Assisi or Bled?

Neither has a sea, but Bled has swimming right on the doorstep. In high summer Lake Bled warms to about 24°C, and you can swim from grassy lidos below the castle, from the shallow western end at Velika Zaka, or out to the island. Lake Bohinj adds colder water and wilder pebble shores.

From Assisi, the nearest swim is at Lake Trasimeno, about three quarters of an hour by car. Its small lido beaches at Passignano and Castiglione del Lago have shallow, cloudy water. Most visitors simply use the pool at an agriturismo.

Assisi eats noticeably better, thanks to Umbrian produce: strangozzi with black truffle, Castelluccio lentils, wild boar, torta al testo, olive oil from Monte Subasio and Sagrantino from Montefalco. The best meals are in trattorias on the side lanes and in valley agriturismi, not in the set-menu places near the basilica.

In Bled, eating out mostly means hotel dining rooms and pizzerias. A few inns serve trout, žlikrofi dumplings and buckwheat dishes, and kremšnita is eaten on the lake terraces. A traveller who cares about food will soon head for the farm inns in the valleys or for Ljubljana.

This is where the two differ most. Assisi has a UNESCO-listed basilica with frescoes by Giotto, Cimabue, Simone Martini and Lorenzetti. Around it are a Roman temple on the main piazza, the striped church of Santa Chiara, the Rocca Maggiore castle and the tiny Porziuncola chapel below the walls, enough for two unhurried days.

Bled has a cliff-top castle with a small museum and a baroque island church reached by pletna boat. Both are memorable and take less than a day, and anyone wanting museums or architecture goes elsewhere.

Both towns go to bed early, and a real night out means travelling, to Perugia from Assisi or to Ljubljana from Bled. What differs is the kind of evening. In Assisi it is a long dinner, a glass of Sagrantino in a small wine bar and a walk through empty floodlit lanes; in Bled it is a hotel bar or pub, a drink on a lakeside terrace and a stroll along the lit shore.

Bled is by far the stronger outdoor base, because the Julian Alps begin at the edge of the lake. Within easy reach are the walkways of the Vintgar Gorge, the high pastures of Pokljuka, hut-to-hut routes in Triglav National Park, rafting on the Sava and winter skiing at Vogel, with the Soča valley over the Vršič pass.

Assisi's countryside is gentler and more farmed. Monte Subasio rises straight behind the town, with a path past the Eremo delle Carceri to summit meadows. The olive-covered valley floor suits easy cycling to Spello and Bevagna, while the Valnerina and the Sibillini need a car and a full day.

Both make good bases, but Assisi has more places worth a day close by. Spello is ten minutes away, Perugia and Spoleto are well under an hour, and Gubbio, Todi, Orvieto and Deruta are all within easy reach. Cortona and Montepulciano lie just over the Tuscan border, and each of these towns has its own cathedral, piazza or craft.

From Bled the trips are more varied but fewer. Ljubljana is under an hour away and medieval Radovljica is close by. The Postojna cave, the Venetian harbour of Piran and the Austrian lakes through the Karawanks tunnel each take a longer day.

Bled is much easier with children. Swimming at shallow lidos, the toboggan run and rope park on Straža hill and the Vintgar walkways for older children fill several days, though a rainy day is hard to fill.

Assisi is safe and welcoming, but it is built for quiet reflection. Its churches need silence and its stepped streets defeat pushchairs. Older children enjoy the Rocca Maggiore, and most families stay at a valley agriturismo with a pool and visit the town in short trips.

In both places a car opens up the surrounding area, but the two centres feel very different on foot. Assisi is small but steep, with stairs and slopes from the basilica up to Piazza del Comune. Its station is 4km below in Santa Maria degli Angeli, with regional trains along the valley.

In Bled the centre is flat and the sights sit along a level lakeshore path. Buses run to Ljubljana and Bohinj, and there are two stations nearby. Trailheads, Pokljuka and the Soča valley are poorly served, though, and summer parking by the lake is tight.

Neither suits a shopping trip, but Assisi has more worth bringing home. Among the rosaries and Tau crosses are hand-woven linens with Assisi embroidery, Deruta ceramics, truffle products and Sagrantino. In Bled there are only a few lakeside stalls selling honey, lace and painted beehive panels, and anything more means a trip to Ljubljana.

Assisi is the cheaper place to stay. The basilicas and most churches are free to enter, and convent guesthouses and valley agriturismi keep rooms affordable, except around Easter and the big feast days.

Bled charges for being Slovenia's best-known resort. Lakeside hotels and terraces add a premium for the view, and summer rooms are hard to find. The walking is free, but the island boat, castle and gorge all charge entry, so budget travellers usually sleep in Radovljica, Bohinj or at the lakeside campsite.

Assisi has more live performance, though mostly of a sacred kind. There are organ recitals and choral concerts in the basilicas around feast days, the medieval costume and song of Calendimaggio in spring, and a theatre in Santa Maria degli Angeli for touring shows. Perugia, half an hour away, adds opera and its summer jazz festival.

Bled has no venue of its own. It offers only occasional summer concerts and folk evenings, so theatre or opera means going to Ljubljana.

Bled has the stronger claim as a place to rest. It began as Arnold Rikli's health resort in the nineteenth century, and several lakeside hotels run spas and indoor pools fed by mild springs, some open to day guests. Slow boat rides and early walks by still water add to the calm.

Assisi has few spas, mostly in country hotels. Its quiet is spiritual instead: convent retreats, a silent walk to the Eremo delle Carceri and the stillness of the lanes once the tour groups have gone.