Amalfi or Sarajevo?

This is Amalfi's clearest advantage. Its swimming is all pebble and rock: the crowded Marina Grande in front of town, Atrani a short walk away, and coves such as Santa Croce that you reach by stairs or boat. The sea is warm and clear enough for a dip on most days between May and October.

Sarajevo has nothing comparable. It is an inland valley city about three hours from the Adriatic, and summer swimming there means mountain rivers, Jablanica lake or a pool.

Sarajevo eats better and more reliably. Its grills in Baščaršija, pita bakeries and slow-cooked dishes such as lamb under a metal lid are made with real care, and the coffee ritual with rahat lokum is a pleasure in itself.

Amalfi's strength is a narrower set of coastal ingredients: sfusato lemons, anchovies and colatura, and scialatielli with seafood. However, much of the cooking around the piazza is average, and you have to search the alleys for the good trattorias. Neither city offers much international or fine dining.

Sarajevo has far more to see. The mosques, madrasa and covered markets of Baščaršija give way within minutes to Austro-Hungarian avenues, Orthodox and Catholic cathedrals and the Old Synagogue. Add the Latin Bridge, the Tunnel of Hope and the War Childhood Museum, and you have several days of moving sightseeing.

Amalfi's heritage comes from its time as a maritime republic: the Arab-Norman Duomo with St Andrew's crypt, the Chiostro del Paradiso, the old Arsenale and the paper museum. It is lovely but quickly seen.

Neither city is for clubbing, but Sarajevo actually has evenings out. Café-bars around Ferhadija grow louder as the night goes on, students keep cellar bars and small clubs open past midnight at weekends, and drinks are cheap.

In Amalfi the night ends with dinner and a gelato or a glass on Piazza Duomo. Once the last ferries and buses leave, the town goes quiet.

Both cities are framed by mountains, but they lead to very different outdoors. Amalfi's slopes fall straight into the sea, so walking here means the Sentiero degli Dei high above Positano, the waterfalls of the Valle delle Ferriere and mule stairways to Ravello, with kayaking into sea caves as well.

Sarajevo's mountains are higher and greener, starting with the cable car to Trebević. Beyond it lie Jahorina and Bjelašnica, the Olympic peaks, with skiing in winter and grassy ridges for hiking and biking in summer, plus the remote shepherds' village of Lukomir above the Rakitnica canyon.

Amalfi has the stronger choice of day trips, and most need no car. Ravello's villa gardens are a short bus ride up the hill, Positano is half an hour by ferry, and Capri, Paestum, Pompeii and Herculaneum all fit into a full day. The catch is that ferries are seasonal and the coast road clogs in summer.

Sarajevo's highlight is Mostar, about two hours away by a scenic train through the Neretva gorge that passes Konjic and Jablanica on the way. From Mostar, Blagaj's dervish house and the fortress village of Počitelj are easy to add. Travnik and the Višegrad bridge lie further out on slow roads and work better by car or tour.

Neither city is easy with small children, but Sarajevo is the gentler of the two. Its Old Town is flat for pushchairs, and outings such as the Trebević cable car, carriage rides to Vrelo Bosne and the small zoo give children something to do. Smoke from the grills and winter smog are the drawbacks.

Amalfi climbs in stairways, its beach is a crowded strip of pebbles and the winding buses can make children carsick. It suits older children who swim confidently better than toddlers.

Sarajevo is easier to get around. A long-established tram runs along the valley floor from Baščaršija to Ilidža, trolleybuses and minibuses climb the hillsides, and taxis are cheap. It is harder to follow once you leave that single corridor.

Amalfi is tiny and walkable but full of steps. Its buses and ferries make it the hub of the coast, though in summer full buses pass waiting queues and the single cliff road crawls.

Both are souvenir towns more than shopping destinations, and Sarajevo is slightly ahead. On Kazandžiluk you can watch coppersmiths hammer out coffee sets, and the Bezistan and nearby lanes sell kilims, slippers and filigree.

Amalfi's best buys are handmade cotton paper from the valley mills, majolica ceramics and made-to-measure sandals, though its single main street repeats a lot of limoncello stock.

The gap here is wide. Sarajevo is among Europe's cheapest capitals, where ćevapi, coffee, trams, museum tickets and central guesthouses all cost very little.

Amalfi is among the most expensive places to stay in Italy, with sea-view rooms, seafront meals, loungers and boat hire all priced high. Its local buses are the only real bargain, and staying in the hill villages outside summer helps only so much.

Sarajevo has a real if modest stage life. The National Theatre stages drama, opera and ballet, the Philharmonic gives regular concerts, MESS and the November jazz festival take place each year, and you can hear sevdah in traditional restaurants.

Amalfi has no theatre of its own. Its one standout is summer in Ravello, where the Ravello Festival holds concerts on the Villa Rufolo terrace above the sea.

Sarajevo has an actual place to bathe: the thermal springs at Ilidža, at the end of the tram line, used since Roman times, with Vrelo Bosne's shaded avenue nearby. Winter smog takes the edge off the calm.

Amalfi has no bathing tradition. Its spas belong to cliffside luxury hotels, and the rest comes from long terrace lunches and swims from the rocks, best in May and October.