Dubrovnik or Pula?

Neither city has a proper sandy beach, and the swimming is much the same quality: clear Adriatic water entered from rocks, pebbles and concrete platforms. The difference is in setting. Dubrovnik's swimming is right under the city walls, at Banje and around Lapad, with boat rides to Lokrum and the Elafiti islands for quieter bays.

Pula's coast is lower and pine-shaded, with the best spots spread around Verudela, Medulin and the wild coves of Cape Kamenjak. It rewards anyone with transport, while Dubrovnik's most memorable swims come with a view of the Old Town.

Pula eats better. Istrian cooking adds truffle-sauced fuži and pljukanci, pršut, game and a full olive oil and wine country to the usual grilled fish, and the hinterland taverns are within easy reach.

Dubrovnik's Dalmatian kitchen is good but narrower, centred on seafood, black risotto and Ston oysters, with fine Peljesac reds. Its Old Town restaurants lean hard on cruise trade, so eating well means heading out to Lapad, Gruz or Konavle.

Dubrovnik has the finer historic ensemble. A full circuit of walls, the Rector's Palace, the Franciscan and Dominican monasteries and Fort Lovrijenac make a complete walled city that justifies a trip on its own.

Pula's strength is Roman rather than medieval: the Arena is among the best preserved amphitheatres anywhere, and the Temple of Augustus still stands on the Forum. Beyond those and the Austro-Hungarian naval legacy, though, there is less to see, and it fits comfortably into a day or two.

Both are quiet, summer-only scenes, and neither is a place to choose for going out. Dubrovnik's evenings revolve around cliffside bars outside the seaward walls and a club in the Revelin fortress, all within a few Old Town streets. Pula spreads out more, from Forum terraces to beach bars on Verudela and in Medulin, with a few student bars keeping some life in winter.

Dubrovnik's landscape is more dramatic, with limestone mountains falling straight into an island-strewn sea. Mount Srd, kayaking to Lokrum and the lakes and pine forest of Mljet national park give it the edge.

Pula's southern Istria is gentler: low macchia coast, olive groves and the car-free Kamenjak headland with its dinosaur footprints. It is good cycling country and offers windsurfing and wreck diving, but the nearest real hills at Učka are an hour and a half away.

Pula has the richer choice close by. Rovinj, the mosaics of Poreč, the hill towns of Motovun and Hum and the Brijuni islands are all within about an hour, and Piran and Trieste are reachable further afield.

Dubrovnik's day trips are fewer but more exotic, crossing borders to Kotor and Perast in Montenegro or Trebinje and Mostar in Bosnia. Summer border queues can eat into those days, which makes Istria the easier region to explore.

Pula is the easier choice with children. Sheltered, shallow bays around Medulin, an aquarium in a fort, the Arena to explore and a water park and dinosaur park within reach add up to more to do, and prams manage the flat centre.

Dubrovnik has fun moments, the walls, the cable car and boat rides, but its steep stairways and crowded summer streets are hard going with small children, and little is designed for them.

Dubrovnik is simpler once you are there. The car-free Old Town, a straightforward bus network to the Pile gate and regular ferries to the islands cover most of what visitors want, even if the stairs make walking tiring.

Pula's flat centre is easy on foot, but much of its appeal lies beyond the city, and with slow trains and infrequent regional buses, a car or scooter becomes close to essential.

Shopping is a sideline in both. Dubrovnik leans towards crafts, Konavle embroidery, coral and filigree jewellery and candied orange peel, among plenty of souvenir shops. Pula's best buys are things to eat and drink, truffle products, olive oil and wine, and its main street adds everyday chain stores.

Pula is considerably kinder on the wallet. Apartments and konobas keep it mid-priced for most of the year, and only July and August push costs towards Western European levels.

Dubrovnik is expensive in every season and very expensive in summer, with rooms near the Old Town priced like a major capital and the walls, cable car and boats adding up.

Neither has a year-round scene, but Pula offers a little more. Its Arena hosts pop, rock and classical concerts and the long-running film festival screenings each summer, backed by the Istrian National Theatre the rest of the year.

Dubrovnik's offer rests almost entirely on the Summer Festival in July and August, when theatre and concerts fill Fort Lovrijenac and the Rector's Palace. Outside it there is little to attend.

Both cities lack any bathing tradition, so spa time means hotel facilities in either. The calm comes from different places: in Dubrovnik from escaping to Cavtat or the Elafiti islands, in Pula from slow coffees on the Forum, pine-shaded coastal paths and the Istrian countryside.