Budva or Skopje?

This is where Budva wins outright. Slovenska Plaza runs along the town, Mogren's coves sit under the cliffs, and Becici, Jaz and the bay facing Sveti Stefan are a short ride away. The shore is fine pebble and coarse sand, crowded with sunbeds in high summer, but the water is warm from June to October.

Skopje has no sea, and swimming there means hotel or public pools. Matka's reservoir is for kayaks rather than bathing, and Lake Ohrid needs a separate stay.

Skopje is the better place to eat. You get tavche gravche in clay dishes, kebapi and pastrmajlija in the bazaar grill houses, and long tables in the Debar Maalo taverns, with Tikves wines on every list. The range is narrow, but the cooking is rooted in the place.

Budva's promenade serves resort menus of uneven quality. The rewards lie in its regional produce, such as Njegusi ham, mountain cheese and grilled squid at family konobas. Both places pour Vranec or Vranac red from their own vineyards.

Skopje has much more to see. The Old Bazaar is one of the Balkans' largest Ottoman quarters, Kale Fortress stands above it, and the stopped clock of the old railway station tells the story of the 1963 earthquake. The bronze statuary of Skopje 2014 divides opinion but is worth seeing either way, and two or three days are well spent.

In Budva the walled Stari Grad, its churches and the Citadel fill an hour or two. The region's greater heritage lies along the coast, in towns such as Kotor.

Budva is the livelier place for a night out in summer. Beach bars and terrace clubs along Slovenska Plaza and a big open-air club on the hill keep groups out until dawn, though most of it shuts from October to May.

Skopje runs at a different pace. Its café-bars in Debar Maalo move from coffee to rakija on weekend nights, and the bazaar courtyards stay busy in summer. It is sociable and local rather than loud, and it carries on through the year.

Both cities have mountains close by, but the setting differs. Budva puts limestone peaks behind the sea. Lovcen and Lake Skadar are each about an hour inland, and nearer to town there are coastal paths, sea kayaking and paragliding above Becici.

Skopje's outdoors is all on land. Vodno rises from the suburbs, with a cable car up to the Millennium Cross, and Matka Canyon has boat rides to Vrelo Cave. Further out, Mavrovo and the Sar mountains offer hiking in summer and skiing in winter, which Budva cannot match.

Budva makes the better base for day trips. Kotor is half an hour away, with Perast beyond it, Cetinje is under an hour inland, and the coast continues down to Stari Bar and Ulcinj. Dubrovnik is possible as a long day.

Skopje's day trips are more scattered. Options include the painted mosque at Tetovo, the mosaics at Stobi, the Tikves wineries, crater-set Kratovo and Prizren across the border in Kosovo. They are rewarding, but a car helps, and Ohrid is too far for a day out.

Budva works better with children because the beach does most of the work. The town beaches shelve gently, Becici's bays are calmer and there is a water park above town. Families do best in June or September, or by staying outside the loud centre.

Skopje welcomes children in cafés and in City Park, but its outings come down to a small zoo, the Vodno cable car and a boat in Matka. Hot summers and uneven pavements make long days with young children tiring.

Both are easy on foot in the centre and harder beyond it, though for different reasons. In Budva, the old town, marina and beach lie close together and boat taxis reach the coves. The single coast road jams in summer, and there is no railway.

Skopje's sights sit along a flat walk by the Vardar. Its double-decker buses are confusing for newcomers, so cheap taxis are the usual way to get to Vodno and Matka.

Skopje has more worth buying. Workshops in the Old Bazaar sell filigree silver, copperware and embroidery, Bit Pazar is a working market full of spices and cheese, and a few malls cover the chain stores.

Budva's shopping is limited to souvenirs, beachwear, olive oil and rakija, with a modest centre near the marina.

Skopje is clearly cheaper. Tavern meals, coffee, taxis and central hotels all cost little, and the main sights are free or close to it.

Budva charges the most of anywhere in Montenegro, especially for seafront rooms and sunbeds in July and August. Apartments a few streets back, bakeries and grill houses still keep costs below most Western European coasts.

Skopje has a real year-round calendar. The Macedonian Opera and Ballet, the Philharmonic and the National Theatre all run seasons, the jazz festival has been held every autumn since the early 1980s, and folk music plays in the Debar Maalo taverns.

Budva's one fixture is the Grad Teatar summer festival on the old town squares. Otherwise there are cover bands on the seafront.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, so for both, wellness means hotel spas. Budva's are in the big resorts at Becici and Sveti Stefan, and the town is only restful outside high summer.

Skopje adds the old-style mineral pools of Katlanovska Banja half an hour out, and long, slow afternoons on café terraces.