Nice or Turin?

This is the widest gap between the two cities. In Nice the beach is part of daily life: about 7km of pebble shore runs below the Promenade des Anglais in clear water. For sand and calmer bays, Villefranche, Beaulieu and Juan-les-Pins are a short ride away.

Turin, on the Po plain, has no shore at all. The Ligurian coast near Savona makes a long day out, so in summer a swim means a small lake such as Avigliana or Viverone. If you want the sea, Turin is the wrong base.

Both cities have a regional kitchen with a strong character of its own, but Turin's is richer and goes deeper. Piedmont gives it agnolotti del plin, bollito misto, white truffles from the Langhe in autumn and wine lists built on Barolo and Barbaresco. The city is also where vermouth, the aperitivo and gianduja began, and its historic cafés serve bicerin.

Nice does better at eating in the street, which is Turin's weak spot. In the old town you can buy socca hot from the oven, along with pissaladière and pan bagnat. Its cooking is simple and close to Liguria, at its best in family places in Vieux Nice and around the port, and there is less of it to explore over a long stay.

Turin has much more for a sightseeing trip. The Museo Egizio alone justifies a visit. Around it are the Royal Palace, Palazzo Madama, the cathedral of the Shroud and the UNESCO-listed Savoy residences, and the Mole and the Lingotto tell the story of an industrial city.

Nice's strength is narrower: twentieth-century art. The Matisse and Chagall museums in Cimiez and MAMAC are the highlights, set against an Italianate old town and Belle Époque villas. Two or three days cover it well.

A night out in Nice usually means dinner and then drinks in the lanes of Vieux Nice, where pubs and wine bars spill onto the street. It is liveliest in summer, when the beach clubs and the promenade keep people out late. Out of season the city goes quiet early, and the glossier nights happen in Monaco and Cannes.

Turin's evenings begin with the aperitivo and then move on to the Quadrilatero, San Salvario or Vanchiglia. It has more clubs than Nice, some in old industrial buildings, and in summer the Murazzi along the Po fill up. It is at its busiest during the university term.

Both cities have the Alps close by, but they use them differently. In Nice the mountains come down to the sea. You can take coastal paths around Cap Ferrat, cycle the corniches, sail or dive, and reach the Mercantour or a ski run and be back by the shore the same day.

Turin's outdoors is mountain country only. The Gran Paradiso, the Susa valley and the Via Lattea slopes suit hut-to-hut hiking, climbing and skiing. Closer to home there are the Superga hills and the Mandria forest, but the city itself sits on a flat plain.

From Nice, outings run along a railway line by the sea. The coastal trains link Villefranche, Monaco, Menton, Antibes and Cannes, most of them under an hour away. Èze, Grasse and Saint-Paul-de-Vence are reached by bus, and the trip to Grasse or Saint-Paul takes a little longer. Ventimiglia's Friday market is just over the Italian border, with Sanremo a short way beyond, and you need no car for any of them.

Turin's best days out lead south into wine country, to Alba, Barolo, La Morra and Bra in the Langhe, where a car helps. Milan is an hour away by fast train. The Sacra di San Michele, Aosta and Genoa add an abbey on its rock, Roman remains and an old port.

Children in Nice spend the day outdoors. There is the flat promenade for bikes and pushchairs, the water jets and playgrounds of the Promenade du Paillon, Parc Phoenix and a summer swim, though the pebble beaches are hard on small feet.

Turin is better for older children who enjoy museums: the glass lift up through the Mole, the mummies of the Museo Egizio and the car museum. Its arcades keep pushchairs out of the sun and rain. For animals, there is the Zoom Torino zoo park outside the city.

Nice is a little simpler to get around. The tram runs straight from the airport to the centre and the port, the main areas are a flat half-hour walk from each other, and regional trains cover the whole coast.

Turin's centre is just as walkable, laid out on a grid with long arcades. Beyond it there is one driverless metro line, and the trams and buses are slower and take some working out. In both cities a car is only worth having for the mountains, and in Turin also for the wine hills.

Nice's best buys are Provençal: olive oil, soaps, fabrics and candied fruit in Vieux Nice, plus the Monday flea and antiques market on the Cours Saleya. Avenue Jean Médecin covers the chain stores, and serious luxury shoppers tend to go to Monaco and Cannes.

In Turin, the bags fill with things to eat: chocolate, pastries, truffles and Piedmontese wine. Via Roma has the big labels under its arcades, and antique dealers line Via Maria Vittoria. The Balon flea market fills every Saturday and grows into the larger Gran Balon once a month.

Turin is the easier city on a budget. Central hotels are fairly priced for most of the year, except during big trade fairs. Aperitivo food, neighbourhood trattorie and Porta Palazzo market keep meals cheap, and truffles and fine dining are where costs climb.

Nice is expensive by southern European standards, especially from June to September. Seafront rooms, beach loungers and promenade terraces add up fast. Cheap trams, regional trains and socca help, and spring and late autumn are kinder on the budget.

Turin has the stronger stage, with a programme that runs through the year. The Teatro Regio stages a full opera and ballet season, the RAI National Symphony Orchestra plays in its own hall, and there are concerts at the Lingotto auditorium as well as small jazz venues in the centre.

Nice works more around a few events: the Nice Jazz Festival in July, the Carnival in February and the season at the red-and-gold Opéra. Outside those, there is less to plan an evening around.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, so a slow stay is a matter of pace rather than spas. In Nice that means an early swim, a long lunch and an evening walk along the bay, with thalassotherapy centres further along the coast. It is calmest out of season.

Turin's calm comes from its historic cafés, the arcades and Valentino park beside the Po. For real thermal waters you have to travel to Acqui Terme or the Aosta valley.