Budva or Plovdiv?

Budva has a real beach life and Plovdiv has none. Slovenska Plaza runs along the front of the town, Mogren's coves lie just past the walls, and Becici, Jaz and the sand facing Sveti Stefan are a short ride away, mostly fine pebble or coarse sand, busy in high summer.

Plovdiv is around 250km from the Black Sea. Cooling off there means a pool, the rowing canal or a Rhodope reservoir, so anyone wanting to swim in the sea needs to add days on the coast.

Plovdiv eats better. Its mehanas serve hearty Bulgarian cooking such as kavarma, kebapche and banitsa, Kapana adds modern bistros, and Thracian Valley reds like Mavrud come from wineries just outside town.

Budva's promenade restaurants feed the summer crowds with uneven results, so the rewards lie in Njegusi ham, mountain cheese, grilled squid at family konobas and Vranac wine. Neither city has much range or fine dining, but Plovdiv's everyday cooking and wine are the stronger reason to linger at the table.

Here Plovdiv is in another league. Layers of history sit on top of each other, from the hillside Roman theatre and the stadium beneath the main street to the mosaics of the basilicas, the painted merchant houses of the Old Town, the Dzhumaya Mosque and the Thracian finds of the Archaeological Museum.

Budva's heritage fits inside Stari Grad: marble lanes, a few churches, the Citadel and a small museum, much of it rebuilt after the 1979 earthquake and seen in an hour or two. The bigger sights of its region lie in Kotor and Cetinje.

Budva goes out harder. In summer the beach bars and terrace clubs along Slovenska Plaza play loud pop and house, a hilltop open-air club runs until dawn, and groups of friends come from across the Balkans for it, though it all shuts down from October.

Plovdiv's nights are smaller and calmer, centred on the craft beer, wine and cocktail bars of Kapana, with students keeping them busy through the year. It suits a long evening over a glass rather than a dance floor.

Both have mountains close by, but the setting differs. Budva pairs sea and limestone: coastal paths between bays, kayaking and boat trips under the cliffs, paragliding above Becici, with Lovcen's beech forest and Lake Skadar's reed beds about an hour inland.

Plovdiv is all land. Its rocky tepeta hills give short climbs in the city itself, the Rhodope gorges and forests begin about 20km south, and the higher Central Balkan range lies to the north, with skiing at Pamporovo in winter.

Both make good bases, for very different outings. From Budva the trips run along the Adriatic: walled Kotor and baroque Perast on their bay, the old royal capital Cetinje, the wine villages of Lake Skadar, Stari Bar and Ulcinj, with Dubrovnik a long day across a border.

From Plovdiv they lead into Bulgaria's past: Bachkovo Monastery, the Thracian tomb at Kazanlak and the Valley of Roses, Roman Hisarya and the Revival village of Koprivshtitsa. On both sides a car or driver helps a great deal.

Budva works better for children who want a beach vacation, with gently shelving town beaches, calmer bays at Becici and a water park above town. In July and August the noise at night pushes many families to Becici or further down the coast.

Plovdiv is relaxed with children and has its parks, the singing fountains in Tsar Simeon Garden and the playgrounds by the rowing canal, but with no sea the days are shorter on entertainment, and the steep Old Town cobbles and summer heat are hard going with small ones.

Plovdiv is easier. A long car-free street links the station side of town with the Old Town, and the ruins, Kapana and museums all lie a short walk from it, though the hilltop cobbles are steep and slippery.

Budva's centre is also walkable, from the old town along the promenade to Becici, but beyond it everything depends on one coast road that jams in summer and has no railway. Buses and boat taxis help, yet the inland sights really need a car or a tour.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Plovdiv offers a little more to browse. Kapana's design studios, galleries and craft shops, the antique stalls on the climb to the Old Town and rose oil cosmetics give it some character beyond the high-street chains and malls. Budva's lanes and promenade stalls sell mostly souvenirs, beachwear, silver filigree and rakija.

Plovdiv is noticeably cheaper. Rooms around the Old Town, meals with local wine and taxis all cost little, entrance fees are small, and much of what the city offers costs nothing at all.

Budva is Montenegro's priciest resort, with seafront rooms, sunbeds and promenade meals at their most expensive in July and August. Bakeries, grill houses and apartments a few streets back keep costs moderate, and June or September bring them down.

Plovdiv has more to see and hear, and its highlight is remarkable: opera and concerts on summer nights in the Roman theatre. It also has a resident opera company, philharmonic orchestra, drama theatre and a long-running jazz festival, though much of it is in Bulgarian.

Budva's live culture is essentially the summer Grad Teatar festival on the old town squares, plus cover bands in the seafront bars.

Plovdiv is the more restful city. Its slow pace, the local art of aylyak, means long coffees under the plane trees, and the mineral pools of Hisarya and Velingrad are within reach for proper bathing.

Budva relies on resort hotel spas in Becici and around Sveti Stefan, and in high summer the music from the seafront carries late, so a calm stay there means coming in May, June or late September.