Positano or Turin?

Positano's whole day revolves around the water. There is Spiaggia Grande under the town, quieter Fornillo along the cliff path, and coves such as Laurito reached by boat or stairway. The shore is coarse pebble and drops steeply, but the sea is clear and warm from June into October.

Turin has no sea at all. The Ligurian coast is the best part of two hours away, so in summer the realistic swim is a small lake such as Avigliana or, further off, Lago Maggiore.

Positano eats well at lunch on a terrace, with clams, grilled fish and lemon desserts. Still, the menus repeat one another, there is little everyday eating, and many kitchens close in winter.

Turin is the far richer table. Agnolotti del plin, vitello tonnato, autumn white truffles and Barolo give it real depth. The city also invented the aperitivo, serves bicerin in its arcaded cafés and has the huge Porta Palazzo market. Only street food and foreign cooking fall short.

In Positano the main sight is the town itself: pastel houses stacked up the ravine, the majolica dome of Santa Maria Assunta and the Roman villa beneath it. Together they fill a morning.

Turin is a museum city of real weight. The Museo Egizio alone justifies the trip. Around it stand the Royal Palace, Palazzo Madama, the cathedral of the Shroud, the Mole with its cinema museum and the UNESCO-listed Savoy residences. Fiat's Lingotto and contemporary art at Rivoli add the industrial and modern sides.

An evening in Positano means an aperitivo over the bay and a long dinner. Some end with a late night in the cave club at the end of the main beach, and even that winds down after summer.

Turin has a proper, if easy-going, scene. There are wine bars in the lanes of the Quadrilatero Romano, students crowding the pavements of San Salvario, the Murazzi on the Po in summer and clubs in old industrial buildings. It is sociable rather than wild, but it runs all year.

Both have remarkable landscapes close at hand, but of different kinds. Positano's is sea and cliff: the Path of the Gods above terraced lemon groves, wooded trails to ridges over 1,000m, and kayaks along the rock to grottoes and the Li Galli islets, all starting from town.

Turin's is alpine, and you need a train or car to reach it. Gran Paradiso has ibex and high trails, Sestriere has skiing in winter, and summer brings hut-to-hut hiking. Closer in, there are gentler walks up to Superga and cycling along the Po.

Positano's days out mostly begin at the harbour. Boats reach Capri in about half an hour and run along the coast to Amalfi's cathedral and paper mills and up to Ravello's gardens. Pompeii and Herculaneum are a ferry or bus to Sorrento and then the local train, and Paestum's Greek temples take about two hours. The weak point is the season, because most ferries stop running outside spring to autumn and winter outings mean slow buses.

Turin's outings go by rail and road, and they work in any month. The Langhe wine villages of Barolo and Alba are about an hour south, the Sacra di San Michele stands on its rock above the Susa valley, Milan is an hour away by fast train and Genoa's old port is about two.

Positano's endless stairs rule out pushchairs, and beyond swimming and boat trips there is little for children. It works best with older ones.

Turin is far easier. The grid is flat and the arcades shelter pushchairs, and several museums have obvious appeal for children, from the Mole's glass lift to the Egyptian mummies. There is also the rack railway to Superga, and the Zoom park is a drive away.

Positano is small but steep, so every errand means steps. The coast buses crawl in summer, and ferries do most of the work between towns, mainly in season.

Turin's centre is flat and arcaded, and most sights are within walking distance, from Porta Nuova to the Mole. A metro line, trams and good rail links cover the rest, though the trams take some working out.

Positano has one look and sells it well. The lanes down to the beach are full of loose white linen and printed resort wear, sandals cut to fit while you wait and hand-painted ceramics.

Turin offers more variety. Via Roma's arcades carry the big labels and Via Garibaldi has the mainstream shops. The best finds are things to eat and drink, such as chocolate, truffles and Piedmontese wine, and the antique dealers and the Balon flea market are good for browsing. Neither city is a serious destination for designer fashion.

Positano is among the costliest places to stay in Italy. Sea-view rooms, loungers, terrace meals and boat transfers are all priced for the setting. Staying in Praiano or Sorrento, or coming in May or October, softens the cost.

Turin is comfortable rather than cheap, but far kinder on a budget. Hotels are fairly priced except during big trade fairs, an aperitivo can stand in for dinner, and public transport is inexpensive.

Positano has little beyond the odd summer concert in a church or square. The real draw is an evening trip to Ravello's classical music festival, played on a terrace over the sea.

Turin has a full year-round programme. There is opera and ballet at the Teatro Regio, the RAI National Symphony Orchestra, concerts in Renzo Piano's Lingotto auditorium and jazz in small clubs, though the theatre is almost all in Italian.

Neither has a bathing tradition, so rest takes different forms. In Positano it means hotel spas, pools cut into the cliff and long afternoons on a terrace. It is most restful in May, June or late September, since high summer is crowded and the stairs are tiring.

Turin's calm comes from city life: slow coffee in historic cafés, walks under the arcades and along the Po, and quiet hours in Valentino park. Real thermal baths are about two hours away.