Hallstatt or Zadar?

In Hallstatt a swim means a bracing dip in a deep, dark-green Alpine lake, from the lawn and jetty in the village or the lido at Obertraun. The season is short and the shores are steep. It is something to do after a hike, not a reason to come.

In Zadar, swimming is part of every summer day. Locals step off the stone promenade, and Kolovare and Borik are close by. Nin's shallow sand and the islands of Ugljan, Pašman and Dugi Otok offer quieter places to swim. Expect pebble and concrete platforms in town rather than sand.

Neither is a place to travel for food, but Zadar gives you more to eat. Hallstatt has a few guesthouse dining rooms serving schnitzel, goulash and char from the lake, and their kitchens close early.

Zadar's Dalmatian cooking has more range: grilled fish, black risotto, octopus or lamb cooked under the peka, and Pag cheese with pršut. The city also has Maraschino, the cherry liqueur it once distilled for European courts, and a morning market by the walls. Menus repeat across the peninsula, but there is enough to keep you interested through a week.

Hallstatt's history goes deep but covers little ground. It has seven thousand years of salt mining, the Iron Age burial ground that gave the Hallstatt culture its name, the salt mine and its small museum, and the painted skulls of the Beinhaus. Together they fill about a day.

Zadar packs more onto its peninsula. There is the open Roman forum, the round church of St Donatus, the Venetian walls and the Museum of Ancient Glass, and the Sea Organ adds a modern sight on the waterfront. Allow two days rather than one.

In Hallstatt, an evening out means dinner, a glass of wine by the water and a walk along the dark lakeshore. There is nothing more.

Zadar has a real nightlife, if a modest one. It starts with sunset at the Sea Organ, then moves to café-bars on Kalelarga and terrace bars on the walls. Clubbers head to Zrće on Pag, about an hour away, in high summer. Out of season the town quietens to café-bars.

Both are strong, but Hallstatt puts the high mountains on your doorstep. The Dachstein rises straight above the lake, with the Krippenstein cable car, the Five Fingers platform, the giant ice caves, the waterfalls of the Echerntal and the walk to the Gosausee, and ski touring in winter.

Zadar's outdoors covers more ground but takes travel to reach. There are the gorges and climbing walls of Paklenica, Kornati and Telašćica by boat, and the waterfalls of Krka and Plitvice further off. It leans towards sailing and sea kayaking, while Hallstatt is about hiking and Alpine views.

Zadar has slightly more to choose from. Šibenik and its cathedral, tiny royal Nin, and Split and Trogir further south give a run of historic towns, and ferries reach Ugljan, Pašman and car-free Silba.

Hallstatt's outings are to the lake towns of the Salzkammergut: Bad Ischl with the Kaiservilla, St Wolfgang and its altarpiece, and Gmunden on the Traunsee. Salzburg makes a long day. From either base, a car makes things much easier.

Zadar is easier with children. The old town is flat and car-free, the promenade suits scooters, the Greeting to the Sun lights up after dark and Nin has shallow sand. Simple days are easy, though there is no zoo or theme park.

Hallstatt gives you a few great hours: the wooden slides and underground lake of the salt mine, and the ice caves for older children. But a single steep lane crowded with tour groups is hard going with a pushchair, so families usually stay in Obertraun.

You can walk across either centre in minutes, but the ground is very different. Hallstatt is one steep lane with steps, reached by a small boat across the lake from the station, and its buses thin out after summer.

Zadar's peninsula is flat and pedestrian, and the island ferries leave from its edge. For the national parks and Šibenik you will want a hire car or an excursion.

Neither is a shopping trip, though Zadar offers a little more. Hallstatt's lane sells souvenirs, carved wood and salt from the mine above the village.

Zadar adds jewellers, chain stores and galleries along marble Kalelarga. The market by the walls is the place for Maraschino, Pag cheese, olive oil and Pag lace.

Zadar is much easier on the budget. Private apartments are good value outside July and August, and ferries and buses are cheap, though national park entry and boat trips add up.

Hallstatt has few rooms and visitors from all over the world, so prices sit well above the Austrian norm, and the salt mine and cable car add to the bill. Staying in Bad Goisern or Obertraun saves a good deal.

Zadar has one real highlight: the Musical Evenings in St Donatus, with early and chamber music inside the ninth-century church. In summer there are also concerts and klapa singing in the squares.

Hallstatt has its brass band on feast days and the odd concert in church. For a proper evening out you have to drive, to the operetta in Bad Ischl or the season in Salzburg.

Hallstatt is the better place to unwind, mostly thanks to the region around it. The salt-brine baths and thermal complex of Bad Ischl are half an hour away and Bad Aussee is close too, and the village has its misty mornings on the lake once the crowds have gone.

Zadar has hotel spas at Borik and the mud lagoon at Nin. Otherwise it relaxes you through its pace: long café mornings, a siesta and sunset from the steps of the Sea Organ.