Athens or Ohrid?

Athens has salt water and real choice. The Riviera runs south past Glyfada and Vouliagmeni towards clearer coves, the swimming season lasts from late May into October, and Aegina and Agistri are a short ferry ride away when the city beaches feel crowded.

Ohrid swims in fresh water. The lake is calm and very clear, but the shore is mostly concrete platforms, jetties and short pebble strips, and the water is warm enough only from late June to mid-September. It is a pleasant way to cool off rather than a beach destination.

Athens is much the stronger place to eat. There are mezedopoleia in Psyrri and Pangrati, a central market to wander through, wines from assyrtiko to xinomavro, bakeries open at dawn and a serious fine-dining scene at the top end. You can eat differently every night for a week.

Ohrid's cooking is honest Macedonian home food: tavče gravče, ajvar, grilled meats and belvica from the lake. But the same menu repeats along the waterfront, and after a few days the choice runs thin. The best meals are in family-run places in the upper old town or in the shore villages.

Both cities have ancient and religious layers, but Athens works on a far larger scale. The Acropolis, the Agora, the Kerameikos and the Temple of Olympian Zeus are linked by a pedestrian promenade, and the Acropolis Museum and the National Archaeological Museum could each fill a day.

Ohrid is a smaller, more intimate set: the medieval frescoes of St Sophia, St John at Kaneo above the water, Plaošnik with its links to the Cyrillic tradition, and Ottoman-era houses on steep lanes. It is lovely to walk slowly, but you can see it in a day or two.

Athens is a city that stays out all night all year. There are rooftop bars facing the lit Acropolis, clubs and a long-standing gay scene in Gazi, student bars in Exarchia and bouzouki nights that run until morning.

In Ohrid, going out is a summer thing: a stroll along the promenade, café-bars by the old bazaar and beach clubs on the southern shore in July and August. Outside that season, evenings end over dinner.

The two are broadly level outdoors, but the landscapes are very different. Athens has bare, sun-baked hills: short climbs up Lycabettus and Filopappou, pine trails on Hymettus, fir forest on Parnitha and the open Saronic Gulf for sailing and windsurfing.

Ohrid is greener and more enclosed, with a deep lake ringed by mountains. You can hike to summits above 2,000m in Galičica, paraglide from its ridge, paddle a kayak along the shore or take a rowing boat through the spring-fed pool near St Naum. Both are best in spring and autumn.

Athens has some of the most famous day trips in Europe. Sounion at sunset, Mycenae, Epidaurus and Nafplio in the Argolid, and Delphi are all reachable from the city, along with island days to Hydra or Poros by ferry from Piraeus.

Ohrid's outings are quieter and more local. You can visit St Naum by road or by boat, Bitola and the mosaics at Heraclea, Lake Prespa, or cross into Albania for Korçë. Roads are slow and buses are infrequent, so you will need a driver for most of them.

Athens has more to keep children busy, with the calm Riviera beaches, a zoo, a planetarium and the park at the Stavros Niarchos centre. It is tiring in midsummer, though, and pushchairs struggle on the broken pavements.

Ohrid is calmer and safer-feeling, with long days in the lake, boat rides and the pile village at the Bay of Bones. There is little else built for children, and the cobbled old town is steep.

Both centres can be crossed on foot, but only one is backed by a proper transit network. In Athens the core around Syntagma, Plaka, Monastiraki and the Acropolis is compact. The metro links it to the airport and Piraeus, with antiquities on show in its stations, and the tram runs down to the coast. The catch is at street level: narrow, broken pavements, hills, heavy traffic and summer heat that wears you down.

Ohrid's promenade, old bazaar and churches all lie a short walk apart, though the old town climbs on cobbles and stairs. Reaching the lakeside beaches further south is the awkward part, because the local buses and summer boats are infrequent. Anyone staying outside town tends to rely on taxis, a hire car or a driver.

Shopping in Athens covers far more ground. Ermou Street handles the chain fashion, Kolonaki and Voukourestiou have the designer labels and Greek boutiques, and the weekend flea market around Monastiraki is good for records, antiques and old furniture. The streets around Athinas add leather sandals, mountain honey, olive oil and jewellery based on ancient designs.

Ohrid really has one speciality, the lustrous Ohrid pearl. Buy it from a long-established family workshop in the old bazaar, not from a stall. Beyond that, there is carved wood, filigree silver and summer souvenirs, and nothing you could call a fashion street.

Athens strains a budget in ways Ohrid rarely does. Everyday eating and transport are fair, but the bed is the big expense, especially a central room with an Acropolis view in high summer. Over a few days of sightseeing, the entry fees at the archaeological sites add a second layer of cost. Staying in Koukaki or Pangrati and travelling in spring or autumn softens both.

In Ohrid there is no single cost that dominates, so the calendar matters more than your choices. Lakefront rooms climb and book out in July and August, above all at weekends. In late spring and early autumn the town is at its cheapest while the weather still holds.

Both cities stage summer performances in ancient settings, but Athens offers far more. Its festival fills the Odeon of Herodes Atticus beneath the Acropolis and the theatre at Epidaurus, and the Greek National Opera and the Megaron keep classical music going all year. Late rebetiko in small tavernas adds a living tradition.

Ohrid has its long-running Summer Festival in St Sophia and the ancient theatre. Outside the festival, there is little beyond folk music at restaurants.

Neither city is a spa destination, but Athens has more to offer. Lake Vouliagmeni, fed by warm mineral springs beneath a limestone cliff, is a place to bathe all year, and there are hammam-style bathhouses and hotel spas in the city as well.

Ohrid has a few hotel spas and no bathing tradition of its own. Its gift is a slow pace by the still lake in May, June and September, which fades in a crowded August.