Padua or Vienna?

Neither city is a beach destination, and they differ in what takes the place of the sea. From Padua, the Adriatic at Sottomarina or the Venice Lido is about an hour away. The water is shallow and warm, but the shore is lined with umbrellas and bathing establishments, so it makes a day out rather than part of the stay.

Vienna has its swimming inside the city: grassy and gravel banks along the Danube Island and old lidos on the calmer Alte Donau, a U-Bahn ride from the centre. Pick Padua if you want the sea at some point, and Vienna if you want a quick river swim after an afternoon of sightseeing.

Both kitchens are regional and traditional, and both are short on international choice. Padua's appeal is a morning at the markets in Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza della Frutta, bigoli or baccalà for lunch, and a standing spritz in the squares at dusk, with wines from the Euganean Hills.

Vienna gives a little more to eat your way through. It has a whole cuisine of schnitzel, Tafelspitz and dumplings, a pastry tradition served in its grand coffee houses, and solid fine dining, which Padua largely lacks. On the city's edge, Heuriger taverns pour wine grown within the city limits.

Padua has one of the great single sights of Italy in Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel. Alongside it are the UNESCO-listed fresco cycles, the Basilica of Saint Anthony and the anatomical theatre at the Bo. It is a rich centre, but two or three days cover it.

Vienna works on a different scale. It has the Hofburg, Schönbrunn, St Stephen's and the Ringstrasse, and museums from the Bruegels in the Kunsthistorisches to Klimt at the Belvedere and Schiele at the Leopold. Add the Jugendstil buildings and Otto Wagner's stations and it fills a week.

Neither is a big night out, and in both cities the evening is about drinks rather than dancing. Padua's version is the student aperitivo: crowds with spritz glasses fill Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza dei Signori, then move on to wine bars in the old ghetto. The town goes quiet in high summer and the university breaks.

Vienna has more variety late at night, with bars and small clubs under the Gürtel railway arches, electronic nights in old industrial spaces and deckchair bars on the Danube Canal. It also has the formal balls of winter, a kind of night out Padua doesn't have.

Vienna has the greener doorstep. The Vienna Woods and the vineyard trails up to the Kahlenberg start at the city's edge, the Prater meadows reach into town, and the floodplain forest of the Donau-Auen lies just to the east. For longer days there are the Wachau cycle path and the plateaus of the Rax.

From Padua you need a short trip first. The Euganean Hills, about 15km away, have trails, vineyards and quiet cycling roads, and the Brenta towpaths make easy, flat rides. Real mountain walking on Monte Grappa or the Asiago plateau takes around an hour and a half by car.

This is where Padua pulls clearly ahead. Venice is under half an hour away by train, Vicenza a quarter of an hour, and Verona, Treviso, Bologna and Ferrara around an hour. You can see much of north-east Italy without changing hotels, and the Brenta villas and the walled towns around the Euganean Hills are closer still.

Vienna's list is good but has fewer famous names: the Wachau and Melk, Bratislava an hour away, Klosterneuburg, Baden and the Neusiedler See. Budapest and Salzburg are better done with a night away.

Padua is safe, flat and welcoming to children, and Prato della Valle is a good place for them to run about. Its sights, though, are frescoes and churches, so families tend to rely on Gardaland or the Adriatic, each around an hour or more away.

Vienna is much the easier choice with children. Schönbrunn Zoo, the Prater's rides and Ferris wheel, the aquarium in a wartime flak tower and the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum fill days of sun or rain. Summer swimming on the Danube Island adds more.

Both old centres are compact and largely closed to traffic, so most sights in either city are within walking distance. Padua's centre is smaller still. The Scrovegni Chapel and the Basilica of Saint Anthony are within a 20-minute walk of each other under the arcades, a tram runs from the station through the centre to Prato della Valle, and buses cover the rest. The town's real strength is its station, with quick trains in every direction, though the hills and villas are easier to reach by car.

Vienna is the easier city to get around overall. Five U-Bahn lines and a dense network of trams and buses all run on one ticket. They reach Schönbrunn, the Danube Island and even the vineyard villages without a car, and the U-Bahn runs all night at weekends.

Padua's shopping is mostly fashion and shoe shops under the arcades and bookshops serving the university. The best things to take home are cheeses, cured meats and Euganean wine from the markets, and there is a large antiques market on Prato della Valle one Sunday a month.

Vienna is the better place to shop. Luxury houses line the Kohlmarkt and Graben, locals buy everyday fashion on Mariahilfer Strasse, and Neubau has independent designers. Local crafts such as Augarten porcelain, crystal and Loden coats make gifts you won't find elsewhere.

Padua is the cheaper stay. It costs what a northern Italian city of its size usually does, and many visitors sleep there because it makes a cheaper base than Venice. A standing spritz and market food cost little, and you can walk everywhere.

Vienna costs more day to day, with dearer meals and full admission at the big palaces and museums. Transport passes, free palace gardens, set lunches and the State Opera's standing places keep it within reach.

Padua has a modest programme: theatre and some opera at the Teatro Verdi, and chamber concerts in the Sala dei Giganti and the Basilica of Saint Anthony. For major opera, people take the train to the Fenice in Venice or to the summer Arena in Verona.

Vienna is in another league, and many people go there for the music alone. The State Opera stages a different work on most nights, with cheap standing places, and the Philharmonic plays in the Musikverein's Golden Hall. The Konzerthaus, the Volksoper, the Theater an der Wien and the Burgtheater fill out the week.

Padua is the better choice for rest, thanks to Abano Terme and Montegrotto about 12km away. Together they form one of Europe's largest thermal districts, with hot springs, mud treatments and dozens of spa hotels that welcome day visitors. A soak after a morning of sightseeing is easy, and the town's long lunches and quiet botanical garden add to the calm.

Vienna's calm comes from its coffee houses, palace gardens and vineyard taverns. It has thermal bathing too, at Therme Wien, the Art Deco Amalienbad and in Baden half an hour away, but on a smaller scale.