Kalambaka or Kotor?

Kalambaka has no beach. Swimming means a hotel pool or a cold river in the Pindos, and the coast is a separate stage of the trip.

Kotor clearly wins, though its own shoreline is concrete platforms and narrow pebble strips along the warm, sheltered inner bay. For sand and clearer water you go over the hill to Jaz, Budva and the pink pebbles near Sveti Stefan, or round to the rocky coves of the Lustica peninsula.

Neither town is a food destination, but Kotor's table is broader. Kalambaka serves the grilled lamb and pork, bean soups, pies and tsipouro of central Greece, often with a sunset view of the pillars, and the menu barely changes from one taverna to the next.

In Kotor the bay adds mussels, octopus and black cuttlefish risotto, the mountains add Njegusi ham and sharp cheese, and the red Vranac goes with both. The green market outside the walls is worth a morning. The best meals are in the konobas of Dobrota and Perast, since the terraces in the old town's squares are uneven.

The two are about level, but the sights are of different kinds. Kalambaka's heritage stands outside the town, on top of the rocks: six working monasteries with frescoed churches, refectories and icon collections, reached by rock-cut steps. Modest dress is required, and the plain modern town below adds only the frescoed Byzantine church of the Dormition.

In Kotor the town itself is the monument. The UNESCO-listed walled triangle of marble lanes has the 12th-century Cathedral of St Tryphon, the palazzi of seafaring families and the Maritime Museum, with the fortress walls climbing the cliff above. Both are covered in about two days.

Kotor gives you more after dark. In summer a few bars inside the walls stay open late and there is a small club scene, and Budva's seafront clubs, which run until dawn, are close enough for a night out.

Kalambaka goes to bed early. An evening means a long dinner and a drink on the central square, and for anything livelier you drive half an hour to Trikala's student bars.

Both settings are outstanding, and both are best walked in spring or autumn. At Kalambaka the scenery is rock and forest. The pillars rise around 400m over the plain, monks' footpaths run through oak woods between them, and the Pindos beyond has fir forests, rafting in the Aspropotamos valley and small winter ski slopes near Metsovo.

Kotor's landscape is mountain meeting sea. Limestone walls rise over 1,000m straight from the bay, the Ladder of Kotor climbs from the town gates towards Lovcen National Park, and a kayak lets you see the mountains close in from the water.

Kotor has more within easy reach, much of it along one bay. You can see Perast and its island church, Herceg Novi, Budva's old town and Sveti Stefan, then go inland over Lovcen to Cetinje, with Dubrovnik and the cliff monastery of Ostrog for longer days.

Kalambaka's outings are fewer and more spread out. They include Trikala's Varousi quarter and castle, the stone village of Metsovo, the lakeside castle quarter of Ioannina and the edge of Zagori, and you will want a car for nearly all of them.

Kalambaka's monasteries mean long flights of steps and hushed rooms, which wear on small children. Older ones can walk the trails among the giant rocks or try a beginners' climb, but little else in either town is made for young visitors.

Kotor gives children a car-free old town full of street cats, calm water off the jetties and a boat trip to Perast's island church. The fortress climb is hard work in summer heat.

Kotor is slightly easier, mostly because its sights are close together. The flat, car-free old town takes minutes to cross, water taxis link some of the bay villages, and Tivat airport is a short drive away. Buses around the bay are infrequent, though, and the single road jams with traffic in summer.

Kalambaka is simple to reach by rail from the Athens to Thessaloniki line, and the town itself is easy on foot. The monasteries are several kilometres up a winding road with few buses, so most visitors hike up for an hour or use a car, a taxi or a tour.

Kalambaka's shopping is one street of icons, carvings and postcards, along with honey, herbs and tsipouro. The monasteries sell their own religious items.

Kotor has slightly more to buy. Alongside the souvenirs you will find silver filigree, lace and coral jewellery, a few galleries, and delicatessens selling Vranac and Njegusi ham. For brand-name shops, people go to the marina at Tivat.

Kalambaka is the cheaper stay. Guesthouses and taverna meals are modestly priced, and costs climb mainly at the hotels facing the rocks and over Orthodox Easter. Car hire and guided tours are the costs that add up.

Kotor costs more, especially in July and August, when hotels and terrace restaurants inside the walls charge resort rates. An apartment in Dobrota or Muo and a visit in May, June or September bring it closer to Kalambaka.

Kotor has a seasonal programme and Kalambaka has almost nothing. In summer Kotor's churches and squares host classical recitals and choirs, and the carnival and Boka Night bring masked parades and lit boats onto the bay.

In Kalambaka, the closest thing to music is a taverna musician or a summer folk festival. Byzantine chant at a monastery service is worship and should be approached as such.

Neither has a bathing tradition, and spas in both are limited to resort hotels. The calm is different in each. Kalambaka is quiet all day and sleeps early, with slow dawns and dusks over the rocks.

Kotor's peace has to be timed around the crowds: early mornings on the water and long lunches in the shore villages, away from the old town at midday in summer.