Belgrade or Dubrovnik?

Belgrade is inland, and its swimming is a river-city version: the gravel lake shore of Ada Ciganlija on the Sava, shallow and lifeguarded, plus the wilder sandy Lido on Great War Island across from Zemun. It is good for an after-work dip, but it is no reason to plan a trip.

Dubrovnik is a real swimming destination. People swim off the rocks below the seaward walls, at Banje beach and in the Lapad coves, and Lokrum, the Elafiti islands and Cavtat are close by boat. Expect pebbles and concrete platforms rather than sand, apart from Lopud's cove at Sunj.

Belgrade feeds you better and more generously. Kafana meals of ćevapi, pljeskavica and slow-roasted meats with kajmak and ajvar, burek for breakfast and the produce at Zeleni Venac and Kalenić give it a strong everyday food culture. Skadarlija and Zemun keep the old tavern style going.

Dubrovnik's cooking is Dalmatian and narrower: grilled fish, black risotto, Ston oysters and Peljesac reds. The Old Town tables are largely aimed at day visitors, so eating well there means seeking out konobas in Lapad, Gruz or Konavle. Vegetarians will find the choice limited in both cities.

Belgrade's sights are scattered and layered rather than beautiful as a whole. Kalemegdan holds walls from Roman to Austrian times, the Temple of Saint Sava has a vast gold mosaic interior, and the Museum of Yugoslavia with Tito's mausoleum tells the 20th-century story. The streets jump from Habsburg Zemun to the socialist blocks of New Belgrade.

Dubrovnik's appeal is one intact ensemble. You can walk the unbroken city walls, then follow the Stradun past the Franciscan pharmacy and the Rector's Palace, with Fort Lovrijenac on its rock outside. Both take two or three days. Dubrovnik is the more striking sight, though its narrow lanes are crowded on summer days.

Belgrade's nightlife is a reason to go in itself. In summer the splavs moored along the Sava and Danube play everything from turbo-folk to house until dawn. In winter the scene moves to basement clubs and old industrial spaces, and the bars around Strahinjića Bana fill the pavements on warm nights.

Dubrovnik offers a sunset drink at the bars cut into the rocks below the walls, small wine bars off the Stradun and a club in the Revelin fortress. It depends on the season and stays within a few streets, and from November the Old Town goes quiet by midnight.

Belgrade's outdoors is gentle and shaped by its rivers. There are long promenades for walking and cycling, herons on the Great War Island wetland, the wooded parks of Košutnjak and Avala, and easy vineyard walks on Fruška Gora about an hour north.

Dubrovnik has the more dramatic landscape, with mountains dropping straight into a sea dotted with islands. You can climb Mount Srd for the view, kayak round the walls to Lokrum, cycle between villages on the Elafiti islands or walk the pine forest and salt lakes of Mljet. Spring and autumn are best, because the bare hillsides bake in summer.

Dubrovnik has a slight edge because three countries are within reach. You can visit the Bay of Kotor and Perast in Montenegro, Trebinje's Ottoman bridge in Bosnia, Mostar on a long day, and Ston's walls and the car-free Elafiti islands closer to home. Summer queues at the border can cost hours.

Belgrade's best outing is the easiest of all: Novi Sad and the Petrovaradin fortress, under an hour away by fast train. Sremski Karlovci and the Fruška Gora monasteries add wine and churches, and Smederevo and Viminacium cover the Danube's medieval and Roman past, though most need a car or a tour.

Both cities are welcoming to children, but neither has much built for them, and the difficulties differ. Belgrade offers the tanks and the old zoo at Kalemegdan and shallow water at Ada Ciganlija, but heavy traffic and pavements crowded with parked cars make pushchairs hard work.

In Dubrovnik the treats are boat rides, the cable car, a small aquarium and calm coves in Lapad. Here the trouble is stairs and summer crowds, so families do best staying near the beaches and visiting the Old Town early or late in the day.

Getting around is roughly as easy in both, in different ways. Belgrade's sights sit within a walkable core with some steep climbs from the rivers. Beyond that, trams and buses are crowded and slow in traffic, so cheap taxis are the practical choice.

Dubrovnik's Old Town is car-free and takes ten minutes to cross, but the side streets are stairways, and most hotels are a bus ride away in Lapad or Gruz. Boats rather than buses link it to the islands, and a car helps for Konavle and the border trips.

Belgrade gives a shopper more to do. Knez Mihailova and the river malls cover the chains, young designers have boutiques in Dorćol and Vračar, and the markets sell honey, ajvar, cheese and rakija to take home.

Dubrovnik has no fashion streets or department stores. Its Old Town shops are mostly souvenirs, with the better finds in Konavle embroidery, filigree jewellery, lavender and the dried figs and candied peel at the Gunduliceva Poljana market.

There is a big gap in cost here. In Belgrade, kafana meals, terrace coffees, rounds of rakija and taxis cost far less than in Western Europe, and many museums and the fortress park are cheap or free. Central rooms are the one expense that adds up.

Dubrovnik is expensive by Mediterranean standards. Summer rooms near the Old Town cost as much as in a major Western capital, and the walls, the cable car and boat trips each add more. Staying in Lapad or Cavtat and coming outside high summer helps, but it stays costly.

Belgrade has a full season. The National Theatre stages opera and ballet, the Belgrade Philharmonic plays at Kolarac, and BITEF and BEMUS fill the autumn calendar. For something more local, the tamburica bands in Skadarlija and Zemun kafanas play right at the tables.

Dubrovnik's high point is the Summer Festival, held since 1950. In July and August it brings theatre and concerts to open-air stages such as Fort Lovrijenac and the Rector's Palace atrium. For the rest of the year there are only occasional symphony and church concerts.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, and spas in both mean hotel facilities. Where they differ is in when and where calm can be found. In Belgrade it comes from long terrace coffees and lazy afternoons on Ada Ciganlija, set against a loud centre and late nights all year.

Dubrovnik is restful only away from the summer crush. A spring or autumn stay, or a few days on the Elafiti islands or in Cavtat, does the most for rest.