Budapest or Sarajevo?

Neither city has a coast, but Budapest makes far more of summer swimming. Its open-air lidos, with Palatinus on Margaret Island the classic, fill whole days with pools and lawns. The shallow, warm Lake Velence is under an hour away by train, and Balaton works as an overnight stay.

Sarajevo has cold mountain rivers, Jablanica lake and ordinary pools, and the Adriatic is about three hours away by road. Sea-lovers should add a few days on the Croatian or Montenegrin coast to either city, but especially to Sarajevo.

Both cities eat well within a narrow, traditional range, but the flavours are quite different. Budapest is all paprika and richness: goulash and paprikash, the stalls of the Great Market Hall, layered cakes in Austro-Hungarian coffee houses, and wines from Tokaj, Eger and Balaton. It also has a modern restaurant tier.

Sarajevo cooks Ottoman-Balkan food. That means ćevapi grills along Baščaršija, burek sold by weight, lamb slow-cooked under a metal lid, and Bosnian coffee from a copper džezva. It is simpler and more street-level, with beer and rakija in place of a serious wine culture.

Budapest is the grander sightseeing city by some way. The UNESCO-listed river front, with Parliament facing the Castle District across the water, is joined by Andrássy Avenue, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Dohány Street Synagogue. Its layers run from Ottoman tombs to the statues of Memento Park, and seeing it properly takes several days.

Sarajevo has fewer sights, packed into a few streets, and that closeness is the point. The Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque, the cathedrals and the Old Synagogue stand within minutes of each other. The Latin Bridge, the Tunnel of Hope and the Sarajevo roses give it an emotional weight that a short visit can take in fully.

Budapest offers a proper night out. There are ruin bars in the tenement courtyards of District VII, late clubs on Kazinczy and Király streets, and party boats on the Danube in summer. The downside is weekend rowdiness from stag and student groups, though the wine bars of District V make for a calmer evening.

Sarajevo's evenings revolve around the café-bars of Ferhadija and the Old Town, plus a few cellar bars and small clubs. Nights tend to end over rakija rather than on a dancefloor. It is friendly and good for conversation, but there is little for anyone who wants to dance until late.

Sarajevo is clearly ahead outdoors. A cable car climbs from the Old Town to the forests of Trebević and the old Olympic bobsleigh track. Jahorina and Bjelašnica, under an hour away, offer skiing in winter and open ridges for hiking and biking in summer. Lukomir above the Rakitnica canyon and rafting on the Neretva add real wildness, though trails are lightly marked.

Budapest's outdoors is gentler. There are walks in the Buda Hills reached by cogwheel railway or chairlift, caves under the city, and the forested Danube Bend about an hour north. It is all pleasant, but there are no mountains.

Budapest has a slight edge, mostly because its outings are so easy by train. The Danube Bend strings together Szentendre, Visegrád and Esztergom, Gödöllő makes a half-day, and Eger, Hollókő and Pannonhalma are about two hours away.

Sarajevo's best trip is Mostar and its rebuilt bridge, reached on a scenic train through the Neretva gorge that passes Konjic and Jablanica on the way. Blagaj's dervish house and the fortress village of Počitelj go well with a Mostar visit. Travnik and the bridge at Višegrad mean slow, winding roads, so a car or a tour helps.

Budapest is much the easier city with children. The City Park zoo with its Art Nouveau animal houses, the Children's Railway run by schoolchildren, the Palace of Wonders and the summer lidos with wave pools can fill several days. The trams take pushchairs without fuss.

Sarajevo welcomes children warmly, and the cable car, carriage rides to Vrelo Bosne and the small zoo make good outings. But its main sights are about war, the hillside districts are steep, and winter smog is hard on small lungs.

Budapest makes a large city simple without a car. Pest is flat, the trams are excellent (line 2 along the embankment works as a sightseeing ride), and the short metro includes continental Europe's oldest line. Ferries and the funicular to the Castle District cover the river and Buda.

Sarajevo is easy to understand because it runs along one valley, and its Old Town is walkable. But the tram is really a single line. Away from it, buses and minibuses climb steep slopes, and the Tunnel of Hope and the ski mountains need a taxi or a tour.

Budapest gives shoppers more to work with. There is Herend and Zsolnay porcelain, small Hungarian design boutiques in Districts V and VII, paprika and Tokaji at the Great Market Hall, and communist-era finds at Ecseri flea market.

Sarajevo does one thing well. Coppersmiths still hammer coffee sets on Kazandžiluk, and kilims, leather slippers and filigree jewellery fill the bazaar lanes. Outside Baščaršija there is little beyond malls and chains.

Sarajevo is the cheaper city by a clear margin. Ćevapi, pastries, bazaar coffee, trams, taxis and museum entry all cost very little, and central guesthouses are well below Western European levels.

Budapest is still good value next to Western capitals, especially for transport and wine. Costs climb in the tourist core around Váci utca and in the grand historic cafés, and lunch menus in residential districts are the way to bring them down.

For an evening of music, Budapest is in a different league. The State Opera House, the Art Nouveau hall of the Liszt Academy and Müpa mean classical music most nights, with operetta, folk ensembles and small jazz clubs as well.

Sarajevo's National Theatre stages opera, ballet and drama, and the Philharmonic plays regularly. Even so, its stage life comes alive mainly at festivals such as MESS and the November jazz festival. Its most distinctive sound is sevdah, heard in traditional restaurants and small clubs.

This is where the two cities are furthest apart. Budapest is one of the world's great bathing cities. The steaming outdoor pools of Széchenyi, the mosaics of the Gellért and the Ottoman domes of Rudas and Király make a soak part of the daily routine rather than a treat.

Sarajevo's answer is the spa at Ilidža, where the springs have been used since Roman times, with the shaded avenue of Vrelo Bosne nearby for a calm walk. Otherwise, relaxing here means lingering over a Bosnian coffee, since the old hammam no longer works as a bath.