Bled or Como?

Bled is the better place for a swim. The water is about as warm as Como's in high summer, but the whole shore is open to bathers: the main lido below the castle cliff, the shallow western end at Velika Zaka, and rocks along the path where people simply slip in. Some swim all the way out to the island, and Lake Bohinj nearby adds wilder pebble shores and colder water.

At Como the main spot in town is the lido beside Villa Olmo. The water at the city's busy southern tip is less inviting, so the better swimming is at jetties and small pebble strands in Cernobbio, Moltrasio or the Tremezzina, usually reached by ferry. Neither lake has sand worth mentioning.

Como is the better place to eat. Inside the walls there are trattorias and wine bars serving risotto with perch, missoltini and polenta with valley cheeses, and the early-evening aperitivo on the squares is a good ritual in its own right.

Bled has little beyond its famous kremšnita custard slice, hotel dining rooms, pizzerias and a few inns serving trout and žlikrofi. In both places the best cooking is out of town, in the farm inns of the Slovenian valleys or the family places in the hills above Lake Como.

Each place can be seen in a day, but Como's day has much more in it. It has a marble cathedral that combines Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque, and the Romanesque stonework of San Fedele and Sant'Abbondio. Terragni's Casa del Fascio draws architects from abroad, and the Tempio Voltiano and the silk museum tell the city's own story.

Bled's sights are fewer and more about the setting. There is the clifftop castle with its small museum and printing workshop, and the baroque island church you reach by pletna boat. Along the shore stand the villas of the old spa resort.

Neither is a place for a big night out, but Como at least has an evening routine. There is aperitivo, then a long dinner, then a handful of cocktail and wine bars around Piazza Duomo and Piazza San Fedele, and Milan is a train ride away for anything louder. In Bled the evening ends with a drink on a hotel terrace and a walk along the lit shore.

Both are superb for the outdoors, but the landscapes differ. Bled is a true Alpine base. Triglav National Park, the Vintgar Gorge, the Savica waterfall and the Pokljuka plateau are close, there are hut-to-hut routes, and you can go rafting and canyoning on the Sava. In winter there is skiing at Vogel and on Pokljuka.

Como is a long glacial lake between steep wooded slopes. The funicular to Brunate takes you straight onto ridge trails, and the Via dei Monti Lariani and the Greenway follow the slopes and the shore. The water is good for sailing and paddling, and road cyclists come to climb to the Madonna del Ghisallo.

Como has the richer range of outings, and most of them need no car. Ferries reach Bellagio, Varenna, Villa Carlotta and Villa del Balbianello, and trains put Milan, Lugano and Bergamo's upper town within easy reach. Lake Maggiore's Borromean Islands are also within range.

Bled is a good base for a small country. Ljubljana is under an hour away and medieval Radovljica is next door. Postojna cave, Predjama Castle, Piran on the Adriatic and Austria's Wörthersee make full days out, though several of them are easier with a car.

Bled is the more rewarding place for children. They can row a hired boat to the island and swim from the shallow lidos, and Straža hill has a summer toboggan run and a rope park. Older children can manage the gorge walkways and easy hikes, and winter brings sledging.

Como offers the funicular, the boat rides and the gardens of Villa Olmo, but its villas and churches are aimed at adults. Neither has a zoo or a large indoor attraction for a rainy day.

Both centres are compact and easy to walk, but Como is better connected. It has two stations with trains to Milan, a Swiss line to Lugano, ferries to every village and the funicular to the hills. The downside is slow boats on long journeys and shore roads that clog in summer.

From Bled, buses run to Ljubljana and Bohinj, and trains stop at Lesce-Bled and on the scenic Bohinj line. The Vršič pass, the Soča valley and many trailheads are thinly served, so most visitors who want to explore hire a car.

Como has a real reason to shop: silk. Scarves, ties and fabric come from specialist shops in the old town and from mill outlets on the edge of the city, and there is a short run of boutiques along Via Vittorio Emanuele II plus a weekend market near the walls. Bled has only lakeside stalls selling honey, lace and painted beehive panels, so anything more means going to Ljubljana.

Bled is the gentler of the two on the wallet, though as Slovenia's best-known resort it isn't cheap. Staying in a guesthouse in a nearby village, at the lakeside campsite, or in Radovljica or Bohinj brings the cost down. The lake path, the viewpoints and the trails cost nothing.

Como draws an international luxury crowd, and summer lakefront hotels and villa rentals are expensive. Rooms back from the water, trattorias in the old town and cheap trains and ferries help. Spring and autumn are noticeably kinder.

Como has a proper stage and Bled has none. The Teatro Sociale, a neoclassical opera house near the cathedral, puts on opera, ballet, concerts and theatre. In summer, performances move to the open-air Arena next to it, and chamber music is played in Romanesque churches and lakeside villas.

In Bled you might find an occasional castle concert or a folk evening put on for visitors. Anyone who wants a real evening of music goes to Ljubljana, just as Como's keener audiences go to La Scala.

Bled has the deeper tradition here. It grew up as a nineteenth-century health resort around Arnold Rikli's air and sun cures, and mild springs at the eastern end of the lake feed the hotel pools, which day guests can sometimes use.

Como has no springs, only the spas of its grand villa hotels and a few day spas in town. What it offers is garden walks and slow ferry rides, best enjoyed in spring and autumn when the lakefront is quieter.