Budva or Kotor?

Budva was built around its shore. Slovenska Plaza runs along the town front, the two Mogren coves sit just past the walls, and Becici, Jaz, Sveti Stefan and the bays towards Petrovac are all close by. The shore is mostly fine pebble and coarse sand facing the open Adriatic. In high summer it fills with rows of sunbeds and music.

Kotor has no real beach of its own. People swim from concrete platforms, jetties and thin pebble strips towards Dobrota and Muo. The water is calm and warm, but the inner bay is enclosed and less clear than the open sea. For a proper beach day, most people head over the hill to Budva.

The two towns eat in much the same way, with Njegusi ham, mountain cheese, black risotto, grilled fish and Vranac wine. Both also have tourist-facing terraces where quality is uneven. In Budva the weak spot is the promenade, and the better meals are found at family-run konobas, with burek from the bakeries.

Kotor adds mussels farmed near the mouth of the bay and a stronger Venetian accent. Its best meals are out of town, in the shoreline konobas of Dobrota, Prcanj and Perast. The green market outside the walls is also worth a morning visit.

Kotor is the real draw for history. Its UNESCO-listed walled town is a tight web of marble lanes and squares around the Cathedral of St Tryphon, consecrated in 1166. Among the old seafaring palazzi is the Maritime Museum, and the Venetian walls climb the cliff behind the town to the fortress of St John.

Budva's Stari Grad is attractive, but most of its stone was rebuilt after the 1979 earthquake. A walk past its churches and up to the Citadel takes an hour or two, and the small archaeological museum completes it. Most culture-minded visitors staying in Budva end up making the trip to Kotor.

In summer Budva is the party town of this coast. The bars and terrace clubs along Slovenska Plaza play loud pop and house, and the open-air club on the hill keeps going until dawn. It suits groups who want long, loud nights.

A night in Kotor usually means a drink on a lit-up square after the day visitors leave, with a few bars and a small club scene inside the walls. Kotor's own guests often go down the coast to Budva for a big night. In both towns it goes quiet early outside the warm months.

Both towns have limestone mountains behind them, but Kotor sits right inside the scenery. The bay winds inland between walls that rise over 1,000m. From the town gates you can walk straight up the Ladder of Kotor mule track or the fortress path, and the 25 hairpins lead up into Lovcen. Kayaking along the bay shows how close the mountains come to the water.

From Budva, Lovcen is about an hour's drive. Close to town the outdoor options are coastal paths between bays, boat trips under the cliffs, sea kayaking and paragliding above Becici. Lake Skadar is nearer to Budva than to Kotor.

Both make equally good bases, and many outings overlap, with Cetinje, Perast and Sveti Stefan within easy reach of either. Budva is better placed for the southern coast: Petrovac, the hilltop ruins of Stari Bar and the Ottoman-flavoured old town of Ulcinj. Lake Skadar is also closer from Budva, so an unhurried afternoon among the vineyards around Virpazar fits more easily into a day from here than from Kotor.

Kotor looks along its bay instead. Perast and its island church are twenty minutes away, with Dobrota, Prcanj and Herceg Novi further round the water. Dubrovnik is nearer too, a couple of hours by road, though the summer border queue can add to that. The drive to Cetinje passes the mausoleum of Njegos on the summit of Lovcen, and the cliff monastery of Ostrog makes a longer day out from either town.

Budva works better with children, mainly because of its beaches. The town beaches shelve gently, the bays at Becici are calmer and there is a water park on the hill. In July and August the noise at night leads many families to stay in Becici instead.

Kotor's car-free old town and its street cats are a hit with young children. Beyond that there is little made for them, and the fortress climb is steep and hot in summer. Families usually swim from the bay jetties and drive to the sand near Budva, with a boat trip to Perast's island church as the favourite outing.

Both towns are easy on foot and hard to leave without a car. Neither has a railway, and the single coast road jams in summer. In Budva the walking runs in a line along the shore, from the old town and marina along the promenade to Becici. Coastal buses and boat taxis take you on to the coves.

Kotor is a small, flat, car-free triangle inside its walls, though the marble paving is slippery after rain. Its bus station sits just outside the gates, water taxis link some of the bay villages, and Tivat airport is a short drive away.

Neither town is a shopping destination, and both sell much the same silver filigree, olive oil and honey. Budva leans towards beach supplies, with sunglasses and beachwear on the promenade and a modest shopping centre by the marina. Kotor adds lace, coral jewellery, cat-themed souvenirs and a few galleries of local painters. For brands, people go to the marina at Tivat.

Costs are much the same in both towns, and both get expensive in July and August. Budva is the most expensive place in Montenegro on its seafront, though the bakeries, grill houses and apartments a few streets back are good value. In Kotor the high prices are inside the walls, and an apartment in Dobrota or Muo brings the cost down. In both towns, coming in June or September is the easiest way to save.

Neither town has a year-round stage, so live performance in both depends on summer. Budva's Grad Teatar brings theatre, concerts and readings to the old town squares, and seafront bars have cover bands.

Kotor's summer programme is quieter, with classical recitals, choirs and concerts in the cathedral and churches. Its carnival and Boka Night fill the bay with masked parades and decorated boats.

For a restful stay, neither town offers much beyond hotel spas. Budva has more of them, in the resort hotels at Becici and around Sveti Stefan, but music from the seafront carries late into summer nights. Kotor is noisy at midday instead, when the day visitors pack the walls. Its early mornings on the water and its evenings are quiet, and long lunches in the shore villages suit a slow pace.