Rome or Trieste?

Trieste uses its sea far more easily. Locals swim straight from the Barcola promenade, climbing down ladders from concrete platforms and pine-shaded lawns into clear Adriatic water. The prettier pebble coves at Sistiana and Duino are close by. There is almost no sand, though.

Rome does have sand, the dark volcanic stretches of Ostia and Fregene, but they are mostly rows of paid lidos and the water is rarely clear. That makes the sea a half-hour train trip on a hot day rather than part of everyday life, and for clean water you have to go further south.

Rome is the stronger food city, with a cuisine all its own. Carbonara, cacio e pepe, amatriciana and gricia are made in plain trattorias. Add artichokes fried in the old Ghetto, offal dishes in Testaccio and pizza al taglio for lunch, and the eating is a big part of any stay, as long as you avoid the menus near the big sights.

Trieste eats differently. Its food is a Central European mix of boiled pork carved at buffet counters, jota soup, fried sardoni and Austrian cakes, and its coffee culture is unusually serious. On the Karst, osmize farmhouses add local wine and cured meats, but the city's range of restaurants is narrower than Rome's.

There is no real contest here. Rome has the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. Its basilicas have gold mosaics and Caravaggios hang above the altars. You could spend weeks there and still leave things out.

Trieste's appeal is different and smaller in scale. It is a Habsburg port city, with the sea-facing Piazza Unità, the canal-side Borgo Teresiano, San Giusto's mosaics and the white Miramare Castle. Its sights fill two or three days, and much of its charm comes from the atmosphere of its literary past.

Rome has more going on after dark. Trastevere's lanes stay busy with wine bars until late, and Monti, San Lorenzo and Pigneto each draw a different crowd. Most of the night is spent outdoors in piazzas rather than in clubs.

Trieste's evenings are shorter and quieter. People drink spritz around Piazza Unità and the Canal Grande, and in summer the crowd moves to the kiosks along the Barcola seafront. On a winter weeknight the streets are quiet by midnight.

Trieste has the outdoors right on its doorstep. The Karst plateau rises straight behind the streets, with clifftop walks on the Strada Napoleonica and the Rilke Path, climbing in Val Rosandra and huge caves such as the Grotta Gigante. The gulf adds sailing, and you can snorkel and kayak in the Miramare marine reserve.

Rome's green space is mostly in its villa parks and along the Appian Way, a superb bike ride past tombs and aqueduct ruins. For hills you need a trip out, to the crater lakes of the Alban Hills or to the Apennines about ninety minutes away.

Both cities are good bases, but Rome has the stronger list. Ostia Antica and Tivoli's Villa d'Este and Hadrian's Villa are close by, with Etruscan tombs, Orvieto and Assisi further out. Fast trains also bring Florence and Naples within a day trip.

Trieste's strength is variety across borders. Aquileia's mosaic floor, star-shaped Palmanova and the Collio wine country lie in Friuli, while Piran, Ljubljana and the Postojna cave are across the line in Slovenia. Venice is a long but realistic day.

Neither city is built for children, and the problems differ. In Rome, gladiators, catacombs and daily gelato keep children interested, and Villa Borghese has a zoo and rowing boats. But queues, crowds, summer heat and cobbles that are hard on pushchairs make the days tiring.

Trieste is calmer and safer, with a giant cave, a small aquarium and a science centre. Its drawbacks are steep, stepped streets and swimming off rocks rather than from sand. It works better for older children than for toddlers.

Trieste is the easier city to get around. Its main sights lie close together on flat ground by the sea, and buses and bay ferries reach Barcola, Miramare, the Karst and Muggia. The only hard work is the stepped climb up San Giusto.

Rome's centre is also best seen on foot, and the walks between sights are part of the pleasure. Outside the centre it is harder. The metro barely reaches the historic core, buses get stuck in traffic, and cobbles, scooters and heat wear you out.

Rome is the place for shopping. The big Italian fashion houses line Via Condotti and the streets around the Spanish Steps. Monti has independent boutiques and vintage shops, and Porta Portese holds a huge Sunday flea market.

Trieste has ordinary clothing shops and some antique and second-hand shops in the old town. Its best buys are edible: locally roasted coffee, Karst wine and honey, and presnitz pastries.

Trieste is easier on the budget. Rooms are reasonably priced most of the year, buses are cheap, and swimming, the waterfront and walks on the Karst cost nothing.

Rome costs more, mainly for accommodation: central rooms are expensive and small, and the big museums charge substantial entry fees. Standing espresso, pizza al taglio, free drinking fountains and free churches full of art help keep daily spending down.

Rome has more to offer for an evening out. The Teatro dell'Opera moves outdoors to the Baths of Caracalla each summer. The Santa Cecilia orchestra plays at Renzo Piano's Auditorium, and churches and jazz clubs fill the other nights.

Trieste is a serious opera town on a smaller scale. The waterfront Teatro Verdi has a proper season and the city keeps a rare taste for operetta. Beyond that the options thin out, so you won't find something on most nights.

Neither city has a bathing culture of its own, and both rely on hotel and day spas. Rome is better placed for thermal water, with the Acque Albule pools at Tivoli and free hot springs near Viterbo. From Trieste you have to travel further for a proper spa.

Trieste wins on pace. Long hours in old coffee houses and sunset walks along the Molo Audace are quieter than anything in Rome's noisy centre, where calm means the villa gardens or the Aventine.