Bled or Graz?

Bled has much the better swimming. The lake warms to around 24°C in high summer, and you can swim from the lidos below the castle cliff, from wooden piers or out to the island. The colder, wilder Lake Bohinj is half an hour away.

In Graz, a swim means leaving the city for former gravel pits such as the Schwarzlsee on the plain to the south. They are pleasant on a hot afternoon, but they don't compare with an Alpine lake under a castle.

Graz is the place to eat well. Styrian cooking is built on pumpkin seed oil, pork boiled with horseradish and cold fried chicken salad. The morning markets at Kaiser-Josef-Platz and Lendplatz and the crisp white wine from the southern hills give you several days of good meals.

Bled has kremšnita on a lakeside terrace and trout and žlikrofi in a few inns. Otherwise it's hotel dining rooms and pizzerias. Its best cooking is in the farm inns out in the valleys, so food lovers staying there will end up driving.

Graz has far more to see. Its old town of arcaded courtyards and red roofs climbs to the cathedral and the Mausoleum of Ferdinand II. The Landeszeughaus armoury is unlike anything else in the region, and Schloss Eggenberg and the Kunsthaus easily fill a second and third day.

Bled has two memorable sights, the cliff-top castle and the island church you reach by pletna boat, and both are done in a day. Its appeal lies in the view the two make together, not in museums.

Thanks to its students, Graz has a real if modest night out. There are bars in the old town lanes around Mehlplatz, artier places in Lend and a few clubs open late at weekends, though it quietens in the long summer break. In Bled, an evening means a hotel bar or a lakeside café and then a walk along the lit shore, and anyone wanting more than a nightcap has to go to Ljubljana.

Both sit at the edge of the Alps, but Bled is inside the mountains rather than looking towards them. The Vintgar Gorge begins just outside the village, and Bohinj and the Pokljuka plateau in Triglav National Park are about half an hour away. The choice runs from the lake circuit to hut-to-hut hikes, rafting on the Sava and skiing in winter.

Graz has gentler country close by: the Schöckl with its cable car, the Mur cycle path and the vineyard hills of South Styria. Real alpine hiking in the Gesäuse or the Hochschwab is about two hours away, so it's a day trip rather than something you do every day.

Bled has the wider spread of outings, helped by how small Slovenia is. Ljubljana is under an hour away and medieval Radovljica is next door. The Postojna cave and Predjama Castle, Piran on the Adriatic and Austrian Carinthia through the Karawanks tunnel are all within reach.

Graz's outings stay mostly within Styria: the South Styrian Wine Road, Riegersburg on its volcanic crag, the Lipizzaners at Piber and the abbey library at Admont. Maribor is an hour away by train, but in both cities most outings are far easier with a car.

Both are safe, calm and easy with children, but the days look different. In Bled they are outdoor days: rowing to the island, ringing the church bell, swimming from the shallow lidos and riding the toboggan run on Straža. There is little to fall back on when it rains.

Graz has more under cover: the underground slide and fairytale train inside the Schlossberg, a children's museum in the Augarten and trams that take buggies. There is no lake in town, though, so a summer swim means a trip out of the city.

Graz is the easier place without a car. The centre is flat and mostly pedestrianised, trams cross town on one ticket, and a lift and funicular climb the Schlossberg. Only the countryside beyond needs wheels.

Bled's village and lake path are simple on foot, and buses and two small stations link it to Ljubljana and Bohinj. The mountains it is known for are poorly served by public transport, though. Most visitors heading for Pokljuka, the Vršič pass or the Soča valley hire a car and then struggle to park by the lake in summer.

Graz is the only one of the two with real shopping. There are traditional shops in historic buildings along the Herrengasse and Sporgasse, a grand old department store with a rooftop view, and design and vintage shops in Lend. The best souvenirs are edible, such as pumpkin seed oil, Schilcher rosé and fruit brandies. Bled has a few lakeside stalls selling honey, lace and painted beehive panels, plus a small supermarket.

Neither is a bargain, and the costs fall in different places. Bled charges for its lake views, most of all in July and August. Sleeping in Radovljica, Bohinj or the campsite at the western end cuts the bill, and the trails and viewpoints are free.

In Graz, hotels are fairly priced for Austria except during festivals and trade fairs. Student lunch menus and bakeries keep daytime eating cheap, while dinners and wine cost the usual Austrian amounts.

Graz has a full performing arts life. There is the opera house, the second largest in Austria, the Schauspielhaus, concerts by the Musikverein, Styriarte in early summer and steirischer herbst in autumn, plus a jazz scene fed by the music university. Bled has no stage of its own, only the odd summer concert in the castle or a church and folk evenings put on for visitors, so seeing an opera or a play means going to Ljubljana.

Both are restful, in different ways. Bled's calm comes from its setting. It began as a nineteenth-century health resort, warm springs still feed the hotel spa pools, and early walks around the still lake do the rest, especially outside the summer peak.

Graz has no bathing tradition of its own, but the thermal villages of eastern Styria are about an hour away. Bad Blumau, designed by Hundertwasser, and Loipersdorf both have large pools open to day visitors. In town, the quiet comes from unhurried coffee houses and the gardens of the Stadtpark.