Naples or Salerno?

Salerno lives closer to the sand. Its grey-sand city beaches run east from the centre, and to the south the coast towards Paestum has kilometres of wide beach backed by pine woods, which is good for a whole day. In both cities the water near the port is not the clearest.

In Naples, swimming in town usually means the rocks below the Lungomare or a small lido in Posillipo, and the nearby sandy stretches are paid and crowded. The clear coves around the bay are on Procida, Ischia and Capri, so a beach day there usually starts with a ferry.

Naples is the stronger place to eat. This is where pizza was born, and the soft, blistered Neapolitan pizza is eaten at shared tables all over the historic centre. Add fried pizza, cones of fried seafood, babà and the standing espresso, and the Pignasecca and Porta Nolana markets show what the kitchens cook with.

Salerno cooks from the same Campanian tradition, simply and well. Its best things come from next door: buffalo mozzarella eaten fresh from the plain towards Paestum, and colatura anchovy sauce from Cetara. Neither city offers much beyond Italian cooking.

The gap here is wide. Naples has one of Europe's largest historic centres, laid out by the Greeks, with churches on almost every block along Spaccanapoli. On top of that come the National Archaeological Museum, the Cappella Sansevero, the underground city, the Royal Palace and Capodimonte, enough for a week.

Salerno's heritage is mostly medieval: the Norman cathedral with Saint Matthew's crypt, the Giardino della Minerva, linked to Europe's first medical school, and the Arechi Castle above the town. It is worth seeing, but one or two days covers it, and the great ancient sites lie outside the city.

Both cities go out in the street rather than in clubs, but Naples does it on a bigger scale. Students fill Piazza Bellini beside the old Greek walls, and the bars in the Chiaia lanes draw a smarter crowd past midnight.

Salerno's version is smaller: young locals drink outside wine bars around Largo Campo and Via dei Mercanti, then join the seafront passeggiata. For a bigger night out, Salernitans take the train to Naples.

Both have superb landscapes, but of different kinds. Naples is volcanic: you can walk up to the crater rim of Vesuvius, explore the crater woods of Astroni and Lake Avernus in the Phlegraean Fields, and snorkel at the Gaiola underwater park below Posillipo.

Salerno looks onto limestone. The cliffs and lemon terraces of the Amalfi Coast, the Path of the Gods and Valle delle Ferriere trails are closer from here, and the Cilento national park, with its river gorges and wild headlands, lies to the south.

Both are outstanding bases, and the real difference is which way each one faces. Naples looks at the Roman world and the bay: Pompeii and the better-preserved Herculaneum are each under an hour on the local train, Caserta's royal palace is an easy outing inland, and the islands are a hydrofoil ride from the port. It suits a trip built around ruins and island days.

Salerno faces the Amalfi Coast and the Greek south. Paestum's temples are half an hour away, and in summer a ferry goes straight to Amalfi. From Naples, the same day means the slow train to Sorrento and then a bus or boat along the cliffs. Salerno gives up little in return, since Pompeii is no further away and Naples is a fast train ride off, though Capri, Ischia and Procida are a longer journey from here.

Salerno is the gentler choice with children. Its long, flat seafront has gardens, playgrounds and gelato, the beaches to the south shelve gently for small swimmers, and the Luci d'Artista Christmas lights are a winter treat. The steep, stepped old town and the winding Amalfi roads are the hard parts.

Naples welcomes children just as warmly, but scooters, broken pavements and cobbles make the centre hard work with a pushchair. It does have the attractions Salerno lacks: Edenlandia, the zoo and the science museum. Older children also enjoy the funiculars and the tunnels underground.

Salerno is simpler. The station, the main shopping street, the seafront and the old town lie along one strip you can walk, and regional trains and Amalfi ferries leave from close by. Only the castle needs a bus.

Naples has more transport but less reliable transport. Metro Line 1, with stations decorated as art galleries, and four funiculars up to Vomero and Posillipo work well. The buses crawl through traffic, though, and the Circumvesuviana is old and crowded. Walking the centre means sharing the lanes with scooters.

Naples has more to buy and more character. Chiaia's tailors make handmade suits and silk ties, the Galleria Umberto I and Via Toledo cover the high street, and the workshops on Via San Gregorio Armeno carve nativity figures all year. Coral and cameos come from Torre del Greco nearby.

Salerno's Corso Vittorio Emanuele is mainly a street of Italian chains for the evening stroll. The best buys come from the coast around it: majolica from Vietri, limoncello and Cetara's colatura.

Day to day, the two cost much the same. Pizza, coffee at the bar, trattoria meals and local trains all come at southern Italian prices. Where the difference lies is in what each saves you. In Naples, cheap B&Bs in the historic centre keep costs down until you start paying for ferries to the islands.

Salerno's main advantage is as a base. It is far cheaper than sleeping in Positano or Amalfi while still a short ferry away. Summer rooms, lido sunbeds and several days of coast ferries add up, so spring and autumn are the cheaper times to stay.

Naples has the real stage. The Teatro di San Carlo, the oldest working opera house in Europe, holds opera, ballet and concerts in its red-and-gold auditorium, and Neapolitan song is still heard in small theatres and from musicians who go from table to table in trattorias.

Salerno's Teatro Verdi was modelled on the San Carlo and puts on a respectable but smaller season. Its best special evening is out of town, at the Ravello Festival's cliff-top concerts above Amalfi.

Neither city is restful, but Naples is closer to real thermal water. The spa at Agnano, on the edge of town, uses springs known since Roman times, and Ischia, with its terraced thermal parks above the sea, is about an hour away by hydrofoil.

Salerno's nearest springs are at Contursi Terme, an hour inland, so in the city wellness means a hotel spa. Its calmer pace and the sunset walk along the palm-lined promenade are easier to enjoy than anything in central Naples.