three unhurried days.

Monaco's sights are fewer and more polished: the Prince's Palace and cathedral on the Rock, the Belle Époque Oceanographic Museum and the Casino square. They are impressive mainly for their setting, and a day or two covers them.

Monaco offers the bigger night out, as long as you like it glossy. Hotel bars around the Casino and lounge clubs on the Larvotto seafront and the port run late in summer, and the harbour turns into a party on Grand Prix weekend. Outside those times the town goes to bed early.

Verona's evenings are built around the aperitivo in Piazza delle Erbe and by the river, with younger, cheaper bars in Veronetta. There is no real dance scene in the centre.

The two are broadly level, but the landscapes differ. Monaco gives you sea and limestone cliffs: mule paths up to Èze, the view from the Tête de Chien, coastal walks around Cap Martin, and snorkelling or diving in clear water.

Verona looks to hills and lake: gentle walks and cycling through the Valpolicella vineyards, the Adige cycle route, the Lessinia's woods and gorges, and Monte Baldo's ridges and Garda's reliable sailing winds an hour away.

Both are excellent bases, but Verona has the stronger list. Venice, Padua, Vicenza and Mantua are all an easy train ride away, so you get several major art cities alongside the Garda harbours and the wine cellars of Valpolicella and Soave.

From Monaco the coastal train and buses reach Nice, Villefranche, Menton and Èze quickly, with Antibes, Grasse and the Italian Riviera further along. It is a lovely run of seaside towns, though narrower in range.

Verona has a little more for children, mostly outside the city. Gardaland, the water parks along the lake and the Parco Natura Viva safari zoo are each about half an hour away, and the flat pedestrian centre is easy with a pushchair. You will need a car or transfers for most of these, though.

Monaco keeps things simpler but runs out sooner. The aquarium, Larvotto's sheltered water and the palace guards fill a day or two, after which the formal restaurants and steep streets start to tell.

Monaco is the easier place to get about. It is only about 3km end to end, free public lifts and escalators take care of the steep climbs, and the station puts the whole coast within reach without a car.

Verona's flat centre inside the river loop is a pleasure on foot, and the trains towards Venice and Milan are excellent. However, the station is a twenty-minute walk from the centre, there is no metro, and the vineyard villages and Garda attractions are hard to reach without a car.

Neither is a shopping destination, and each points serious shoppers elsewhere: Monaco to Nice, Verona to Milan. What differs is the kind of shop. Monaco's Carré d'Or is a tight cluster of fashion houses, jewellers and watchmakers, more for looking than buying.

Verona's Via Mazzini and the streets around it hold mid-range Italian labels and small boutiques. The best things to take home there are bottles of Amarone, Garda olive oil and a pandoro.

This is where the two differ most. Monaco is one of the costliest places on earth to stay, eat and drink, and budget visitors usually sleep in Nice, Menton or Beausoleil and come in for the day. Free lifts and walks on the Rock are the only real savings.

Verona is no bargain for a provincial city, especially on summer opera nights. Still, its student osterie, wine-counter snacks and rooms near the station or across the river make a full stay entirely manageable.

Both take music seriously, but the experience is very different. Monaco's strength is a resident company in a gilded hall. The Monte-Carlo Opera in the Salle Garnier, the Philharmonic and Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo perform mostly from winter to spring, which suits an off-season visit.

Verona's peak is summer opera in the Roman Arena, with grand productions in front of thousands on the ancient tiers. Add Shakespeare and jazz in the Roman theatre, and summer is the time to go.

Monaco offers a little more, and all of it in town. A large thalassotherapy centre beside the Casino and the spas of the grand hotels make an easy treatment day, followed by a quiet hour in the Japanese Garden.

Verona's thermal water lies outside the city, at Sirmione's lakeside spa, the spring-fed park near Lazise and the old springs at Caldiero. In town, rest comes from slow lunches and the Giardino Giusti's terraces.