Naples or Turin?

Naples at least has the sea. In town you can swim from the rocks below the Lungomare or at the lidos of Posillipo, and the clear, rocky coves of Procida, Ischia, Capri and the Sorrento peninsula are a ferry ride away. It is still not a beach resort, and the sandy stretches near the city are crowded and paid.

Turin has no coast at all. The Ligurian Riviera is close to two hours away, so a summer swim there means a lake such as Avigliana or Viverone, or a separate stay by the sea.

Both cities eat superbly, but in different ways. Naples is pizza, fried street food, sfogliatelle and espresso taken standing at the bar. It is cheap, eaten on the move, and built on buffalo mozzarella and seafood from markets like the Pignasecca.

Turin is a sit-down kitchen of agnolotti, vitello tonnato and autumn truffles, with Barolo on the wine list and the aperitivo and bicerin in the old cafés as its rituals. Naples is better on the street and Turin at the table. Neither has much international food.

Naples has the deeper layers. Its Greek-planned centre is packed with churches, and the Archaeological Museum holds the treasures of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Underneath run tunnels, cisterns and catacombs, and there are also the Veiled Christ and the Capodimonte gallery. A week barely covers it.

Turin has one draw of world rank in the Museo Egizio. Around it are the Savoy palaces, the Mole with its cinema museum and strong contemporary art at Rivoli. It is grand and orderly, but there is less of it, and its streets are handsome rather than astonishing.

Neither city is a clubbing destination, but Naples has the livelier nights. Piazza Bellini and the alleys of Chiaia fill with people drinking in the street until well past midnight, and it stays loud and sociable all summer.

Turin's evenings are gentler. They start with a long aperitivo and move on to wine bars in the Quadrilatero or the pavements of San Salvario. It has a few clubs in old industrial buildings and the Murazzi by the Po in summer, but the mood stays relaxed and goes quiet outside term time.

Both cities have striking landscapes nearby, of very different kinds. Naples has volcanoes and sea: the crater rim of Vesuvius, the old craters of the Phlegraean Fields, snorkelling at Gaiola and the Path of the Gods high above the Amalfi Coast.

Turin has the Alps about an hour away, with ibex in Gran Paradiso, hut-to-hut hiking and climbing, and closer to town the hill paths up to Superga and the Mandria forest. Choose Turin for the mountains and Naples for the coast.

Naples has an extraordinary range of trips on its doorstep. Pompeii and Herculaneum are a local train ride away, and so is the palace at Caserta. Ferries go to Capri, Ischia and Procida, and the Amalfi Coast and the temples of Paestum lie further along the coast.

Turin's choice is good but less famous: the Langhe wine villages and Alba, the Sacra di San Michele on its rock, Milan by fast train, and Aosta or Genoa further out. Wine lovers will enjoy it most, while Naples is for anyone with a list of world-famous sights.

Turin is the easier city with children. Its flat grid and arcades make pushchairs simple and crowds are light. Older children enjoy the glass lift in the Mole, the car museum, the mummies and the rack railway to Superga, and there is a zoo park within driving distance.

Naples welcomes children warmly, but scooters in the lanes, broken pavements and steps wear families down, and summer is hot and crowded. Many families stay in Sorrento or on the islands and come in for Pompeii and the tunnels.

Turin is simpler to get around. Its flat, arcaded centre is easy to walk from Porta Nuova to the Po, a driverless metro line crosses the city, and the trains connect well with the rest of Italy. The trams take some working out, but little goes badly wrong.

Naples is walkable in the centre and has a metro with art-filled stations and funiculars up to Vomero. Beyond that, buses get stuck in traffic, the Circumvesuviana is crowded and often late, and crossing the road takes nerve.

Neither city is a fashion capital, and both are better for crafts and food than for labels. Naples has its Chiaia tailors, the nativity workshops of San Gregorio Armeno, and coral and cameos from Torre del Greco.

Turin's best buys are chocolate, truffles and Piedmontese wine. There are also antique dealers on Via Maria Vittoria, the Balon flea market on Saturdays and the luxury shops under the arcades of Via Roma.

Both are fair value for Western European cities, but they get expensive in different places. Naples is cheap in town, where pizza, street food and coffee cost little, but the islands, Amalfi hotels and summer beach clubs charge resort rates.

Turin is comfortable rather than cheap. An aperitivo can stand in for dinner and market food is good value, but costs climb during trade fairs, in the truffle season and in fine dining.

Naples builds its music around one great opera house and a song tradition of its own. The Teatro di San Carlo, the oldest opera house in Europe still in use, is worth an evening for its red-and-gold auditorium alone, and Neapolitan song carries on in small shows and with musicians moving between trattoria tables. Beyond those two, the choice thins quickly.

Turin spreads its music across many stages. There is opera and ballet at the modernist Teatro Regio, the RAI orchestra in its own hall, concerts in Renzo Piano's Lingotto auditorium, and jazz clubs and festivals running from classical to electronic. What it lacks is one signature tradition that draws visitors from abroad, and in both cities the spoken theatre is in Italian.

Neither city is restful in itself, but Naples has real thermal water close by. There is the spa at Agnano on the edge of the city, and Ischia's terraced spa gardens are about an hour away by hydrofoil.

Turin's calm comes from its slower pace: long breaks in historic cafés, walks under the arcades and along the Po. For proper thermal baths you travel nearly two hours to Acqui Terme or the Aosta valley.