Pula or Turin?

This is the one area where Pula clearly wins. Its indented coast south of the centre has pebble coves, rock ledges and concrete platforms above very clear water, with pine shade down to the shore. Cape Kamenjak has dozens of wild inlets, and the bays at Medulin have shallow water for small children.

Turin has no beach of its own. The Ligurian coast is close to two hours away, and in summer locals make do with small lakes such as Avigliana. If swimming matters to your trip, Turin can't provide it.

Both regions are known for truffles, but Turin is the better city to eat in. Piedmontese cooking is rich and precise: vitello tonnato, tajarin with butter, bollito misto, plus Barolo and Barbaresco on every wine list. The city invented vermouth and the aperitivo. Add gianduiotti, bicerin in the arcade cafés and the huge Porta Palazzo market.

Pula has Istrian cooking: fuži with truffle, scampi buzara, pršut, Malvazija and Teran. In town, though, the choice is small, and the tables around the Forum lean towards tourist menus. The best meals are in konobas in the inland villages or by the small harbours.

Pula's sights are almost all Roman, and they are impressive. The Arena still stands three storeys high above the harbour, and nearby are the Temple of Augustus on the Forum and the Arch of the Sergii. Add the Venetian fortress and the Austro-Hungarian naval forts, and two days is enough.

Turin needs much longer. The Museo Egizio alone fills a morning, and then come the Royal Palace and its armoury, Palazzo Madama, the cathedral with the Shroud and the UNESCO-listed Savoy residences out to Venaria. The Mole's cinema museum, the car museum and the Lingotto cover its industrial past, and Rivoli adds contemporary art.

Turin has the busier and more varied evenings. The aperitivo runs on into wine bars in the Quadrilatero Romano, street crowds in San Salvario, a more alternative scene in Vanchiglia and, in summer, the riverside Murazzi. There are also clubs in old industrial buildings, and it all carries on through the academic year.

Pula only really goes out in summer, and gently even then. Evenings start on terraces by the Forum and move on to beach bars on Verudela and around Medulin. After September most nights end early.

Turin has mountains within reach. The Susa valley, the ibex and high trails of Gran Paradiso and the ski slopes around Sestriere are an hour or so away, which means skiing in winter and hut-to-hut hiking in summer. The Superga hills and the Mandria forest are closer to town.

Pula's outdoors is low and coastal. Kamenjak is good for walking and cycling among wild flowers and dinosaur footprints, and you can kayak among the islets or dive on old naval wrecks. The nearest real hiking is in the Učka range, about an hour and a half away.

Both are excellent bases for day trips, and Turin's are a little richer and easier to reach. The Langhe wine villages, Alba and Barolo are about an hour south, and Milan is an hour away by fast train. The Sacra di San Michele, Aosta and Genoa all make full days out.

Pula covers Istria well: Rovinj on its peninsula, the Byzantine mosaics at Poreč, the hilltop towns of Motovun and Hum, and the boat to Brijuni. Buses are infrequent, though, so nearly all of it works best by car.

Both cities are about equally good for families, but the days look very different. In Pula children spend most of their time by the sea, and the sheltered bays at Medulin and Premantura suit them better than the rocks near town. The aquarium in an old fort on Verudela, the passages under the Arena and the safari animals on Brijuni fill the rest, though the summer heat and the need for a car make it harder work.

Turin is better for older children who like museums: the glass lift up the Mole, the cars at the Museo dell'Automobile, the Egyptian mummies and the rack railway to Superga. Its flat arcades are easy with a pushchair. There is no beach or lake in the city, though, so a summer swim means a drive to the lakes or to the bathing pools at the Zoom park.

Turin is the easier city to manage without a car. Its centre is a flat grid with kilometres of arcades, so most sights are a walk apart. A metro line, trams and good rail links to the rest of Italy cover the rest, and you only need a car for the wine hills and the Alps.

Pula's old centre is just as walkable, but it is small. Kamenjak, the hill towns and most of the coastline are hard to reach without your own car or scooter, and parking near the centre is tight in summer.

Turin is a real shopping city. Via Roma's arcades have the big fashion labels, and there are boutiques around the Quadrilatero and antique dealers along Via Maria Vittoria. On Saturdays the Balon flea market sets up behind Porta Palazzo.

In Pula, the things worth buying are food and drink: olive oil, truffle products, rakija and pršut from the market hall or straight from the farms. Food is also Turin's most distinctive buy, with gianduja and Piedmontese wine.

Turin goes a little further on a modest budget. A generous aperitivo can replace dinner, and trattorie and market food are good value. Public transport is cheap, and you hardly need it in the centre. Hotels cost more only during big trade fairs.

Pula is reasonable in spring and autumn, but in July and August rooms cost about as much as on Western Europe's coasts. Restaurants near the Arena charge tourist prices, and car hire and boat trips soon add up.

Turin has a full year-round programme. The Teatro Regio stages opera and ballet, the RAI National Symphony Orchestra has its own hall, the Lingotto auditorium hosts more concerts, and there are jazz clubs and music festivals throughout the year.

Pula has one memorable venue: the Arena on a summer night, used for pop concerts, classical galas and film festival screenings. Outside summer there is little beyond Croatian-language theatre.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, but Turin is a little better for unwinding. It has spa day centres as well as hotel spas, slow afternoons in the historic cafés and Valentino park, and real thermal baths at Acqui Terme or in the Aosta valley if you are willing to travel about two hours.

In Pula, spa treatments mean the large resort hotels on Verudela and in Medulin. Otherwise relaxing comes from long coffees on the Forum and evening walks under the pines along the coast.