Rome or Florence?

Neither is a beach city, but Rome has the sea within easy reach and Florence does not. From Rome a suburban train reaches Ostia's dark volcanic sand in about half an hour, so a swim can fit into an afternoon, and Fregene to the north is calmer. The water is rarely clear, and the prettier coves of Sperlonga and Sabaudia take longer to reach.

Florence's nearest beaches are the long sandy lido strips of the Versilia near Viareggio, about an hour and a half by train. That makes the sea a full day out or a separate leg of the trip, and most summer visitors cool off in a hotel pool or a public pool instead.

Both cities cook plain food built on good ingredients, best eaten in family trattorias away from the main sights, but Rome gives a visitor more to work through. There are the four Roman pastas, artichokes fried the Jewish way in the Ghetto, the offal dishes of Testaccio and pizza sold by weight. Trastevere, Monti and Testaccio are full of places to eat them.

Florence has bistecca, bread soups like ribollita and lampredotto from the carts, and the markets at San Lorenzo and Sant'Ambrogio are excellent. It wins clearly on wine, with Chianti Classico starting just south of the city, where Rome has only the modest whites of Frascati.

Both rank among the great art cities of the world, and the difference is one of period and scale. Florence is the Renaissance packed into a small centre: Brunelleschi's dome, the Uffizi, David at the Accademia, the sculpture of the Bargello and Fra Angelico's frescoes at San Marco. You can see the essentials in a few days.

Rome covers two thousand years. It runs from the Colosseum, the Forum and the Pantheon through the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel to Bernini's piazzas and Caravaggios above side altars. It is spread more widely, and a week there leaves far more unseen.

Florence's evenings usually end over a last glass of Tuscan red, while Rome's carry on later and across more neighbourhoods. In Florence the crowd gathers on Piazza Santo Spirito in the Oltrarno and around Sant'Ambrogio. In summer there are outdoor bars along the Arno, and near the centre there is a cluster of loud student pubs, but there is little dancing to move on to.

Rome spreads the night across the city. Trastevere's lanes stay full until late, Monti has small cocktail bars, San Lorenzo is cheap and full of students, and Pigneto draws an arty crowd. The clubs around Testaccio and Ostiense are not a reason to come, but they give you somewhere to go once the bars close.

They are evenly matched outdoors, but the landscapes are different. Florence's countryside starts at the edge of town: olive terraces at Fiesole, the paths of Monte Morello, and the vineyard lanes of Chianti for walking and cycling, with the Casentino forests further out.

Rome's green is more urban, in the villa parks and along the Appian Way, a superb bike ride past tombs and aqueducts. Further out are the crater lakes of the Alban Hills and winter skiing at Terminillo.

Both make excellent bases, but Florence has more first-rate towns close by. Siena, Pisa and Lucca are each about an hour away, Bologna is under forty minutes by fast train, and San Gimignano, Volterra and the Chianti villages lie in the hills around. That is enough for a week without repeating yourself.

Rome's day trips lean towards the ancient world: Ostia Antica, and at Tivoli, Hadrian's Villa and the Villa d'Este, are all close. The Etruscan tombs of Tarquinia and cliff-top Orvieto are further out, and Assisi and Pompeii each take a long day.

Neither city is set up for children, and in both the great sights are meant for adults, so travelling in spring or autumn and at a slow pace matters more than which city you choose. Rome has a few more ready-made outings: the Bioparco zoo and rowing boats in Villa Borghese, a children's museum, and the draw of gladiators and catacombs.

Florence's small centre is easier to manage on foot, though the pavements are narrow. Its best moments for children are climbing the dome, the secret passages of Palazzo Vecchio and a day at the Pinocchio park at Collodi.

Florence is easier to get around. The Duomo, the Uffizi, the Accademia and the Pitti Palace are all within about twenty minutes' walk, Santa Maria Novella station sits in the centre for day trips, and a tram runs to the airport. Narrow pavements and summer crowds are the main nuisance.

Rome's centre is also best seen on foot, but the distances are longer. When your feet give out, the metro barely reaches the core and buses get stuck in traffic. Cobbles, scooters and heat make it the more tiring of the two to cover.

Both are equally good for shopping, but in different ways. Florence is a city of crafts: leather from the workshops and the San Lorenzo stalls, marbled paper, the goldsmiths of the Ponte Vecchio and the gilders and restorers of the Oltrarno, with Via de' Tornabuoni for luxury.

Rome has the larger fashion district around the Spanish Steps, the chain stores of Via del Corso, and young designers and vintage in Monti, which Florence largely lacks. Its Sunday flea market at Porta Portese is huge.

Neither is cheap, and the money goes on the same things: hotel rooms in the centre and museum tickets. In Florence you can walk almost everywhere, so transport costs next to nothing, and lampredotto and market lunches are fairly priced.

Rome makes up for it with free drinking water from its fountains and churches full of masterpieces that cost nothing to enter. In both cities, staying outside the historic centre saves the most.

Florence has the longer history, since opera was more or less born here around 1600, and it has the Maggio Musicale festival and the Teatro della Pergola. Outside the season, though, there is little on in the evenings, and most visitors only see church concerts staged for tourists.

Rome has more to go to. There is opera in summer among the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla, and the Santa Cecilia orchestra plays at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, which also hosts jazz and pop. The city also has a long-running jazz club scene.

The best place to bathe from either city is outside town, and Florence has the grander choice. Montecatini Terme, an old spa town of drinking halls and thermal baths, is under an hour away by train. The outdoor sulphur pools of Bagno Vignoni and Saturnia are a good reason for a night in the southern Tuscan countryside. In the city itself, the Boboli and Bardini gardens are the quiet corners.

Rome's thermal water is closer in: the large Acque Albule pools at Bagni di Tivoli, and free open-air hot springs around Viterbo, about ninety minutes away. In town, as in Florence, a spa means a hotel spa or a hammam-style day spa, and for calm you go to the villa parks or the Aventine hill.