Assisi or Split?

Split wins easily. You can walk from Diocletian's Palace to the shallow sandy bay of Bačvice or to the pine-shaded coves around Marjan, and ferries reach longer, calmer beaches on Brač, Šolta and Hvar. Most of the city shore is pebble or concrete, though, and it fills up in midsummer.

Assisi sits on a hillside far from either coast. The closest swimming is at the small lidos on Lake Trasimeno, where the water is warm but slightly murky, so for a cool-off during your stay it is better to book somewhere with a pool.

Split eats from the sea: grilled fish and squid, black risotto, and octopus slow-cooked under the peka bell. Its fish market and the Pazar give you real markets to browse, and the best meals are in family konobas in Varoš.

Assisi's cooking is inland and earthier: truffled strangozzi, Castelluccio lentils, wild boar, oil from the slopes of Monte Subasio and Sagrantino from Montefalco. The choice in town is narrow, however, and set menus crowd the streets near the basilica. Neither city does much fine dining, so Split's lead comes from variety and its markets.

The two are evenly matched, but the experiences differ. Assisi is about art and devotion: the stacked churches of San Francesco, with frescoes by Cimabue, Simone Martini and the Giotto cycle, set within a UNESCO-listed town of pink stone, Santa Chiara and the Porziuncola.

Split's treasure is architecture you live inside. Diocletian's Palace is a working neighbourhood, with the cathedral built into the emperor's mausoleum and the original layout preserved in the vaults below. The Meštrović Gallery adds modern sculpture. In both places two days covers the main sights.

There is a real gap here, at least in summer. Split's evenings move from the Riva into small bars in the palace alleys and on to beach bars and clubs at Bačvice, which stay open until the early hours. From October to May that shrinks to a few bars.

Assisi goes still once the day visitors leave. A night there means a long dinner, a glass of Sagrantino and a walk through floodlit lanes, and anyone after a night out has to go to Perugia.

Split has more range, because it combines mountain and sea. Marjan's forest park starts at the edge of the old town, Mosor and Biokovo give real ridge hikes, and the Cetina canyon at Omiš offers rafting and canyoning. Add Krka's waterfalls and kayaking or sailing among the islands.

Assisi's outdoors is gentler and more contemplative: the climb up Monte Subasio past the Eremo delle Carceri to open summit meadows, and easy cycling through the olive groves between Spello and Montefalco. The Valnerina and the Sibillini are bigger days out by car.

This is where Assisi comes out ahead. Spello is minutes away, Perugia half an hour, and Spoleto is on the same railway line. Gubbio, Todi, Orvieto, Deruta and the Tuscan towns of Cortona and Montepulciano complete a dense ring of hill towns, though a car helps for the smaller ones.

Split's trips are fewer but more varied: UNESCO-listed Trogir and Šibenik, Roman Salona and Klis Fortress on land, and Hvar, Brač and Vis by sea. The ferries make this easy in summer, but in winter it takes more planning.

Split is the easier choice with children. Bačvice's shallow water suits small paddlers, Marjan gives shade and room to run, and a ferry to an island usually wins them over. The midsummer heat and crowds are the main drawbacks.

Assisi is safe and welcoming, but its steep, stepped streets are hard with a pushchair, and its frescoed churches ask for silence. The Rocca Maggiore and a walk on Monte Subasio work for older children, and most families do better in a valley agriturismo with a pool.

In Split, the palace, the Riva, Varoš, the markets and Bačvice all lie within a short, car-free walk, and the ferry port, bus station and railway station sit together on the harbour. Polished stone steps inside the palace are the main nuisance.

Assisi's centre is small, but it climbs hard from the basilica up to Piazza del Comune. The station is 4km below in Santa Maria degli Angeli. Valley trains serve Perugia and Spoleto, but buses beyond that line are sparse, so most visitors end up hiring a car.

Neither city is a shopping destination, but Split offers a little more. Marmontova has the mainstream fashion chains, and the Pazar by the palace's east gate is a pleasant place for figs, honey and local brandies.

In Assisi, rosaries and Franciscan souvenirs dominate, but look among them for embroidered Assisi linens, Deruta ceramics and truffle products. In both places, the olive oil and wine are what is worth carrying home.

Assisi is the cheaper of the two. The basilicas and most churches are free, convent guesthouses give clean, simple rooms at low cost, and valley agriturismi are good value. Prices rise mainly around Easter and the big feast days.

Split costs most in July and August, when rooms near the old town match large Western European cities, fish is sold by weight and ferries add up for a family. In May, June, late September and winter it is far more reasonable.

Split has the fuller stage. The Croatian National Theatre puts on opera and ballet through the season, and the Split Summer Festival stages open-air performances in the Peristyle. Klapa harmony singing often echoes in the palace vestibule.

Assisi's offer is mostly sacred: organ recitals and choirs in the basilicas, plus the costumed rivalry of Calendimaggio in spring. For opera or the famous summer jazz festival, people go to Perugia.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, and spas in both are mostly hotel affairs, so the difference lies in the kind of calm. Assisi's is spiritual: convent retreats, silent walks to the Eremo and empty early-morning lanes.

Split offers the Dalmatian idleness called fjaka: long coffees on the Riva and the pine woods of Marjan. That calm is easiest to find outside midsummer, when the old town turns loud and the islands make a better retreat.