Dubrovnik or Tirana?

Dubrovnik has the sea right on its doorstep. You swim in clear water from the rocks below the walls, at Banje or in the Lapad coves, and Lokrum and the Elafiti islands are a short boat ride away. The catch is that the beaches are pebble and concrete platforms rather than sand.

Tirana has no sea of its own. Durrës, under an hour away, has what Dubrovnik lacks, a long sandy beach with shallow water for children. But it is lined with hotels, packed on summer weekends and not always clear near the port. Albania's finest coves around Ksamil call for a separate trip.

Dubrovnik's cooking is good but narrow: Ston oysters, black risotto, grilled fish and Peljesac reds. These are best found in the konobas of Lapad, Gruz or Konavle, because the Old Town's menus are aimed at the day crowds, and there is little beyond seafood.

Tirana feeds a visitor better and more easily. Its farm-based cooking runs from tavë kosi and fërgesë to morning byrek from corner bakeries, and the farm restaurants on the hills around the city are worth the trip in themselves. Slow coffee and a closing raki shape the day, though high-end and international dining are limited.

Dubrovnik's Old Town is a complete walled city. A walk round almost 2km of ramparts, then down the Stradun past the Rector's Palace and the Franciscan and Dominican monasteries, is one of the finest sightseeing walks in the Mediterranean. The price is the summer crowds in the narrow lanes.

Tirana's interest is more recent and more specific. The communist era is told through Bunk'Art and the House of Leaves, with the Et'hem Bey Mosque and Skanderbeg Square at the centre. These visits stay with you, but there is little older heritage in the city itself.

Dubrovnik's evenings are short and scenic: a sunset drink at the bars on the rocks outside the walls, wine in the lanes off the Stradun, and perhaps the club inside the Revelin fortress. It is a summer scene in a handful of streets, and in winter the Old Town is quiet by midnight.

Tirana gives you the better night out. Blloku, once the closed quarter of the communist leadership, is a whole grid of cocktail bars, terraces and small clubs, full of a young local crowd past midnight on summer weekends. Larger clubs near the Grand Park lake run into the early hours, and people dress up to be seen.

Both cities have a mountain with a cable car right above town, but Dubrovnik adds the sea. From Mount Srd you look out over islands, and the best outdoor days are spent on the water: kayaking round the walls to Lokrum, walking between villages on the car-free Elafiti islands, or visiting the saltwater lakes of Mljet national park.

Tirana's outdoors is green and inland. There is beech and pine forest on Mount Dajti at about 1,000m, the turquoise Bovilla reservoir in its gorge, and rivers for rafting further out. In both cities, spring and autumn are the seasons for walking.

Both make good bases, in different ways. From Dubrovnik the best days cross borders: the Bay of Kotor with Kotor and Perast, Trebinje under an hour away and Mostar on a long day. There are also easy boat trips to Cavtat and the Elafiti islands, though summer border queues can cost hours.

Tirana's trips lead into the history the capital itself lacks: Skanderbeg's castle at Kruja, Roman Durrës, and Berat, Shkodra and Apollonia about two hours out. Roads are slow and most trips go by car, minibus or tour, so plan on full days.

Dubrovnik gives children more to do: walking the walls, the boat to Lokrum with its peacocks, the cable car and the calm Lapad coves for swimming, all in a city that feels safe. Stairs and summer crowds are the problem, so families usually stay in Lapad or Babin Kuk.

Tirana is warmly welcoming, with children up late in cafés and out on the evening stroll, and the Grand Park and the Dajti cable car make good outings. Beyond those there is little, and heavy traffic and broken pavements make a buggy hard work.

Dubrovnik is a little easier for a visitor. The Old Town is car-free, simple city buses link the hotel districts to the Pile gate, and taxi boats and ferries reach Lokrum, Cavtat and the islands. The effort lies in the steep stairs and hills between districts.

Tirana's centre is flat, and Skanderbeg Square to Blloku is under twenty minutes' walk. Beyond that, bus routes are confusing and the wide roads need care to cross, so cheap taxis do most of the work.

Neither is worth a trip for shopping. Dubrovnik's lanes are mostly souvenir shops, with a few genuine crafts such as Konavle embroidery and coral and filigree jewellery, and a morning market selling figs and candied orange peel.

Tirana has a little more range. The Pazari i Ri market sells cheese, honey and raki alongside carpets and copperware, Kruja's bazaar has felt hats and textiles, and for clothes there are boutiques in Blloku and chain stores in the malls.

Dubrovnik is the most expensive city in Croatia. In summer, rooms near the Old Town cost as much as in a major Western European capital, and the walls, the cable car and boat trips soon add up. Staying in Lapad or Gruz and coming in spring or autumn softens the cost, but Dubrovnik is never cheap.

Tirana costs a fraction as much. Coffee, byrek, grilled-meat dinners, taxis and museum entry are all cheap, and central mid-range hotels are good value. Even Blloku's smarter cocktail bars charge well below what most European capitals ask.

Dubrovnik's stage is mostly seasonal. In July and August the Summer Festival puts on theatre, concerts and dance at Fort Lovrijenac and in the Rector's Palace atrium, a fine setting. The rest of the year offers little beyond the symphony orchestra and the occasional concert in a church.

Tirana has the steadier programme. The National Theatre of Opera and Ballet on Skanderbeg Square stages opera, ballet and concerts through the season, tickets are easy to get, and a few bars host jazz and live bands. Neither scene runs deep.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, so spas in both mean hotel facilities. In Dubrovnik, rest depends on when and where you stay: a spring or autumn visit, or a few days on the Elafiti islands or in Cavtat, will do far more for you than a summer week in the crowded Old Town.

Tirana's nearest thermal water is at Llixha, about an hour away, with simple, old-fashioned spa hotels. In town, calm means long coffees on shaded terraces, the evening xhiro and walks in the Grand Park, away from the traffic noise that fills the centre.