Kalambaka or Thessaloniki?

Neither is a beach town, but only Thessaloniki has the sea within easy reach. Kalambaka lies deep inland, so swimming there means a hotel pool or a cold dip in a Pindos river.

Thessaloniki's own waterfront is for strolling, and the suburban beaches at Perea and Agia Triada are ordinary. Kassandra in Halkidiki, though, is about an hour's drive away, with clear water and fine coves. It works as a day out or as the next stop on the trip.

Kalambaka feeds visitors well and simply: grilled lamb and pork, bean soups, pies and tsipouro in family tavernas, with tables in Kastraki that look out at the rocks. The menus are much the same from one door to the next, though, and there is no market or café life to explore.

Thessaloniki is worth visiting for its food alone. The cooking carries Ottoman, Sephardic and Anatolian influences, the Kapani and Modiano markets are working markets with tavernas between the stalls, and the meze tables at the ouzeri in Ladadika and Ano Poli turn every meal into a long one.

Kalambaka's culture is a single extraordinary group of sights: the six active Meteora monasteries, with frescoed churches, refectories and icon collections on top of the pillars. It is unforgettable, but once you have seen them and the town's church of the Dormition, two days have covered it.

Thessaloniki has more depth and variety. There are fifteen UNESCO-listed early Christian and Byzantine monuments, including the Rotunda and Agios Dimitrios, Roman remains around the Arch of Galerius, the Macedonian gold in the Archaeological Museum and the Museum of Byzantine Culture. The sights are scattered through a largely modern centre rather than gathered in one setting.

Here the two could hardly be further apart. In Kalambaka the evening ends with a drink at a café-bar on the central square, and anyone who wants more drives to Trikala. Thessaloniki's students go out at eleven and stay out past three, weeknights included, and the night moves from the bars of Ladadika and Valaoritou to the outdoor tables of the Bit Bazaar and, in summer, open-air clubs.

Kalambaka has the more remarkable landscape on its doorstep. The Meteora pillars, some around 400m high, begin at the edge of town, with monks' paths through oak woods, long bolted climbing routes and sunset viewpoints. The fir forests and rafting rivers of the Pindos are close behind.

In Thessaloniki, everyday nature means the Seich Sou pine forest and the long seafront promenade. Its bigger draws, Mount Olympus with the Enipeas gorge and the Halkidiki coast, are a car journey away rather than a walk from the hotel.

Thessaloniki sits in the heart of ancient Macedonia, and that gives it the stronger choice of outings: the royal tombs at Vergina, Alexander's birthplace at Pella and Dion below Olympus. Veria, the waterfalls of Edessa and the vineyards of Naoussa add more, and intercity buses reach most of them.

From Kalambaka the best trips lead west across the Pindos, to the stone village of Metsovo, to Ioannina on its lake and to the edge of Zagori, with the river town of Trikala close by. Buses are sparse, so these trips depend on a car.

Neither is built around children, but Thessaloniki copes better. Its seafront promenade has playgrounds and space to run, the Noesis science centre and planetarium can fill a morning, and families can add beach days in Halkidiki.

Kalambaka is safe and easy, and older children who can hike or try a beginners' climb will love the rocks. Younger ones may struggle with the long monastery stairs, the hushed interiors and the dress rules, so a night or two is usually enough.

You can walk across Kalambaka in a quarter of an hour, but the monasteries lie along a winding road above the town with an infrequent bus, so most people hike up, take taxis or hire a car. Thessaloniki's main sights sit in a flat strip near the waterfront, all within about half an hour's walk of each other. A metro line, buses and plentiful taxis cover the rest, and the steep climb to Ano Poli is the only real effort.

Kalambaka's shops are for souvenirs: painted icons, carvings, honey, herbs and tsipouro, plus religious items sold at the monasteries. Thessaloniki has a proper high street along Tsimiski and malls on the edge of town. Better still are the Kapani and Modiano food markets, where spices, olives, cheeses and loukoumi make the best things to carry home.

Both are good value by Western European standards, and the difference lies in where the money goes. In Kalambaka the extra costs are guided tours, car hire and the hotels with direct views of the rocks, which fill up over Orthodox Easter. In Thessaloniki eating and going out cost little because the city is priced for students and locals, and the main extra is a hire car for day trips.

Kalambaka has almost nothing on stage, and the Byzantine chant heard at a monastery service is worship, not a show. Thessaloniki has the Concert Hall with the State Orchestra, the National Theatre of Northern Greece (mostly in Greek) and summer concerts in the open-air theatre on the hill at Dasos. For most visitors, though, the highlight is rebetiko and laika played late into the night in the tavernas.

Kalambaka offers the calm of the countryside and Thessaloniki the calm of a city, and neither gives you much in the way of treatments. Kalambaka goes to sleep early, the dawn light over the rocks makes for slow morning walks, and a few hotels have saunas and massage rooms.

Thessaloniki's Ottoman hammams, such as the Bey Hamam, survive as monuments rather than working baths. The simple spring-fed baths at Lagadas are half an hour away, though. Back in town, the most relaxing part of the day is a long iced coffee at a seafront café.