Cesky Krumlov or Rovinj?

Swimming barely features in Cesky Krumlov. The Vltava is for rafting, not bathing, and the nearest swim is at the Lipno reservoir, about half an hour south, where grassy and sandy shores meet lake water of around 20°C in high summer.

In Rovinj the sea is a large part of the stay. You can swim off limestone ledges and concrete platforms right below the old town or along the Golden Cape, or take a boat to the quieter coves on St Catherine and Red Island. The catch is that there is no sand, so bring water shoes.

Rovinj eats better. You get grilled fish, scampi buzara, truffle pasta, Istrian olive oil and Malvazija and Teran wines, and the konobas inland are worth the drive for slow-cooked meat.

Cesky Krumlov serves heavy South Bohemian food, roast pork, duck and dumplings in vaulted cellars, and the locally brewed beer is the best thing on the table. Both towns have plenty of menus aimed at passing visitors, but Rovinj's regional ingredients give a week of meals more variety.

Cesky Krumlov is the stronger choice for sightseeing. The whole old town is UNESCO-listed, and the castle adds courtyards, state rooms, the triple-arched Cloak Bridge and a Baroque theatre with its original stage machinery, with the Egon Schiele art centre below.

Rovinj's appeal is mostly its setting. Venetian houses climb a former island to St Euphemia, whose bell tower you can climb, and the Batana House tells the story of the local fishing boats. You can see it all in an afternoon, while Cesky Krumlov's castle alone can fill a day.

Neither town is for a big night out. Rovinj has a little more going on: waterfront cocktail and wine bars, drinks on the rocks at sunset and a couple of places to dance in high season. Cesky Krumlov stops at cellar pubs and riverside terraces, has no clubs, and its lanes empty early outside summer.

The outdoors is gentle in both, with a slight edge to Cesky Krumlov, though the settings differ. Here the classic day is a canoe or raft trip down the wooded Vltava. The Bohemian Forest national park offers long walks and bike rides, Klet has views towards the Alps, and in winter there is cross-country skiing.

Rovinj's outdoors is on the water. You can walk or cycle the pine and cedar paths of the Golden Cape, kayak or dive around the islands, and take a boat up the steep green Lim Fjord to its mussel farms.

Rovinj has the richer surroundings. Pula's Roman amphitheatre, the sixth-century mosaics in Porec and the hill towns of Motovun and Groznjan are all within easy reach, and Piran and Trieste make longer outings across the border.

Cesky Krumlov has good trips of its own: the arcaded square of České Budějovice, the white castle at Hluboká, the Baroque farmhouses of Holašovice and the pond-ringed spa town of Třeboň. Prague, though, is too far for a comfortable day. Around both towns a car makes most of these trips far easier.

Rovinj works a little better with children. There are boat rides to the islands, flat shady paths in the Golden Cape for pushchairs and bikes, and large campsites with pools and playgrounds. Younger children need watching on the rocky shore.

Cesky Krumlov has its own appeal: the bears in the castle moat, the tower climb and a gentle family raft trip, with Lipno's treetop walk nearby. But the castle interior tours are aimed at adults. In both towns the steep cobbled lanes are hard going with a pushchair.

Getting around is much the same in both. Each has a small, car-free centre that you walk across in minutes on steep, uneven cobbles, and each needs a car for its countryside.

The differences are in how you leave. Cesky Krumlov has a railway station on the hill above town with regional trains to České Budějovice. Rovinj has no railway, but it has intercity buses to Pula, Porec and Zagreb, a promenade and coast paths that are easy by bike, and taxi boats to the islands.

Shopping is small-scale in both, with Rovinj a little ahead. It sells food and drink from the region, such as truffle products, olive oil, Malvazija and lavender, and the steep Grisia lane is lined with artists' studios and galleries. Cesky Krumlov's lanes offer Bohemian glass, garnet jewellery, marionettes and moldavite, plus a few ceramics workshops. Neither has fashion streets or department stores.

Cesky Krumlov is much cheaper. Family guesthouses fill the old houses, Czech meals and beer cost little, and only rooms with castle views and restaurants on the main lanes charge extra for the location.

Rovinj is one of the dearer resorts on the Croatian coast. Harbour restaurants charge for the view, and fish sold by weight adds up quickly. Private apartments, campsites and a visit in late spring or September bring the costs down, but rarely to Czech levels.

Neither town has much on outside summer, but Cesky Krumlov has more to see in season. The castle garden's open-air theatre has a revolving auditorium that turns between scenes and stages plays and opera, and an international music festival brings classical concerts to the castle and churches.

Rovinj offers occasional concerts in St Euphemia, music on the squares and the bitinada, the town's tradition of unaccompanied singing. For a big show you have to go to the Roman arena in Pula.

Rovinj is the easier place to unwind. The resort hotels along the Golden Cape have pools, saunas and treatments open to outside guests, and May, June and September bring a slow rhythm of long lunches, swims and walks in the pines.

Cesky Krumlov offers little more than a few hotel wellness rooms and beer baths. Its calm comes from the still old town once the day visitors have gone, and proper peat baths in Třeboň are a day trip away.