Belgrade or Sibiu?

Neither city has a coast. Belgrade still has a real summer swimming scene. Ada Ciganlija has about 7km of gravel shore along a lifeguarded lake on the Sava, and there is a wilder sandy Danube beach on Great War Island, reached by boat.

Sibiu has nothing like that in town. The nearest place to swim is the salt lakes of Ocna Sibiului, about 20km away, where you float rather than swim. Otherwise it is pools and mountain reservoirs.

Belgrade eats better and more variedly. Ćevapi, pljeskavica and kajmak come from grills and long-menu kafanas, the Zeleni Venac and Kalenić markets are worth a morning, and the terraces of Dorćol and Vračar stay busy all day.

Sibiu's cooking is honest Transylvanian fare: sarmale with polenta, bean soup served in bread, and cheese and smoked meats from the Marginimea villages, eaten in vaulted cellars. Beyond that the choice soon runs out, and street food is almost absent.

Sibiu makes the stronger impression. The Large Square, Small Square and Huet Square, the Council Tower, the Bridge of Lies and the guild towers on the old walls form a complete Saxon townscape. The Brukenthal Museum and the ASTRA open-air museum add real depth.

Belgrade has been destroyed and rebuilt too often to match that. Kalemegdan fortress, the vast Temple of Saint Sava and the Museum of Yugoslavia are well worth seeing, but the old fabric comes in pieces, scattered between Knez Mihailova, Zemun and the socialist blocks of New Belgrade.

This is the widest gap between the two. Belgrade is a city people travel to for its nights. There are splavs moored along both rivers in summer, basement and industrial-space clubs in winter, and crowded bar streets around Cetinjska and Strahinjića Bana. It runs late, the music is loud and people dress up.

Sibiu has student cellar bars, craft beer and full summer terraces around the squares. That makes for a pleasant drink after dinner rather than a night out.

Sibiu is the place for real landscape. The Fagaras Mountains rise above 2,500m to the east, with ridge walks and glacial lakes. Paltinis gives access to the gentler Cindrel range, and the Transfagarasan climbs to Balea Lake. Bears live in the forests, and the Saxon hills suit long bike rides.

Belgrade's outdoors is gentler and flatter. There are river promenades, the herons of Great War Island, the woods of Košutnjak, and easy vineyard walks on Fruška Gora an hour away.

Both are good bases, but Sibiu has more close by. Belgrade's best outing is Novi Sad and Petrovaradin, an easy fast-train ride, with Sremski Karlovci and the Fruška Gora monasteries nearby. The Danube fortress at Smederevo and the Roman site of Viminacium are further south-east.

From Sibiu, the walled town of Sighisoara, the fortified churches at Biertan and Cisnadioara, the citadel at Alba Iulia and Corvin Castle make a richer and more varied circuit. Slow trains mean you need a car or a tour for most of it.

There is little between them, and neither has theme parks or big children's attractions. Belgrade suits older children better: there are ramparts to climb at Kalemegdan, tanks outside the military museum, and a lake beach in summer. Busy traffic and crowded pavements make it tiring with toddlers.

Sibiu is calmer and smaller, with a mostly traffic-free centre. The ASTRA windmills, the zoo in Dumbrava park and the Christmas market keep younger children happy, though the stairs down to the Lower Town are hard with a pushchair.

Getting around either city is easy, in different ways. Sibiu is compact and largely pedestrianised, and the only effort is the climb between the Upper and Lower Town. Away from the city, though, trains are slow, so a car becomes almost essential.

Belgrade's centre is also walkable, but it is spread across slopes, and Zemun and New Belgrade sit across the Sava. With no metro and crowded trams and buses, cheap taxis do most of the work.

Belgrade has more to shop for. Knez Mihailova and the riverside malls carry the international chains, young designers' boutiques are scattered through Dorćol and Vračar, and the markets sell honey, ajvar and rakija.

Sibiu keeps to crafts. Along Nicolae Balcescu Street you will find painted ceramics, embroidered blouses and icons on glass, and the Christmas market and summer pottery fair are the high points of the year.

Both are cheap by European standards, and Sibiu is a little cheaper. Its old-town guesthouses, hearty meals and museum tickets all cost very little, except during the June theatre festival and the Christmas market, when rooms are in demand.

Belgrade's food, drink and taxis are inexpensive too, but central rooms in Dorćol cost nearer Central European rates, and the riverside clubs push a night out higher.

On most nights of the year, Belgrade has more on. Opera and ballet play at the National Theatre, the Philharmonic performs at Kolarac, and Madlenianum and the Sava Centre add more. Tamburica bands play in the kafanas of Skadarlija, and BITEF and BEMUS fill the autumn calendar.

Sibiu is all about its June theatre festival, which takes over halls, churches and squares, and the Radu Stanca theatre is well regarded. Outside the festival weeks, though, there is little choice on a given night.

Sibiu is the more restful stay. The pace in the old town is slow, there are the salt lakes and mud cures of Ocna Sibiului, a spa since the 19th century, and the mountain air at Paltinis is good for a quiet few days.

Belgrade has hotel spas and calm afternoons on Ada Ciganlija, but the centre is noisy, nights run late and smoking indoors is common.