Amalfi or Budva?

Budva is the better place for a beach-centred trip because it has more shore. Slovenska Plaza runs along the town front and Mogren's coves sit just past the walls. A short ride brings Becici, Jaz and the sand facing Sveti Stefan, so finding a free spot is mostly a matter of moving down the coast.

Amalfi has one pebble beach, Marina Grande, which in summer is mostly covered by beach-club loungers. The better swimming is in Atrani or in coves such as Santa Croce, reached by stairs or boat. The sea is just as warm and clear in both places. At Amalfi a swim fits between other plans, while at Budva it is the plan.

Amalfi eats better, thanks to a sharper local larder. Dishes are built on sfusato lemons, Cetara's colatura and scialatielli with clams, and the wines come from the steep vineyards of Furore and Tramonti. The good trattorias are up the alleys rather than on the piazza.

Budva's promenade mostly serves resort crowds with pizza and international menus. Its best food is regional: Njegusi ham and mountain cheese, grilled squid at family konobas and dark Vranac from around Lake Skadar. In both towns you need to step away from the front to eat well.

Neither town is a serious culture trip, but Amalfi has more to see. The Duomo di Sant'Andrea, with its Arab-Norman striped facade and Byzantine bronze doors, the Chiostro del Paradiso, the old Arsenale and the paper mill museum together fill half a day. They tell the story of a medieval sea republic.

Budva's Stari Grad takes an hour or two. Much of its stonework was rebuilt after the 1979 earthquake, and the small archaeological museum is the main addition. The coast's real heritage is in Kotor and Perast nearby.

This is where the two differ most. In summer Budva is a party town known across the Balkans. Beach bars and terrace clubs along Slovenska Plaza play pop and house, and a big open-air club above town runs until dawn.

Amalfi's evenings end with dinner and a gelato on Piazza Duomo, and the town goes quiet once the last ferries leave. For a real night out from there you would have to go to Naples or Salerno.

Amalfi has the more remarkable landscape, and you can walk it straight from town. The Valle delle Ferriere gorge starts behind the houses, mule stairways climb to Ravello and Pontone, and the Path of the Gods above Positano is one of Europe's great coastal walks. Kayaks reach the Emerald Grotto and other sea caves.

Budva has a dramatic limestone backdrop, coastal paths between the bays and paragliding above Becici. Its best country lies further inland, in the beech forests of Lovcen and on the reed-fringed water of Lake Skadar, each about an hour away by winding road.

Both towns are good bases, but Amalfi has famous places closer to hand. Ravello's villa gardens are a short bus ride up the hill, Positano is half an hour by ferry and Capri is reachable in season. Paestum, Pompeii and Herculaneum fit into a full day. The catch is seasonal ferries and a slow summer road.

From Budva, Kotor and its fjord-like bay are about half an hour away, with baroque Perast just beyond. The old royal capital of Cetinje and the Ottoman-tinged lanes of Ulcinj make a varied set of outings. Dubrovnik takes a long day with a border crossing.

Budva works far better with children. Its beaches shelve gently, Becici and the bays further along are calmer, and a water park sits above town. Local custom welcomes children on the promenade late into summer evenings.

Amalfi is a struggle with small children. Pushchairs are useless on its stairways, the pebble beach is crowded and the cliff-road buses can make children sick. Older children who swim confidently will still enjoy the boat trips and sea caves.

Amalfi is a town of stairways that also works as the transport hub of its coast, while Budva spreads along a level seafront promenade with no railway behind it. In Amalfi you walk everywhere through covered alleys and up steps, which is hard for anyone with limited mobility. Blue buses from the harbour front and ferries from spring to autumn reach Ravello, Positano and Capri, and a car is more trouble than help on the single cliff road.

In Budva the old town, the marina and Slovenska Plaza sit close together, and Becici is an easy stroll along the shore. Taxis are plentiful and boat taxis run from the marina to the nearby coves. Lovcen and Cetinje are far easier with a car or a driver, and in summer the one coast road jams just as Amalfi's does.

Amalfi has more worth taking home: cotton paper still handmade in the valley, painted majolica tiles and tableware, linen and sandals made to measure. Much of the main street repeats itself, though. Budva's lanes and promenade stalls offer beachwear, silver filigree, olive oil and rakija, and little beyond vacation basics.

Budva is far kinder to a budget. High summer on its seafront costs more, but away from the front its rooms, grill houses and cafés cost less than on most Western European coasts.

Amalfi's narrow strip of land keeps rooms scarce and expensive, and loungers, boat hire and piazza meals add up quickly. Only the buses and a stay in the hill villages bring it closer to normal.

Both towns offer live performance only in summer, and of a different kind. Near Amalfi it is the Ravello Festival, with orchestral and chamber concerts on a terrace in Villa Rufolo's gardens above the sea. In Budva it is Grad Teatar, which brings theatre, concerts and readings to open-air stages in the old town squares.

Neither has a bathing tradition, so spa time in both means hotel spas. Amalfi's cliffside hotels mostly keep theirs for their own guests, while Budva's are in the big resorts at Becici and Sveti Stefan.

The real difference is how each town feels. Amalfi feels restful at its own slow pace of shaded lunches and swims from the rocks. Budva's summer nights are noisy with music, so calm there means going to the villages down the coast.