Rome or Verona?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Rome at least has the sea. Ostia's dark volcanic sand is about half an hour away by suburban train, with paid lidos and a free stretch towards Castel Porziano, and Fregene is calmer. The water is warm in high summer but rarely clear, and the prettier coves at Sperlonga and Sabaudia take a full day.

Verona swims in a lake instead. The southern shore of Lake Garda has calm, clear water, grassy lawns and pebble beaches, and Sirmione's limestone shelves. The beaches are narrow and crowded on summer weekends, though, and need a car or a train. Rome gives you open sea and long sand, while Verona gives you clearer but more cramped water.

Rome eats far better. Its cooking is a cuisine in its own right: the four classic pastas, artichokes fried the Jewish way in the Ghetto, Testaccio's offal dishes, and serious street food in pizza al taglio and supplì. Monti, Trastevere and Testaccio are whole neighbourhoods to eat your way through.

Verona's cooking has less range. It means Amarone risotto, bigoli with duck and bollito with pearà in wood-panelled osterie, and there is little street food. Where it wins is wine, because Valpolicella, Amarone and Soave are all made a short drive away, while Rome's local wine barely goes beyond Frascati.

Both cities have a Roman amphitheatre at their heart, but that is where the likeness ends. Rome adds the Forum, the Palatine, the Pantheon and the Baths of Caracalla, then layers gold mosaics, Bernini's Baroque and Caravaggios on top. The Vatican Museums, the Borghese and Palazzo Massimo can each fill a day, and a week still leaves things unseen.

Verona is a concentrated version. The Arena, the Roman theatre, the Scaliger tombs, San Zeno's bronze doors and Castelvecchio in its Carlo Scarpa setting reward two or three days rather than demanding more. That makes it easier to take in, but it comes nowhere near Rome's depth.

Both cities run on aperitivo and drinking outdoors, but Rome has far more of it. Trastevere's lanes stay full until late, and Monti, San Lorenzo and Pigneto each draw a different crowd. Testaccio and Ostiense have some clubs for anyone who wants to dance.

Verona's evenings centre on a spritz in Piazza delle Erbe. Veronetta's student bars stay open later in term time, but most streets thin out well before the small hours. The exception is summer, when the crowd leaving the Arena opera brings the centre back to life near midnight.

Verona has the better outdoors close at hand. The Valpolicella vineyards begin just north of town for walking and cycling, and the Adige cycle route runs north towards Trento. Within an hour, Monte Baldo rises over Lake Garda with ridge walks, paragliding and reliable sailing wind at the northern end, and the Lessinia plateau adds beech woods and gorges.

Rome's green spaces are mostly the old villa parks and the Appian Way, which makes a superb bike ride past tombs and aqueducts. The Alban crater lakes and the Apennines are further out. Long hot summers also cut its outdoor season shorter.

The real difference is what you go out to see. Rome's outings lean towards ancient sites and hill towns: Ostia Antica, Hadrian's Villa and the fountains of Villa d'Este at Tivoli, the Etruscan tombs at Tarquinia, and the clifftop towns of Orvieto and Civita di Bagnoregio. Florence and Naples are an easy fast-train ride away, and Pompeii fits into a long day.

Verona packs more variety into shorter journeys. Venice is just over an hour away by train. Palladio's Vicenza, Giotto's chapel in Padua and Gonzaga Mantua are closer still. The Garda lake towns and the wine cellars of Valpolicella and Soave are close by, so a week can mix art cities, lake harbours and tastings.

Verona is the easier choice with children. Gardaland, the water parks and the Parco Natura Viva safari zoo are all about half an hour away, and the lake has calm, shallow swimming. The flat, mostly pedestrian centre is kind to pushchairs, though you need a car or a transfer for the attractions.

Rome has gladiators, catacombs, the Bioparco zoo and rowing boats in Villa Borghese. Its main sights are aimed at adults, though, and they come with long queues. Cobbles, traffic and summer heat make the days tiring for small legs.

Verona is the easier city to get around, simply because there is less ground to cover. Rome's centre is walkable, from the Colosseum past the Pantheon and Piazza Navona to Trastevere, but the distances are longer and the cobbles and scooters wear you down. The metro barely enters the historic core, so slow buses stuck in traffic fill the gaps.

Verona's centre inside the river loop is small, flat and largely closed to cars, and Veronetta and the Roman theatre are only minutes away across a bridge. There is no metro, and you will not miss one. Trains handle Venice and the lake well, but the Valpolicella villages and the Lessinia are far easier by car.

Rome is the shopping city of the two. The big fashion houses line Via Condotti and the streets around the Spanish Steps, and Monti has independent designers and vintage. Via Margutta and Via dei Coronari keep artisans and antique dealers, and the Sunday flea market at Porta Portese is vast.

Verona's Via Mazzini has smart Italian labels on a provincial scale, and its best buys are edible and drinkable: Amarone, Garda olive oil and pandoro. Serious fashion shoppers based in Verona go to Milan.

Neither city is cheap, and in both the hotel room is the biggest cost, but Verona is somewhat kinder on the budget. The walkable centre means you spend little on transport, Veronetta's student osterie keep meals fair, and local wine is good value. The catch is rooms on opera nights and during trade fairs.

Rome's central rooms are small and costly, and the Vatican, the Colosseum and the Borghese all charge substantial entry fees. Free drinking fountains, churches open to all and pizza al taglio help, but a week in Rome usually costs more.

Rome keeps the music going all year. The Teatro dell'Opera holds its season through the winter, the Santa Cecilia orchestra plays at Renzo Piano's Auditorium, churches put on sacred and organ concerts, and there is a long-running jazz club scene. In summer the opera moves outdoors to the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla.

Verona's Arena is the bigger single spectacle, with grand Verdi, Puccini and Bizet on the ancient stone tiers on most summer evenings, running until close to midnight. The Roman theatre adds Shakespeare and jazz, but from autumn to spring the Teatro Filarmonico's programme is modest. Go to Verona for the Arena and to Rome for the wider choice.

Verona has easier access to warm water. Sirmione's thermal centre has pools facing Lake Garda, a warm spring-fed lake near Lazise sits in an old villa garden, and the springs at Caldiero, used since Roman times, are closer still. Apart from the crowds around the Arena, the city itself is gentle.

Rome's nearest thermal pools are at Bagni di Tivoli, and the free hot springs near Viterbo are about ninety minutes away. The centre is loud with scooters and heat, so calm comes from the villa gardens, the Aventine and the long Roman lunch.