Karlovy Vary or Ljubljana?

Neither is a swimming destination, but Ljubljana gives you better options. Karlovy Vary has a flooded mine lake near Sokolov, a few hill ponds and its spring-fed outdoor pools.

From Ljubljana you can swim in the Sava, reach Bled's warm lake in about an hour or get to the Adriatic at Piran in an hour and a half, though the shore there is concrete and pebble rather than sand.

Karlovy Vary eats roast pork, dumplings and svíčková, and its two edible souvenirs are the warm spa wafers and Becherovka. Beyond the promenade cafés and international hotel menus, there is little to explore.

Ljubljana goes further. The Central Market under Plečnik's colonnades, a summer street-food gathering and gostilna inns serving štruklji and jota give it more range, and the wines of Vipava, Brda and Styria, especially the orange wines, make evenings at the table more rewarding.

These two are evenly matched, and both are best enjoyed as whole townscapes rather than for their museums. Karlovy Vary's appeal is Belle Époque grandeur: pastel hotels stacked up a narrow valley, columned and carved colonnades, and the Vřídlo geyser, all part of a UNESCO-listed spa town.

Ljubljana's character comes from Plečnik's interwar works, the Triple Bridge, the embankments and the library, set in a baroque and Secession old town under its castle, with Metelkova's murals adding an alternative edge. Its galleries are broader than Karlovy Vary's small glass and Becherovka museums.

Ljubljana is clearly livelier after dark. Terraces along both banks of the Ljubljanica fill on warm nights, students add life during term, and Metelkova's scruffy clubs run late at weekends.

Karlovy Vary winds down early, with hotel bars, Czech pubs and casinos. Its one real exception is the film festival week in early summer.

Karlovy Vary has pleasant woodland on its doorstep, with graded spa paths up to the Diana tower, the Slavkov Forest moors and skiing at Klínovec, but the scenery is green and gentle.

Ljubljana is in another league. Šmarna Gora and Tivoli are in town, and the Kamnik-Savinja Alps, Triglav National Park, the Soča's emerald water and the Postojna and Škocjan caves are all an easy outing away. This is real mountain country for hiking and rafting.

Karlovy Vary has a good cluster close by: castle-ringed Loket, the sister spa towns of Mariánské Lázně and Františkovy Lázně, the St Maurus reliquary at Bečov and mining Jáchymov. Most outings, though, have the same West Bohemian flavour.

Ljubljana sits at the centre of a small country and reaches far more variety: Bled, Škofja Loka, Predjama's cliff castle, Lipica's horses, Idrija, the coast at Piran and the Brda wine villages, plus Trieste or Zagreb across the borders.

Ljubljana is the easier choice with children. Its flat, car-free centre suits pushchairs, and the castle funicular, the dragons, Tivoli's playgrounds, a small zoo, a science centre and the puppet theatre fill a few days.

Karlovy Vary's geyser, spouted cups and funicular delight children for an afternoon, but the town is built for adults taking cures, and its steep valley sides are hard work with a pushchair.

Both are walking towns, but Ljubljana is flatter and more compact. Its sights sit within about 20 minutes of each other in a pedestrianised centre, with bike-share and intercity buses for trips beyond.

Karlovy Vary stretches along a long, narrow valley, so the promenades are easy but the climbs to hotels and viewpoints call for buses or the funicular, and its regional trains are slow.

Karlovy Vary has the edge here, largely thanks to its crafts. Moser crystal, local porcelain and Bohemian garnets are worth buying, and the promenade boutiques cater to well-off spa guests.

Ljubljana is smaller in scale, with honey, pumpkin-seed oil, sea salt and Idrija lace at the market and a Sunday flea market on the embankment.

The two cost much the same, with Karlovy Vary slightly kinder overall. Step one street back from its colonnades and the pubs charge local Czech prices, though grand spa hotels and festival week push costs up.

In Ljubljana, set lunch menus and local wine keep eating reasonable, but central summer rooms are priced like Western Europe, so accommodation is where the budget goes.

Ljubljana offers more for an evening out. It has the Slovenian Philharmonic, an opera and ballet house, the year-round programme at Cankarjev dom and summer concerts in Plečnik's Križanke courtyard, though most theatre is in Slovene.

Karlovy Vary's symphony orchestra plays light classical programmes, some outdoors on the colonnades, and its Fellner and Helmer theatre hosts touring operetta. It is pleasant but modest.

This is where Karlovy Vary leads by a long way. Drinking cures from the colonnade springs, carbonated baths, peat wraps and doctors' consultations in the sanatoria, and spring-fed pools make it one of Europe's classic spa towns, best enjoyed by booking a proper spa stay.

Ljubljana has no bathing tradition of its own, just a water park with saunas and some hotel spas. Its restfulness comes from quiet riverside cafés, with thermal resorts about an hour's drive away.