Padua or Verona?

Neither city has a coast, but Verona's swimming is closer and more attractive. Lake Garda's southern shore is about half an hour away, with grassy lidos, small pebble coves and Sirmione's limestone shelves running into clear, calm water. From Padua the nearest swimming is the Adriatic at Sottomarina or the Lido of Venice, about an hour away, on long, flat beaches lined with umbrellas that suit paddling toddlers more than anyone looking for scenery.

The two cities share a kitchen, with bigoli in duck or sardine sauce on menus in both, but each has its own centre of gravity. Padua's lies in its twin morning markets beneath the Palazzo della Ragione, the standing spritz in the squares and the grand old Caffè Pedrocchi, with sweet Fior d'Arancio from the Euganean Hills to finish.

Verona's strength is its wine. Amarone, Valpolicella and Soave are made within a short drive and turn up in the risotto as well as the glass. Its osterie serve bollito with peppery pearà and horse stewed in red wine, although the cooking around the Arena is best avoided.

Both are first-rate, but in different ways. Padua's riches are mostly indoors and painted: Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel with its timed visits, the UNESCO-listed group of fourteenth-century fresco cycles, the pilgrim Basilica of Saint Anthony with Donatello's bronzes, and scientific landmarks such as the anatomical theatre of the Bo and the 1545 botanical garden.

In Verona the city itself is the exhibit. Roman, medieval and Renaissance layers sit inside the loop of the Adige, from the Arena and the hillside Roman theatre to the Scaliger tombs, Romanesque San Zeno and Scarpa's Castelvecchio museum. Both cities can be covered in a few unhurried days.

Padua has a little more going on after dark, thanks to its large university. During term, students pack Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza dei Signori over spritz until late, even on weekday nights, and small bars fill the old ghetto, although the city empties in high summer.

Verona's evenings thin out earlier. Veronetta's younger wine bars are the exception, and so are summer nights, when the opera crowd leaving the Arena near midnight briefly fills the centre again. In both cities clubs are few and sit on the outskirts.

Verona sits where the plain meets the Alpine foothills, and that shows. The Valpolicella vineyards are just north of town, the Lessinia plateau has gorges and beech woods for hiking, and Monte Baldo above Lake Garda offers ridge walks, paragliding and, further north, reliable wind for sailing.

Padua is flat, so its outdoors starts at the Euganean Hills, volcanic cones about 15km away with trails, chestnut woods and quiet roads for cyclists. It also has level towpaths along the Brenta and lagoon birdwatching, but real mountain walking is about an hour and a half's drive away.

Both are outstanding bases and are under an hour apart by train, so the difference is which way each one faces. From Padua, Venice is under half an hour away, close enough to visit again and again, and Bologna, Ferrara, the Brenta villas and the walled towns around the Euganean Hills are all easy.

Verona looks west and north instead, with Sirmione and the Garda harbours, Gonzaga Mantua, Milan and the Valpolicella and Soave cellars on hand. Venice takes more than an hour from Verona.

Verona is much the easier choice with children. Gardaland, the safari section at Parco Natura Viva and the water parks along Garda's southern shore are all about half an hour away, and the Arena and Roman theatre bring history to life for young visitors.

Padua is flat, safe and welcoming, and Prato della Valle and the botanical glasshouses fill an afternoon. Beyond that, its frescoes and churches are aimed at adults, and Gardaland is well over an hour away.

Both centres are flat, compact and largely free of traffic, but Padua is a little easier. A tram runs from the station through the centre to Prato della Valle, the arcades give shelter from rain and sun, and the city's rail junction makes car-free day trips in every direction simple.

Verona has no tram, its station is about twenty minutes' walk from Piazza Bra, and the Valpolicella villages and the Lessinia are much easier to reach with a car.

Verona has the slight edge, mainly thanks to Via Mazzini, a marble-paved street of Italian fashion labels between Piazza Bra and Piazza delle Erbe, with jewellers and boutiques on the side streets. It is also the place to buy Amarone, Garda olive oil and pandoro.

Padua's shopping is more everyday: arcaded fashion and shoe shops, university bookshops, delicatessens under the Palazzo della Ragione and a large monthly antiques market in Prato della Valle. In both cities, serious fashion shoppers head to Milan or Venice.

Padua is the cheaper place to stay, and that is why so many visitors sleep there and spend their days in Venice or Verona. Its hotels are moderately priced, and standing aperitivi and market food cost little.

Verona's eating is fair, especially in Veronetta, but rooms inside the historic centre are expensive for a provincial city and become scarce on summer opera nights. Staying near the station or across the river softens the bill.

Verona is well ahead, mainly because of the summer opera in the Roman Arena. On most evenings from June to early September, grand productions of Verdi and Puccini play to thousands of people seated on the stone tiers. The Roman theatre adds Shakespeare, dance and jazz outdoors, and the Teatro Filarmonico carries on through the cooler months.

Padua's programme is smaller but genuine, with prose theatre at the Teatro Verdi and chamber concerts in the frescoed Sala dei Giganti and the Basilica of Saint Anthony. For grand opera, people in Padua travel to the Arena or to the Fenice in Venice.

Padua has the stronger hand. Abano and Montegrotto, about 12km away, form one of Europe's largest thermal districts, with very hot mineral water, mud treatments used since Roman times and dozens of spa pools open to day visitors.

Verona's springs are fewer and further out: Sirmione's lakeside thermal centre, the spring-fed thermal park near Lazise and the old springs at Caldiero. Within town, both cities rely on the same slow rhythm of long lunches and quiet gardens.