Budva or Dubrovnik?

Both are strong on the sea, but in different ways. Budva has its beaches in town: Slovenska Plaza along the front, the Mogren coves under the cliffs, and then the long curve of Becici and the pinkish sand facing Sveti Stefan. The shore is fine pebble or coarse sand, often lined with sunbeds and music.

Dubrovnik's swimming is rockier. People swim off the rocks below the walls, at Banje beach, at the concrete platforms and from the coves of Lapad. The best bays are a boat ride away on Lokrum and the Elafiti islands, where Lopud's cove at Sunj offers real sand.

Both coasts serve grilled fish and black risotto, but Dubrovnik gives the keener eater more to work with. There are oysters and mussels from Ston, Plavac Mali and Dingac from Peljesac, a morning fish market at Gruz, and konobas in Konavle that are worth the drive.

Budva's high points are its mountain foods, Njegusi ham and cheese, along with Vranac red and the day's catch at family konobas. Beyond those, the promenade menus are uneven and the choice is narrower. In both towns, the restaurants on the busiest strip are the ones to skip.

This is where the two differ most. Dubrovnik's Old Town is intact and enclosed by almost 2km of walls you can walk all the way round. Inside are the Stradun, the Franciscan pharmacy, the Sponza and Rector's palaces and the Dominican paintings, with Lovrijenac standing on its own rock outside. It takes two or three days to see properly.

Budva's Stari Grad is attractive but small, and much of its stonework was rebuilt after 1979. A walk past St John's, the Citadel and the archaeological museum takes an hour or two. The serious heritage near Budva lies in Kotor and Cetinje rather than in the town.

Budva is the place for a big night out. In summer the Slovenska Plaza front fills with beach bars and terrace clubs, the open-air club on the hill runs until dawn, and the old town bars stay busy late. It suits groups of friends who want loud pop and house.

Dubrovnik's evenings are gentler. Most nights mean a sunset drink at the bars in the rocks below the walls, then wine or cocktails in the lanes off the Stradun, with dancing at Revelin if you want it. Both towns largely shut down out of season.

Budva's outdoors runs inland, and Dubrovnik's runs out to sea. Behind Budva the bare limestone climbs to Lovcen, about an hour up serpentine roads, with beech forest and high trails above the Bay of Kotor. Lake Skadar offers birdwatching and kayaking among the reeds and water lilies, and nearer town there are coastal paths between the bays and paragliding off the hills above Becici.\n\nFrom Dubrovnik the best days are spent on the water and the islands. You can kayak round the walls to Lokrum's botanical garden, walk or cycle between villages on the Elafiti islands, or visit the saltwater lakes and pine forest of Mljet. The cable car up Mount Srd gives you the view over all of it.

Budva has the edge because the best of Montenegro is so close. Kotor is about half an hour away, with Perast just beyond. Cetinje and the Lake Skadar wine villages are under an hour inland, and Stari Bar and Ulcinj lie down the coast, with no border to cross for any of them.

Dubrovnik's outings cross borders. Kotor is a two-hour drive with a border on the way, Trebinje and Mostar are in Bosnia, and summer queues can cost hours. Closer to Dubrovnik, Cavtat, Ston's walls and the ferry-hop Elafiti islands are easy days out.

Neither is built around children, and they come out about even. Budva is the simpler beach vacation, with gently shelving town beaches, calm water at Becici and a water park, though the nights are loud in July and August.

Dubrovnik gives children more to do: the walls, the cable car, boats to Lokrum and a small aquarium. Its endless stairs make pushchairs hard work, though, and families tend to stay in Lapad near the beaches.

Dubrovnik is easier to get around without a car. A city bus network links Lapad, Babin Kuk and Gruz to the Pile gate, and ferries and taxi boats run to Lokrum, the islands and Cavtat. The steep streets are the main effort.

Budva's centre, marina and promenade are flat and close together, and coast buses reach Kotor. Away from that strip, though, Lovcen, Cetinje and the quieter bays are hard to reach without a car or a tour, and the single coast road jams in summer.

Neither is a shopping destination. The difference is in what you bring home. Dubrovnik has more distinctive local crafts: Konavle embroidery, coral, lavender, and dried figs and candied orange peel from the Gunduliceva Poljana market. Budva mostly sells beachwear and vacation essentials, along with filigree silver, olive oil, honey and rakija.

Budva is much cheaper. Even though it is the priciest place in Montenegro, bakeries, grill houses, café drinks and apartments a few streets back cost less than on most western Mediterranean coasts, and June or September brings prices down further.

Dubrovnik is costly by any Mediterranean measure. Summer rooms near the Old Town are priced like a major Western European capital, and the walls, the cable car and boat trips all add to the bill. Staying in Lapad or Cavtat helps, but only to a point.

Both rely on a summer festival, and Dubrovnik's is the stronger. Its Summer Festival has run every July and August since 1950, with theatre, classical music and dance at Lovrijenac and in the Rector's Palace atrium. The symphony orchestra also gives concerts through the year.

Budva's Grad Teatar brings theatre and concerts to the old town squares in summer. Outside the festival, live music in Budva mostly means cover bands on the seafront.

A summer stay in Budva is hard to make restful. Music from the seafront carries late into the night, so the calm lies in the quieter villages down the coast or behind the doors of the resort spas at Becici and around Sveti Stefan.\n\nDubrovnik's escapes are by water. A few days on the Elafiti islands or in Cavtat, where life follows the harbour and the afternoon heat, slow the pace more than the hotel spas in Lapad and Babin Kuk, which are all the city has in that line. In both towns, the restful weeks are the ones outside high summer.