Pisa or Florence?

Pisa has a coastline of its own, and Florence does not. From Pisa, the long sandy beaches of Tirrenia and Calambrone, backed by pine woods, are about 12km away, close enough for a summer afternoon off from sightseeing, and their shallow water suits paddling. Marina di Pisa, nearer the river mouth, has rockier breakwaters and cloudier water.

From Florence, the nearest sand is the Versilia around Viareggio, about an hour and a half by train. That makes it a full day out, so on a hot afternoon most visitors cool off in a pool instead.

Florence is the better city for eating. You can try lampredotto from the street carts, bistecca alla fiorentina, and Tuscan reds by the glass from the Chianti hills just south of town. It also has two markets worth seeing, the Mercato Centrale and Sant'Ambrogio, and a fine-dining tier for a special night.

Pisa cooks in the same plain Tuscan style but with less range. Its best moments are hot cecina from a wood oven and student-priced trattorias around Piazza delle Vettovaglie. In both cities, avoid the menus near the main monuments.

Florence is in another league. The Uffizi, the Accademia, the Bargello, the Pitti Palace and the Duomo complex hold the heart of Renaissance art, and the city's sights can fill a week. Smaller places such as the Brancacci Chapel and the frescoed monks' cells at San Marco add depth for anyone who stays longer.

Pisa has one great set piece in the Piazza dei Miracoli, with its cathedral, baptistery, tower and Camposanto. Beyond it, Piazza dei Cavalieri, Santa Maria della Spina and the medieval paintings of San Matteo make for two rewarding days rather than a long stay.

Neither city stays up late, and both evenings run on aperitivo and wine in a piazza. Florence offers more choice: the crowd spilling out around Santo Spirito, the more local bars near Sant'Ambrogio, and summer bars along the Arno. Pisa is more of a student scene in the squares around the old market, which goes quiet outside term, while in summer the life of the evening moves to the beach bars.

Both cities have countryside close at hand, but of different kinds. Florence is ringed by cultivated hills: the olive terraces of Fiesole, the cypress lanes and vineyards of Chianti, and the Casentino forests further out.

Pisa has wilder ground at its edge. The San Rossore park mixes pine forest, wetland and open dunes, with fallow deer and birdwatching on Lake Massaciuccoli. The flat plain is easy for cycling, and the Apuan Alps and the Cinque Terre cliff paths are within reach.

Both cities make excellent bases, and Florence has a slight edge. Siena, San Gimignano, Chianti and the Val d'Orcia towns lie within reach to the south, and Bologna is under forty minutes by fast train.

Pisa faces the other way, towards the coast and the north. Lucca is under half an hour away, the Cinque Terre about an hour, and the marble towns of Pietrasanta and Carrara are close. Florence itself makes an easy day out from Pisa. The southern hill towns take longer to reach from there.

Pisa is the easier city with children. Its centre is flat and small, there is a lawn to run on below the tower, and the shallow sandy beaches and bike paths of San Rossore give children a proper outdoor day. Note that younger children cannot climb the tower.

Florence demands more planning. Climbing the dome, the secret passages of Palazzo Vecchio and the Boboli Gardens all work for children, but the narrow pavements, heavy summer crowds and gallery-heavy sights wear young children out faster.

Both are cities you cover on foot, with no need for a metro. Florence packs its main sights into about twenty minutes of walking, though the pavements are narrow and crowded, and trams run out to the airport. Pisa is flatter and suits a bike. Its airport is unusually close to the station by shuttle train, but the walk from the station to the tower takes about half an hour.

Florence is a real shopping destination, built on craft. You will find leather workshops, marbled paper and bound notebooks, jewellers on the Ponte Vecchio and restorers and gilders in the Oltrarno. Via de' Tornabuoni has the great Italian fashion houses, and Via Maggio its antique dealers.

Pisa offers everyday shopping: chains on Corso Italia, smarter shoes and pastry shops under the arcades of Borgo Stretto, and a monthly antiques market by the river. For anything more, Pisans go to Florence or Lucca.

Pisa is noticeably easier on the wallet. Its central rooms are mid-range rather than premium, the student trattorias are good value, and once you have paid for the tower climb, few big admission fees remain.

Florence costs more almost everywhere. Hotels in the historic centre are expensive for much of the year, and the main museums and the dome climb soon add up. Street food, market lunches and a room across the river or near the station help.

Florence has the deeper musical life. Opera was born there, and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino has its own orchestra, a full season of opera and ballet, and one of Europe's oldest spring festivals. In summer there are outdoor concerts as well.

Pisa centres on a single house, the horseshoe-shaped Teatro Verdi, which offers an unpretentious night of opera or a concert from autumn to spring. Beyond that there are university chamber series and the odd church recital.

Neither city has a bathing tradition within its walls, so both rely on hotel spas and the thermal towns nearby. Pisa's are closer. San Giuliano Terme, with its 18th-century bath palace, lies just outside the city, and Casciana Terme has a larger public pool. Florence's options mean more travel: Montecatini Terme is under an hour by train, and the open-air pools of Saturnia and Bagno Vignoni call for a night away. Pisa's small scale also makes it calmer day to day.