Graz or Sarajevo?

Neither city is a place to come for swimming, but Graz has the more practical summer dip. The former gravel pits south of town, Schwarzlsee above all, have jetties and grassy banks and water of around 23°C in high summer. They are close enough for an afternoon out.

Sarajevo has cold mountain rivers, pools and the Jablanica lake on the road south. The Adriatic is about three hours away, so swimmers should add a few days on the coast after their stay.

Both cities eat well within a narrow range, but from very different kitchens. Graz cooks from the Styrian countryside: pumpkin seed oil on almost everything, cold fried chicken salad, farmers' markets every morning and crisp white wine from the hills an hour south.

Sarajevo serves Ottoman-Balkan comfort food: ćevapi from the grills of Baščaršija, pita sold by weight and lamb cooked under a metal lid, with the slow ritual of Bosnian coffee at the centre of it all. Choose Graz for wine and market produce, Sarajevo for grills, pastries and coffee. Neither has much international cooking.

The two are equally rewarding but very different in mood. Graz is a beautifully kept Renaissance and Baroque town, with the Schlossberg clock tower, the Landeszeughaus armoury packed with armour, Schloss Eggenberg and the Kunsthaus for modern contrast.

Sarajevo is about faiths meeting and recent history. A mosque, two cathedrals and a synagogue stand within a short walk of the Ottoman bazaar, the Latin Bridge marks the assassination of 1914, and the siege is remembered at the Tunnel of Hope and the War Childhood Museum. Graz is the more handsome of the two, Sarajevo the more moving.

Neither is a clubbing city, and in both the students keep things going. In Graz, people go out in the lanes of the Bermuda Triangle around Mehlplatz and in the artier bars of Lend, and wine bars set the tone. The city goes quiet over the long summer break.

In Sarajevo, the evening happens in café-bars that fill from the afternoon and get louder as night falls, with cellar bars near Ferhadija and many nights ending over rakija. Drinks are cheaper, and unlike Graz the city is livelier in summer than during term.

Sarajevo has the wilder setting. Mountains rise straight from the city, and a cable car from the Old Town climbs Trebević past the overgrown Olympic bobsleigh track. Jahorina and Bjelašnica, with skiing, open ridges and the shepherds' village of Lukomir, are less than an hour away, though trails are only lightly marked.

Graz is greener and gentler. It has the Schöckl and its cable car, the Mur cycle path and walks through the vineyards to the south. Proper alpine hiking in the Gesäuse is about two hours away, and the ski slopes are further off than Sarajevo's.

Both have a good spread of outings, and in both a car or tour makes them easier. From Graz the trips are into the countryside: the South Styrian Wine Road and its taverns, Riegersburg on its volcanic crag, the Lipizzaner stud at Piber, the monastic library at Admont, and Maribor across the border by train.

From Sarajevo the trips are about history, on slower roads. The train follows the Neretva gorge to the bridge at Mostar, Konjic has Tito's bunker, and Blagaj, Počitelj, Travnik and the bridge at Višegrad are all within reach. Go to Graz for wine and landscape, Sarajevo for Ottoman bridges and the twentieth century.

Graz is plainly the better choice with children. It is compact, clean and calm. Families can ride the Schlossberg's glass lift or funicular up, then come down by a long slide inside the hill, and a fairytale train runs through tunnels in the rock. FRida & freD in the Augarten is a proper children's museum, and the Herberstein wildlife park and the summer toboggan runs on the Schöckl fill extra days.

Sarajevo welcomes children warmly, and the cable car, the horse-drawn carriages to Vrelo Bosne and the small zoo make pleasant outings. Its main sights are about war, though, the hillside streets are steep, and smoke from the grills and winter smog are hard on small lungs.

Graz is the easier city to get around. The centre is flat and largely pedestrianised, trams run along the Herrengasse to the station and Eggenberg on one simple ticket, and cycling along the Mur is easy. Nobody misses a car until they head into the countryside.

Sarajevo's old core is walkable too, and the tram along the valley floor is simple to use, but it is really a single line. Away from it, the buses and minibuses climbing the steep neighbourhoods are harder to follow. The airport, the Tunnel of Hope and the ski mountains are best reached by taxi or tour, though taxis there are cheap.

Graz has the somewhat broader choice. There are high-street and traditional shops in the historic buildings of the Herrengasse and Sporgasse, a grand nineteenth-century department store with a rooftop view, and design and vintage shops in Lend. The best things to take home are edible: pumpkin seed oil, Schilcher rosé and craft chocolate.

Sarajevo's shopping is concentrated in Baščaršija. Coppersmiths on Kazandžiluk still hammer out coffee sets, and the old Bezistan market sells kilims and filigree jewellery, though much of it is souvenir stock. It is the more atmospheric place to browse, but there is little worth seeking out beyond the bazaar.

Sarajevo is far easier on the wallet. Grilled ćevapi, pita from the bakeries and coffee in the bazaar cost very little, sit-down meals stay modest, and central guesthouses cost well below Western European levels. Only the Old Town and the summer film festival push prices up.

Graz is fair for Austria rather than cheap. Student lunch menus and bakeries help, and walking the centre costs nothing, but dinners, wine and hotels cost what they usually do in Austria.

Graz has much more to see on stage. Its Opera, the second largest house in Austria, runs a full season of opera, operetta and ballet, and the Musikverein holds orchestral and chamber concerts. Styriarte in early summer and steirischer herbst in autumn are the high points of the year, and the music university feeds a strong jazz scene.

Sarajevo's National Theatre and Philharmonic offer a modest programme, and the city's highlights are the MESS theatre festival in autumn and the jazz festival in November. What Sarajevo has that Graz does not is sevdah, slow and melancholy love songs you may hear in traditional restaurants.

Graz has more spa choices, though they lie outside the city. About an hour east, Styria's thermal villages include Hundertwasser's Bad Blumau, Loipersdorf and Bad Waltersdorf, all with large warm pools and saunas open to day visitors. In town, the Stadtpark and the shaded Schlossberg paths are good for a quiet hour.

Sarajevo's answer is Ilidža, at the end of the tram line, with sulphurous springs used since Roman times and the shaded avenue of Vrelo Bosne nearby. It is easier to reach without a car but offers less choice. The historic hammam is no longer a working bath, and winter smog makes the city feel less restful.