Piran or Turin?

Piran wins easily here, though it is a swimming town rather than a sandy one. You get into the clear water from concrete ledges along the Punta, from the pebble cove at Fiesa, or from the small sandy beach at Portoroz.

Turin is landlocked on the Po plain. In summer the locals cool off in lakes such as Avigliana or Viverone, and the Riviera is far enough away that it means staying on the coast rather than going for an afternoon swim.

Piran feeds you simply and well: squid, mussels and scampi buzara in konobas off Tartini Square, with salt from the pans and Istrian olive oil on the table. But the harbour menus are all much the same.

Turin is a city to come to for the food. It offers agnolotti del plin, vitello tonnato, autumn truffles from the Langhe, Barolo on every wine list, vermouth where it began, and gianduiotti and bicerin in the old cafés. Porta Palazzo market adds produce and cheap bites.

In Piran the town itself is the sight: Venetian Gothic lanes, the oval square named after Tartini, and the view from St George's campanile and the old walls. Beyond that there is only a maritime museum and a monastery cloister.

Turin has the depth that Piran lacks. The Museo Egizio alone justifies a visit, and around it are the Royal Palace, Palazzo Madama, the Savoy residences out to Venaria, the cinema museum inside the Mole and contemporary art at Rivoli. It takes several days rather than one.

After sunset Piran settles down to a glass of wine on the Punta, and for anything louder you have to go to Portoroz for its beach bars and casino. Turin keeps going for much longer. The aperitivo leads on to cocktail bars in the Quadrilatero Romano, pavement crowds in San Salvario and the riverside Murazzi in summer, though it is a sociable scene rather than a wild one.

Piran's surroundings are small-scale and pleasant: the flysch cliffs at Strunjan, where you can kayak below them, wading birds among the Secovlje salt pans, and the Parenzana cycle route through olive groves.

Turin has the Alps close by. Gran Paradiso, with its ibex and high trails, and the Susa valley are both within about an hour and a half, offering hut-to-hut hiking in summer and skiing in winter. You can also walk up through the hills to Superga without leaving town.

Both make good bases. Piran's strength is its position where three countries meet: Trieste, Rovinj, Motovun and the Skocjan caves are all close, and summer boats run to Venice. You will mostly need a car, though.

Turin gives you a little more, and much of it by train. The Langhe wine villages and Alba are about an hour south, Milan is about an hour by fast train, and the Sacra di San Michele, Aosta and Genoa make longer days out.

Neither is ideal, and they suit different children. Piran works for a few calm days with young ones: the town has no cars, the summer sea is warm and there is a small aquarium, but swimming is off ledges and the lanes up to the church are steep.

Turin suits older, curious children better. They can ride the glass lift up the Mole and see the mummies, the car museum and the planetarium, and the grid of arcades is easy with a pushchair. For animals you need the zoo park at Cumiana.

Inside town, both are easy on foot. Piran's car-free peninsula takes about a quarter of an hour to cross, and Turin's flat arcaded grid links the station to the Mole and the river.

The difference shows once you leave town. Piran has no railway and slow buses, so most visitors hire a car. Turin adds a metro line, trams and good rail links to the rest of Italy.

In Piran, shopping means a few craft galleries, souvenir stalls along the harbour and the things worth taking home: salt flower from Secovlje, olive oil and coastal wine.

Turin is a proper shopping city. Via Roma has designer labels under its arcades, Via Garibaldi has the high-street names, and there are antique dealers on Via Maria Vittoria and the Balon flea market. Above all there are chocolate makers and delicatessens, though the designer fashion choice is limited.

Turin is the cheaper stay. Central hotels are fairly priced for most of the year, a generous aperitivo can replace dinner, and public transport costs little. Costs only rise for fine dining, truffle season and during big trade fairs.

Piran costs more in July and August, when old-town rooms are scarce and waterfront tables charge for the view. Staying in Portoroz, eating in plain konobas or coming outside the summer brings it closer to Turin's level.

In Piran, music is almost all in summer: Tartini concerts in churches, the monastery cloister and on the square, and occasional recitals at the small Tartini Theatre. Turin has a full year-round season, with opera and ballet at the Teatro Regio, the RAI National Symphony Orchestra, concerts at the Lingotto and jazz clubs across the centre. Its theatre, however, is almost all in Italian.

Piran is the better place to unwind. Portoroz grew up as a spa town around seawater pools and brine baths, and out among the salt pans you can lie in salt mud with the lagoons around you. The car-free lanes slow you down too.

Turin offers calm rather than treatment: long coffee breaks under the arcades, walks along the Po and hotel spas. Real thermal baths at Acqui Terme or in the Aosta valley are close to two hours away.