Belgrade or Zadar?

Zadar is a real sea-swimming destination and Belgrade is not. In Zadar you swim in clear Adriatic water straight off the stone edge of the peninsula or at Kolovare and Borik. Both are pebble and concrete rather than sand, but long sandy shallows wait at Nin, and island beaches such as Sakarun on Dugi Otok are a ferry ride away.

Belgrade's answer is Ada Ciganlija, a gravel-shored lake on the Sava that works like a giant city lido, plus the wilder sandy Danube strip on Great War Island. It is a good swim on a hot afternoon, but it is no reason to plan a trip.

Belgrade is the better place to eat, mainly because its eating culture has more range through the day. Zadar's table is built around the sea, Belgrade's around the grill and the tavern. A Belgrade day can run from bakery pastry at breakfast, through a morning among the stalls at Kalenić, to an evening of ćevapi with kajmak and ajvar in a kafana, often with a band, in the old lanes of Skadarlija or Zemun. Fruit brandy is treated as a serious subject, and Fruška Gora wines are on most lists. Its weak spot is the same as Zadar's: little for vegetarians or for anyone after refined international cooking.

Zadar's strength is seafood. Grilled squid, black risotto and lamb under the peka are well made, and Pag cheese and Maraschino give it two genuine local specialities. But the konobas on the peninsula repeat one another's menus, and the cheaper places on the main streets cook for passing visitors, so over a week you end up eating the same good dishes several times.

The two are fairly even, but the sightseeing is very different. Zadar packs its history into one small walled peninsula: an open Roman forum, round St Donatus, the cathedral bell tower, UNESCO-listed Venetian walls, and fine small museums of ancient glass and church silver. Belgrade's sights are spread out and more varied. There is the layered Kalemegdan fortress, the vast Saint Sava church, and the Museum of Yugoslavia with Tito's tomb, and the city's architecture runs from Habsburg Zemun to the socialist blocks of New Belgrade.

Zadar is more beautiful and more coherent. Belgrade is better for twentieth-century history. Each needs about two days.

This is the widest gap between the two. Belgrade is a city people visit for its nights. In summer the splavs, floating clubs moored on the Sava and Danube, play everything from turbo-folk to house. Dorćol's bar streets fill the pavements, and in winter the scene moves into basement clubs and old industrial spaces. Expect table service, sharp dress and very late finishes.

Zadar's evenings are gentler: sunset at the Sea Organ, then café-bars along Kalelarga and a few terrace bars on the walls. Anyone wanting to dance heads an hour away to Zrće on Pag, and from October the town goes quiet.

Zadar is far stronger on the outdoors. The Velebit range rises behind the coast, Paklenica's limestone gorges offer serious hiking and climbing within an hour, and hundreds of islands, including the bare Kornati and the cliffs of Telašćica, invite sailing and kayaking. Krka and Plitvice are both within day range.

Belgrade's nature is gentler and closer to town. You get long riverside promenades for cycling, the heron-filled wetland on Great War Island, wooded Košutnjak and Avala, and easy vineyard walks on Fruška Gora. It is pleasant, but there is nothing dramatic within a comfortable day.

Both are good bases, but Zadar's outings are more striking. Šibenik's hillside old town and UNESCO-listed cathedral are an hour away, Nin's tiny royal town is closer still, and Split and Trogir make a long but rewarding day. Ferries also take you to car-free Silba and the other islands.

From Belgrade the best trip is the fast train to Novi Sad and Petrovaradin, which can be combined with baroque Sremski Karlovci and the Fruška Gora monasteries. Smederevo, Viminacium and Oplenac add fortresses, Roman ruins and wine country. In both places a car or a tour makes most trips easier.

Zadar is the easier of the two with children. The old town is flat and car-free, the waterfront promenade suits pushchairs, and the Sea Organ and the light-up Greeting to the Sun keep children happy in the evening. Nin's shallow sand is ideal for small swimmers.

Belgrade works better for older children who like history. They can climb Kalemegdan's ramparts, see the tanks at the military museum and visit the small fortress zoo. With toddlers it is harder going because of heavy traffic, uneven pavements and pushchair-blocking parked cars. Neither city has a theme park or aquarium.

The two are much alike in practice: you walk the centre and need help to go further. Zadar's peninsula is flat, crossed on foot in a quarter of an hour, and island ferries leave from its edge, but buses are basic and the national parks really call for a car or excursion. Belgrade's centre is walkable too, though it is steep up from the rivers, and trams, trolleybuses and buses reach every district without a metro. They are crowded and slow in traffic, so cheap taxis fill the gap.

Belgrade has more to offer, though neither is a shopping destination. Knez Mihailova and the big malls on the river and in New Belgrade cover the chains, while young designers' boutiques in Dorćol and Vračar, market honey and rakija, and embroidered textiles and opanci shoes give it some local character.

Zadar's shopping is mostly Kalelarga's jewellers and souvenir shops. The best things to take home are edible or handmade: Maraschino, Pag cheese, figs and Pag lace from the market by the walls.

Belgrade is the cheaper trip. Kafana meals, terrace coffees, rounds of rakija and taxis all cost little, and the fortress park and many museums are cheap or free, so only central accommodation and the riverside clubs push the budget up.

Zadar is priced more like a mid-range Western European city. Private apartments are reasonable outside July and August, but high-summer rooms on the peninsula, restaurants on the main streets, national park tickets and boat trips add up quickly.

Belgrade has a real year-round stage. The National Theatre presents opera and ballet, the Philharmonic plays at Kolarac, Madlenianum adds musicals, and BITEF and BEMUS fill the autumn calendar. Tamburica bands in the Skadarlija kafanas and a few long-standing jazz and rock clubs cover the informal side.

Zadar's highlight is short and seasonal: the Musical Evenings in St Donatus, chamber and early music in a ninth-century church, alongside summer concerts and klapa singing in the squares. Outside July and August there is very little to see.

Neither city has a spa tradition, and both rely on hotel spas, so the difference is in the pace. Zadar is calmer, with siesta afternoons, sunsets from the Sea Organ steps and the mud lagoon at Nin. Belgrade's calm comes in pockets, such as a long terrace coffee or an afternoon on Ada Ciganlija, against a loud, smoky, late-night centre.