Kotor or Pula?

Neither town has a sandy beach of its own, but Pula's swimming is far better. Off the Verudela and Stoja peninsulas you swim in very clear water from rocks and pebble coves with pines almost down to the shore. Cape Kamenjak, about 10km south, adds dozens of wild inlets and cliff ledges, and Medulin's sheltered bays suit small swimmers.

Kotor's bathing is a matter of jetties and concrete platforms along the road to Dobrota and Muo, in water that is calm and warm but enclosed and less clear. For a real beach day you go over the hill to Jaz or Sveti Stefan on the Budva riviera.

Pula draws on Istria, one of the more individual kitchens on the Adriatic. That means fuži with truffle or game, scampi buzara, olive oil and Malvazija or Teran from estates just inland, with the covered market hall showing what is in season. The best meals are often in village taverns in the hinterland.

Kotor's table is narrower: bay mussels, black cuttlefish risotto, Njegusi ham with mountain cheese and a glass of dark Vranac. In both towns the tables on the main squares serve tourist menus, and in Kotor the better cooking is along the shore in Dobrota, Prcanj and Perast.

These two are fairly even, but the history comes in different forms. Kotor's appeal is the whole walled town, a UNESCO-listed triangle of marble lanes, Venetian palazzi and the twelfth-century Cathedral of St Tryphon, held in place by a cliff, with walls climbing to the fortress of St John.

Pula is a working port with Rome scattered through it. The three-storey Arena, the Temple of Augustus on the Forum and the Arch of the Sergii are the headline sights, and the Habsburg naval base left its forts and civic buildings around them. Either can be seen in a day or two.

Neither is a destination for going out, but Pula offers a bit more. In summer, evenings move from the Forum terraces to cocktail and beach bars on Verudela and around Medulin, and a few small clubs fill up at weekends. The university keeps some student bars open through the winter.

In Kotor the evening is usually a drink on a square once the day visitors have gone and the walls are lit on the cliff. Only a handful of bars stay open late. For dancing until dawn, people head half an hour down the coast to Budva.

This is where Kotor pulls well ahead. The bay winds inland between limestone walls that rise more than 1,000m almost from the water. Trails such as the Ladder of Kotor start at the town gates, and the hairpin road leads up into Lovcen's karst meadows and beech woods. Kayaking under the cliffs and the bird-rich wetlands of Lake Skadar add variety.

Pula's landscape is low and gentle by comparison, all macchia, olive groves and red-earth farmland. Kamenjak is lovely for walking, cycling and windsurfing, and naval-era wrecks offer diving, but the nearest real hiking is in the Učka range, about an hour and a half away.

Both make good bases, so the choice comes down to what you want to see. From Kotor the outings follow the bay: Perast's baroque waterfront and the boat to Our Lady of the Rocks, Herceg Novi at the mouth, then over Lovcen to the old royal capital of Cetinje, with Dubrovnik possible across the border.

Pula opens up a whole peninsula: Rovinj on its headland, the Byzantine mosaics of the Euphrasian Basilica in Poreč, and the hill towns of Motovun, Grožnjan and Hum among the truffle and wine estates. Brijuni, Piran and Trieste stretch it further, though a car makes most of this far easier.

Pula is much easier with children. Medulin and Premantura have shallow, gently shelving bays, the aquarium inside a fort on Verudela fills half a day, and children can scramble through the Arena's underground passages. A dinosaur park, a water park and the animals on Brijuni are all within about an hour.

Kotor is safe and car-free, and children love its street cats, but there is little else made for them. The fortress climb is steep and hot, so families tend to swim off the bay jetties and make the boat trip to Perast's island church their highlight.

There is little to choose between them, and the pattern is the same: easy on foot in town, harder beyond it. Kotor's old town is car-free and crossed in minutes, though the marble gets slippery in rain. Leaving it means infrequent buses, water taxis and a single bay road that jams in summer.

Pula's flat centre is just as walkable, and city buses or a bicycle reach Verudela and the southern coves. Istria's rail line is little use to visitors and regional buses are thin, so a car or scooter is the realistic way to reach the hill towns and Kamenjak.

In both towns the best things to buy are things to eat and drink, and in Kotor there is little beyond that. The lanes inside the walls sell mostly souvenirs, the good wine and ham come from a few delicatessens and the green market by the gates, and if you want any brands at all you have to drive to the Tivat marina.

Pula gives you more ways to shop. Besides the market hall, you can buy oil, truffles and wine directly from the farms and estates on a drive inland, so shopping becomes part of touring Istria. The pedestrian street through the old town also has ordinary fashion chains, so you can replace something you forgot to pack without a special trip.

Kotor works out somewhat cheaper. Konoba meals, buses and the fortress walk stay moderate, and renting an apartment in Dobrota or Muo outside July and August keeps costs down further. Pula is mid-priced: fair in spring and autumn, but in high summer rooms approach Western European coastal levels. Car hire and boat trips, which most Istria touring needs, add up quickly.

Pula has a real stage, and it is two thousand years old. On summer nights the Arena hosts touring rock and pop acts, classical galas and the long-running film festival screenings. The Istrian National Theatre puts on drama for the rest of the year, though in Croatian.

Kotor has nothing year-round. Its moments come with the summer festival of recitals and choirs in the squares and churches, the carnival, and Boka Night, when decorated boats fill the bay.

Neither has a bathing tradition, so in both towns spa time means a resort hotel. Pula's are larger and closer at hand, on Verudela and in Medulin, and pine-shaded coastal paths and quiet inland villages make slowing down easy.

Kotor's calm is more a matter of timing. Early mornings on the water, long lunches in the shore villages and evenings after the day visitors leave are peaceful. The old town at a summer midday is best avoided.