Bled or Prague?

Neither city is near the sea, but Bled has a lake made for swimming. In July and August Lake Bled warms to around 24°C. People swim from grassy lidos and wooden piers below the castle, at the shallow western end or straight off the rocks along the path, and some swim out to the island. Lake Bohinj, half an hour away, adds wilder pebble shores with colder water.

In Prague, swimming takes planning. The Vltava in the centre is not for bathing, so your options are an outdoor pool, the Dzban reservoir in the Sarka valley, or the wooded banks of the Slapy reservoir about an hour south.

Prague is the better place to eat, though neither city is worth the journey for food alone. Bled has kremšnita on a lakeside terrace and trout, žlikrofi and buckwheat dishes in a handful of inns. Beyond that it is mostly hotel dining rooms and pizzerias, and the best meals are in the farm inns out in the valleys.

Prague offers more range and a real drinking culture: unpasteurised lager in classic pubs, microbreweries, svickova and goulash, cheap chlebicky lunches and Moravian wine bars. The trick is to eat in Vinohrady, Karlin or Letna rather than around Old Town Square.

Culture is where the two cities differ most. Bled's sights fit into a single day: the cliff-top castle with its small museum and printing workshop, the pletna boat ride to the baroque island church with its wishing bell, and the old spa villas along the shore.

In Prague the entire historic centre is a UNESCO site. It runs from the Castle and St Vitus Cathedral through Baroque Mala Strana, then across the Charles Bridge to the Old Town and the synagogues of Josefov. Add the Art Nouveau facades, the rare Cubist buildings and the National Gallery's palaces, and three or four days barely covers it.

An evening in Bled means a drink by the lake and a walk along the lit shore, then bed. There is no club, and the village is quiet well before midnight. Prague has a reputation as a drinking city and lives up to it, with long pub tables in Zizkov, wine and cocktail bars in Vinohrady, summer beer gardens on Letna and Riegrovy sady, and techno venues in Holesovice for anyone who wants to stay out until dawn.

For the outdoors, Bled is the stronger choice by a wide margin. It sits where the Julian Alps begin, with the climbs to Ojstrica and Osojnica, the Vintgar Gorge, Lake Bohinj and the Pokljuka plateau all close by. There is also rafting and canyoning on the Sava, paragliding, and skiing at Vogel in winter.

Prague is green for a capital, with Petrin Hill, Stromovka and the rocky Divoka Sarka gorge, and the sandstone towers of Bohemian Switzerland are good hiking within about two hours. The countryside around the city is gentle, though, with no real mountains.

Both cities make good bases for day trips, and Prague has the edge for range and ease. By train, Kutna Hora's cathedral and ossuary, Karlstejn and Terezin are each about an hour away, and Dresden is about two. Cesky Krumlov is far enough to be worth an overnight stay.

From Bled, the outings take in a small country and its neighbours: Ljubljana and medieval Radovljica nearby, the Postojna cave and Predjama Castle for a full day, Venetian Piran on the Adriatic, and Austria's Wörthersee just through the Karawanks tunnel.

Bled suits families better, as long as they like being outside. The flat lake path works for pushchairs and young cyclists, children can row out to the island and ring the bell, and Straža hill has a summer toboggan run and a rope park. A wet day is hard to fill, though.

Prague has the bigger single attraction in its hillside zoo at Troja, along with the astronomical clock, the mirror maze on Petrin and the technical museum. With small children, though, the cobbles, steep lanes, castle stairs and summer crowds make it more tiring.

Prague is much easier to get around. You can walk the old centre from end to end, and the three metro lines, the trams (which run through the night) and the Petrin funicular all use the same tickets, so no visitor needs a car. Watch for pickpockets on crowded trams.

In Bled, getting around the lake is a simple walk, with buses to Ljubljana and Bohinj and two railway stations nearby. The mountains are another matter. Pokljuka, the Vršič pass and the Soča valley are poorly served by public transport, so many visitors hire a car.

There is barely any shopping in Bled: a few lakeside stalls selling honey, lace and painted beehive panels, and a small supermarket. Prague is no shopping capital either, but it has luxury labels on Parizska, chains on Na Prikope, and Czech buys such as Bohemian crystal, garnet jewellery and marionettes. The better design and vintage shops are in Vinohrady and Holesovice, away from the souvenir streets.

Bled's fame comes at a price. As Slovenia's best-known resort it costs more than the rest of the country, and lakeside rooms in July and August are scarce and expensive. Village guesthouses, the campsite at the western end of the lake or a base in Radovljica or Bohinj bring the bill down. The lake path, viewpoints and trails cost nothing, though the island boats, the castle and the gorge all charge entry.

Your money goes further in Prague. Beer, pub lunches and public transport are inexpensive, and staying a few tram stops from the centre and eating in Vinohrady or Zizkov keeps the stay good value. The streets around Old Town Square and the exchange booths in the centre are where visitors overpay.

Prague is a serious music city. It has three opera stages, including the Estates Theatre where Mozart conducted the premiere of Don Giovanni, and the Czech Philharmonic plays at the Rudolfinum. Black-light theatre and marionette shows need no Czech.

Bled has nothing regular, only the occasional summer concert in the castle or a church and folk evenings put on for visitors. For opera or a proper concert you have to go to Ljubljana.

Rest was Bled's original trade. In the nineteenth century Arnold Rikli brought guests here for air and sun cures and lake bathing, and mild springs still supply warm water to the spas and pools of the big lakeside hotels, some of which take day guests. Outside the summer peak, early walks around the still lake do the rest.

Prague has no bathing tradition of its own, only hotel spas, massage studios and beer baths that are more novelty than cure. Its calm lies in the grand coffee houses, the Baroque gardens below the castle and a bench on Kampa, and it is best enjoyed from a base in a quieter neighbourhood.