Kotor or Salerno?

Neither town is a beach resort in itself, but Salerno does better. It has grey-sand city beaches along its own seafront, and an easy run south to the wide sandy shore towards Paestum, with lidos and pine woods for a full day by the sea. Ferries also reach the clear-water coves of the Amalfi Coast.

Kotor has no real beach. You swim off concrete platforms and jetties in the calm but enclosed inner bay. For sand you have to cross the hill to Jaz or the coves around Budva, so a beach day there always means a journey.

Kotor eats well at the water's edge: mussels from the bay's farms, black cuttlefish risotto, smoked Njegusi ham with mountain cheese and a glass of dark Vranac. The catch is finding it. The terraces on the old town squares are uneven, the best konobas are out in Dobrota, Prcanj and Perast, and there is little else on offer.

Salerno is far stronger, mostly because good food is so ordinary there. Mozzarella comes in the same day from the buffalo farms on the plain, sfogliatelle and lemon pastries fill the old town's bakeries, and Fiano and Aglianico are poured everywhere. You can eat well without planning.

Kotor comes out ahead because the whole town is the monument. Its UNESCO-listed Venetian walls climb the cliff to St John's fortress, and the twelfth-century Cathedral of St Tryphon, seafaring palazzi and the Maritime Museum fill a triangle of marble lanes.

Salerno's heritage is just as old but more scattered through a working city. The Norman cathedral, with Saint Matthew's relics in its ornate crypt, is the highlight, alongside the medicinal Giardino della Minerva, tied to Europe's first medical school, and the Arechi Castle above the gulf. A day or two covers both towns.

Salerno has more going on after dark. On weekends and through the summer, young locals crowd the wine bars and pubs around Largo Campo and Via dei Mercanti until late, after the passeggiata along the seafront. It is a street-drinking scene rather than a club town.

Kotor's evenings are quieter still: a drink on a square once the day visitors have gone, a few late bars in summer and very little outside the warm months. In both places a big night means travelling, to Budva's seafront clubs from Kotor or to Naples from Salerno.

Both have dramatic limestone scenery, but they use it differently. In Kotor the mountains are right at the door. The Ladder of Kotor mule track leaves from the town gates, cliffs rise over 1,000m from the water, and Lovcen's beech woods are up the hairpin road.

Salerno's landscapes start a little further out. You take a ferry or bus to the Path of the Gods above Positano or the Valle delle Ferriere, or drive south to the Cilento's gorges and headlands. That gives more variety, but less of the feeling of living inside the view.

Salerno is one of the best bases in Italy for days out. Paestum's Greek temples and Pompeii are each about half an hour by train, ferries run to Amalfi and Positano, and Naples, Herculaneum and the palace at Caserta are all easy to reach.

Kotor has a fine set of outings, but fewer and harder to reach. You can take a boat to the island church off Perast, drive over Lovcen to old royal Cetinje and the Njegos mausoleum, or face a long day to Dubrovnik with the border to cross. Most of them work best with a car.

Salerno is easier with children. The long, flat seafront has gardens, playgrounds and gelato, the beaches to the south are sandy and shallow, and the Luci d'Artista lights make a winter visit fun. The steep, stepped old town and carsick coast roads are the drawbacks.

Kotor's car-free old town is safe and so small that children cannot get lost, and its street cats are a hit. Beyond that there is little made for children: the main sight is a steep, exposed fortress climb, and sand means driving to Budva.

Inside the walls Kotor is effortless, flat and car-free, and you can cross it in minutes. Leaving is the problem. Buses around the bay are infrequent, the single shore road jams in summer, and most visitors end up hiring a car or a driver.

Salerno is much easier to get around without one. The centre is a walkable strip from the station to the old town, a short metro line and buses cover the east, direct trains run to Naples, Pompeii and Paestum, and ferries handle the Amalfi Coast.

Kotor's lanes sell souvenirs, silver filigree, lace and cat trinkets, and the best buys are Vranac, Njegusi ham and honey from the green market. For brands you have to go to Tivat's marina.

Salerno has a real high street. Corso Vittorio Emanuele is a long pedestrian run of Italian clothing stores, and the most memorable buys are hand-painted Vietri majolica and lemon products from the coast.

The two cost about the same, and in both the money goes in high summer. Kotor is cheaper than the better-known resorts further up the coast, but in July and August its hotels and the terrace restaurants on the squares inside the walls charge resort rates. A private apartment in Dobrota or Muo, meals away from the busiest squares and a visit in May, June or September bring the cost down noticeably.

Salerno saves you money in a different way. It is a working city priced for the people who live there, and a room costs much less than in the cliff villages of the Amalfi Coast. The spending comes from the outings: ferries along the coast over several days, a lido sunbed and the entry fees at Pompeii and Paestum. Outside summer it is an easy city to stay in on a modest budget.

Salerno has a real stage. The gilded Teatro Verdi, modelled on Naples' San Carlo, runs a season of opera, ballet and concerts, and the Ravello Festival's cliff-top concerts are within reach in summer.

Kotor has nothing year-round. Its best moments are occasions: summer recitals in the churches, the masked carnival and the lit boats of Boka Night.

Neither has a bathing culture, but Salerno has a little more. Contursi Terme's open-air sulphur pools are about an hour inland, and the palm-lined promenade is made for slow sunset walks, though traffic noise follows you along the main roads.

In Kotor, wellness means a resort hotel spa. Its real calm is in early mornings on the water and long village lunches away from the crowded walls.