Positano or San Marino?

Positano lives by the sea. Spiaggia Grande and Fornillo are steps from town, Arienzo and Laurito are a stairway or a boat ride away, and the water is deep and clear, though the shore is coarse, shelves steeply and fills up early in high summer.

San Marino has no shore of its own. The beaches are the long, sandy, organised strands of Rimini and Riccione, roughly half an hour's drive away, with shallow water that suits children better than Positano's pebbles but none of its drama.

Neither place is a reason to travel for food, and both charge for the view on their terraces. The difference is the kitchen: Positano cooks the sea, with clams, grilled fish, seafood scialatielli and lemon desserts, on menus that repeat themselves and often close in winter.

San Marino eats from the hills, with tagliatelle, passatelli in broth, grilled meats, piadina and the Tre Monti wafer cake, plus its own Sangiovese. The best meals are in trattorias in Borgo Maggiore and the lower villages rather than up on the summit.

San Marino gives more to see. The three towers on Monte Titano, the cliffside path between Guaita and Cesta, the Palazzo Pubblico and the basilica tell the story of one of the world's oldest surviving republics, and half a day does it justice.

In Positano the town itself is the sight: the majolica dome of Santa Maria Assunta and the painted Roman villa beneath it, then little more. A couple of hours covers it, and serious sightseeing means Naples or the rest of the coast.

Neither is a place for a big night out, but Positano at least has a summer scene: aperitivo with a sea view, a few wine and cocktail bars near the beach and a cave club at the end of Spiaggia Grande, all fading once the season ends.

San Marino goes quiet when the coaches leave, leaving a few terraces for a drink over the lights of the coast. Anyone wanting more has to drive down to the Riviera clubs of Rimini and Riccione.

Positano has the grander landscape by far. The Lattari mountains drop straight into the sea, the Path of the Gods runs along the cliffs to Nocelle, trails climb above 1,000m through chestnut woods, and kayaks reach grottoes and the Li Galli islets.

Monte Titano is gentler: a limestone ridge of about 740m with fine views over the Romagna plain, short paths between the towers and quiet cycling roads in the Montefeltro hills. It suits a morning walk rather than a day of serious hiking.

Both make good bases, but Positano's reach is richer. Amalfi, Ravello, Capri and Sorrento are a ferry ride away, and Pompeii, Herculaneum and Paestum make full days out, though most boats stop outside the warmer months.

San Marino's outings run inland and along the Adriatic: the San Leo fortress, Urbino's Renaissance palace, Ravenna's mosaics and Rimini's Roman arch. Beyond the bus to Rimini, almost all of them need a car.

San Marino is the easier family stop. Children enjoy the battlements, cliff edges and the cable car from Borgo Maggiore, and with a car the theme parks, waterparks and shallow beaches around Rimini and Riccione are within easy reach.

Positano is built of stairs, has nothing aimed at children beyond the sea and drops off quickly from its pebbly beaches. Older children who love boats and swimming will be fine, but toddlers and pushchairs are hard going.

Both towns are steep and best walked, so expect steps either way. San Marino is slightly simpler: a car-free core you can cross in under half an hour, a cable car down to Borgo Maggiore, car parks on the slopes and a direct bus to Rimini's trains.

In Positano a car is more trouble than it is worth on the narrow coast road, so you depend on crowded buses, a single loop road and seasonal ferries, plus a great many stairs.

Positano has a look you can take home: loose linen and printed resort wear in the lanes above the beach, sandals cut to fit while you wait and hand-painted ceramics. It is a single style, but a genuine one.

San Marino trades mainly on souvenirs, stamps and coins, and on tax-cheap perfume, watches and spirits, with an outlet centre on the valley floor. It is useful for bargains rather than for anything with local character.

This is where the two differ most. Positano is among the costliest places to stay in Italy, with sea-view rooms, loungers, terrace meals and boat transfers all adding up, and staying in Praiano or Sorrento is the usual way to cut the bill.

San Marino is middling and predictable. Hotels outside August and trattorias in the lower villages are fairly priced, only the summit carries a premium, and lower taxes trim the cost of fuel and some goods.

Both are thin on stage life, and both send you elsewhere for opera. Positano's best evening lies along the coast at Ravello's summer festival, with classical concerts on a terrace above the sea.

San Marino's highlight is its own Medieval Days each summer, with costumed musicians, crossbow contests and flag-throwers, and the Rossini town of Pesaro is within reach for more.

Positano makes the more restful retreat, mostly through its upscale hotels, several with spas and cliffside pools, and through the simple pleasure of a long afternoon on a terrace over the sea. High summer is crowded, so May, June and late September are calmest.

San Marino offers only a few hotel spas. Its form of rest is the hush of the summit once the day visitors leave, with evening walks along the walls, while proper thermal baths mean a separate trip down to the coast or the Apennines.