Dubrovnik or Rome?

In Dubrovnik swimming is part of everyday life. The Adriatic is clear off the rocks beneath the walls, at Banje and in the Lapad coves, and Lokrum, the Elafiti islands and Cavtat have quieter bays. The catch is that the beaches are pebble or concrete platforms rather than sand.

Rome has the sand but not the setting. The dark volcanic beaches at Ostia are half an hour away by train, but they are mostly paid lidos and the water is rarely clear. The clean coves at Sperlonga take a full day out. In Dubrovnik the sea is part of the stay, while in Rome it is a way to escape the heat.

Dubrovnik eats well within a narrow range: grilled fish, black risotto, Ston oysters and red wine from Peljesac. The best of it is in the konobas of Lapad, Gruz and Konavle rather than on the Stradun, where many tables are aimed at the cruise crowds.

Rome is a food destination in its own right. It has its four classic pastas, artichokes fried the Jewish way in the Ghetto, the offal dishes of Testaccio and serious street food in supplì and pizza al taglio. In both cities eating near the main sights is a mistake, but in Rome a short walk to Monti or Trastevere puts it right.

Dubrovnik's Old Town is a single, intact masterpiece. The walk around the walls, the Stradun, the Rector's Palace and the Franciscan and Dominican monasteries can all be seen in two or three days.

Rome works on another scale. The Colosseum, the Forum and the Pantheon are only the ancient layer, with early Christian mosaics, Bernini's piazzas, the Sistine Chapel and the Borghese Gallery on top of them. A week in Rome still leaves gaps, and this is the biggest single difference between the two cities.

A night in Dubrovnik means a sunset drink at the bars cut into the rocks below the walls, then the wine and cocktail bars off the Stradun or the club inside the Revelin fortress. It is a summer scene, and much of it closes from November.

Rome has more choice of where and how to spend the evening, all year round: aperitivo in the piazzas, the crowded lanes of Trastevere, the small bars of Monti, student San Lorenzo and arty Pigneto. Neither is a clubbing city, though Rome at least has Testaccio and Ostiense.

Dubrovnik has the more dramatic landscape, with limestone mountains falling into a sea dotted with islands. You can kayak around the walls to Lokrum, ride the cable car or climb the path up Mount Srd, see the saltwater lakes of Mljet and walk in Konavle, so the outdoors is part of the stay.

Rome's green spaces are gentler and full of history: the old villa parks, the Appian Way by bike past tombs and aqueducts, and the crater lakes of the Alban Hills. Proper mountains in the Apennines are about ninety minutes away. In both cities the summer heat pushes walking into spring and autumn.

Dubrovnik's day trips have the novelty of crossing borders: Kotor and Perast in Montenegro, and Trebinje and Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ston's walls and the Elafiti islands are closer. In summer the queues at the border can take up a large part of the day.

Rome is one of Europe's great bases for day trips. Ostia Antica, Villa d'Este at Tivoli and Hadrian's Villa are close by, the Etruscan tombs, Orvieto and Civita di Bagnoregio lie to the north, and fast trains reach Florence and Naples in about ninety minutes. There is far more to choose from, and much of it needs no car.

Neither city is set up for children, and in both, families do best in spring or autumn. What differs is the kind of trip. Dubrovnik has calm swimming coves, boat rides to Lokrum and the cable car, but its stairs are hard work with a pushchair. Rome has gladiators, catacombs, daily gelato, and the zoo and rowing boats in Villa Borghese, but also long queues, cobbles and busy roads.

Both centres are best seen on foot, but they get you about in different ways. Dubrovnik's car-free Old Town takes ten minutes to cross, but steep stairways make the hills the real obstacle. A simple bus network links the Old Town to Lapad and Gruz, and boats run to Lokrum and the islands.

Rome's centre covers more ground, yet the walk from the Colosseum past the Pantheon to Trastevere is short. A metro, trams and buses serve the wider city, though the metro barely reaches the historic core. You won't need a car in either city, but in Dubrovnik one helps for Konavle and the trips across the border.

Dubrovnik offers little beyond souvenirs and a few local crafts: Konavle embroidery, filigree jewellery, lavender, olive oil and the dried figs sold at the Gunduliceva Poljana market.

Rome is a real shopping city. The big fashion houses line Via Condotti and the streets around the Spanish Steps, Monti has independent boutiques and vintage, Via dei Coronari has antique dealers, and on Sundays there is the huge flea market at Porta Portese. Leather goods and handmade shoes are the buys worth saving space in your case for.

Neither city is cheap, but Dubrovnik puts more strain on a budget. The cost runs through the whole stay. In summer a bed near the walls, a meal within sight of the Stradun and every paid outing, from the ramparts to the boat across to Lokrum, all come at a premium. There is also little cheap everyday food to fall back on. Sleeping in Lapad, Gruz or Cavtat and avoiding July and August will lower the bill, but a tight budget still stays tight.

In Rome the spending comes in a few large items. Most of it goes on a room in the historic centre, which is small and hard to find in spring and autumn, and on tickets for the Vatican, the Colosseum and the Borghese. In between, a day can cost very little: coffee and lunch are cheap if you eat the way Romans do, and much of the city's art hangs in churches you can enter for nothing. If you sleep outside the centre, you have far more room to manage on a budget than in Dubrovnik.

Dubrovnik's stage life is concentrated in the Summer Festival in July and August, with theatre and concerts at Fort Lovrijenac and the Rector's Palace. The rest of the year offers little beyond the symphony orchestra and occasional church music.

Rome has something on all year. The Teatro dell'Opera stages opera and ballet, and in summer the opera moves to the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla. The Santa Cecilia orchestra plays at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, which also hosts jazz and other music, and the city has a long-running jazz club scene.

Neither city has a living bathing culture, and both rely mainly on hotel spas. Rome comes out a little ahead because real thermal water is within reach, at the Acque Albule pools of Bagni di Tivoli and the free hot springs near Viterbo. Its villa gardens and the Aventine also give you quiet corners in town.

In Dubrovnik, calm comes from getting away from the centre in summer. A stay on the Elafiti islands or in Cavtat, or a visit in spring or autumn, is restful in a way the crowded Old Town is not.