Dubrovnik or Rovinj?

Neither town has a sandy beach on its doorstep, and in both you swim off rock, pebble and concrete into very clear water. In Dubrovnik the swimming spots are spread out: Banje just outside the walls, the coves of Lapad and Babin Kuk, and better bays a boat ride away on Lokrum and the Elafiti islands. Lopud's Sunj there is the rare sandy cove.

Rovinj's shore runs more continuously, with several kilometres of flat limestone ledges shaded by the pines of the Golden Cape, and quieter coves on St Catherine and Red Island. Pack water shoes for the sea urchins.

The two eat at a similar level, and in both the tables with the best views tend to serve the weakest food. The difference lies in the region's produce. Dubrovnik's cooking is Dalmatian: seafood, black risotto and slow-cooked pasticada. The highlights are lunch at an oyster farm near Ston and the red wines of Peljesac.

Rovinj draws on Istria, so truffles, peppery olive oil and Istrian pastas such as fuži sit alongside the fish. The area also has a few more refined kitchens and countryside konobas worth the drive.

Here the gap is wide. Dubrovnik's Old Town is a full set of monuments inside an unbroken ring of walls: the Rector's and Sponza palaces, the cathedral, the Franciscan monastery with its old pharmacy, the Dominican collection of Dalmatian painting, and Fort Lovrijenac on its own rock. That is enough for two or three days.

Rovinj is lovely to look at rather than a list of sights to tour. The climb through Venetian lanes to St Euphemia and its bell tower, the town museum and the Batana House fill an afternoon. The bigger history lies in Pula and Porec.

Neither town is a place for clubbing, but Dubrovnik has more to do after dinner. Bars cut into the rocks below the seaward walls, wine and cocktail bars in the lanes off the Stradun and a club inside the Revelin fortress keep summer nights going later.

In Rovinj the evening is a long dinner and a drink on the rocks at sunset. There are a couple of late venues in high season, and the old town is mostly quiet by midnight. In winter both towns go very quiet after dark.

Dubrovnik has the grander setting, with bare limestone mountains dropping into a sea full of islands. You can climb or take the cable car up Mount Srd, kayak around the walls, and reach the saltwater lakes and pine forest of Mljet.

Rovinj's outdoors is gentler and closer to hand. The Golden Cape's flat paths start at the edge of town, the archipelago suits paddleboarding and diving around reefs and wrecks, and the Lim Fjord and the vineyard trails inland are easy to explore. Both are best for walking in spring and autumn.

Both make good bases, but the trips are of a different kind. From Dubrovnik they cross borders: the Bay of Kotor and Perast in Montenegro, Trebinje and Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with Ston's walls and the car-free Elafiti islands. The catch is the border queues in summer.

From Rovinj the trips are shorter and more numerous. They include Pula's amphitheatre, the mosaics of Porec, the hill towns of Motovun and Groznjan and the Brijuni islands, with Piran or Trieste for a longer day. Almost all of it needs a car.

For children the two come out much the same: both are safe and welcoming, and neither has much made for kids. Dubrovnik has the walls, the cable car, a small aquarium and the calm Lapad coves, but its stairways defeat pushchairs and the Old Town is tiring on hot cruise days.

Rovinj's strengths are the flat, shaded Golden Cape and the family campsites and resorts with pools and playgrounds. Against that, the rocky shore calls for water shoes and the old town's steep, polished cobbles are hard work.

Both have car-free old towns and no railway, but they work differently. Dubrovnik spreads across several districts, Lapad, Babin Kuk, Gruz and Ploce, joined by city buses and one coast road that gets congested in summer. Ferries and taxi boats run out to the islands and Cavtat.

Rovinj is a single walkable town where the waterfront promenade and bike paths reach everything. Beyond it, though, the hill towns and wineries are really only reachable by car.

Dubrovnik's shopping is about traditional crafts: Konavle embroidery, coral and silver filigree jewellery, and the dried figs and candied orange peel sold at the morning market on Gunduliceva Poljana. Rovinj leans towards food and art, with truffles, Istrian olive oil and Teran wine, and the small galleries and artists' studios that line the steep lane of Grisia. For clothes or design, you will have to go elsewhere from either town, since neither has fashion streets or department stores.

Rovinj is easier on the wallet, though both are at the expensive end of the Croatian coast. In summer, rooms near Dubrovnik's Old Town cost as much as in a Western European capital, and the walls, the cable car and boat trips all add to the bill.

In Rovinj, private apartments and the big campsites are real alternatives, and because the town is walkable there is little to spend on getting about. In both, coming outside high summer brings room prices down.

Dubrovnik has the stronger offer, almost entirely thanks to its Summer Festival. Each July and August it fills Fort Lovrijenac, the Rector's Palace atrium and the squares with theatre, concerts and dance, and a symphony orchestra plays through the rest of the year.

Rovinj has occasional concerts in St Euphemia, music on the harbour, and the bitinada, the old unaccompanied singing tied to the batana fishing boats. For a big show, people go to Pula's arena.

Rovinj is the easier place to unwind. The resort hotels along the Golden Cape have well-equipped spas open to outside guests, and in May, June and September the town settles into long lunches, late swims and walks in the pines.

Dubrovnik's spas are limited to the larger hotels, and the Old Town in season is anything but restful. For real calm there, most people move out to Cavtat or the Elafiti islands.