Kotor or Sarajevo?

Kotor has no beach in town, but the inner bay is calm and warm. People swim from concrete platforms and pebble strips along the shore towards Dobrota and Muo. The sand at Jaz and the coves around Budva are about half an hour away, so beach days are outings, but easy ones.

Sarajevo is a valley city three hours from the Adriatic. In summer people swim in cold mountain rivers, Jablanica lake or pools. Anyone who wants the sea is told to add some days on the coast, and the Bay of Kotor is one of the obvious places to do that.

Sarajevo is the better place to eat. Its Ottoman-Balkan cooking is done with care: ćevapi in soft somun from the Baščaršija grills, burek sold by weight, slow dishes like begova čorba, and the ritual of Bosnian coffee with rahat lokum.

Kotor's food comes from the bay and the mountains behind it: mussels, black risotto, grilled fish, Njegusi ham and Vranac wine. The terraces in the old town are uneven, so the good meals are at the konobas in Dobrota, Prcanj and Perast. Neither city offers much fine dining or food from other cuisines.

Sarajevo has more depth. Within a few streets, mosques, the Orthodox and Catholic cathedrals and the Old Synagogue stand close together. The Latin Bridge marks 1914, and the Tunnel of Hope and the War Childhood Museum tell the story of the 1990s siege. It makes for several days of moving, varied sightseeing.

Kotor's appeal is one complete townscape: marble lanes, the Cathedral of St Tryphon, the palazzi of the old seafaring families and the walls climbing to St John's fortress. It is beautiful but small. A couple of days covers it, and there are few museums beyond the Maritime Museum.

Neither city is a clubbing destination, but Sarajevo has the livelier evenings. Café-bars around Ferhadija fill from the afternoon, and students keep cellar bars and small clubs going past midnight at weekends, all year round.

Kotor's evenings mean a drink on a terrace once the day visitors have left and the walls are lit on the cliff. Outside summer it goes quiet early. For a late night you go down the coast to Budva.

Both are superb for the outdoors, but in different ways. Kotor's landscape is sea and limestone. The Ladder of Kotor starts at the town gates, Lovcen National Park is up the hairpin road, and kayaking along the bay shows how the mountains close in on the villages.

Sarajevo's landscape is forested mountain. A cable car rises from the Old Town to Trebević, the Olympic ranges offer skiing in winter and ridge walking and mountain biking in summer, and the old shepherds' village of Lukomir sits above its canyon. Kotor is best in spring and autumn. Sarajevo's trails are lightly marked, and smog can sit in the valley in winter.

Kotor has more within easy reach. Perast and its island church are about twenty minutes away. Herceg Novi, Budva and Sveti Stefan are along the coast, and Cetinje and the Njegos mausoleum are over Lovcen. Dubrovnik, Ostrog and Lake Skadar make longer days.

Sarajevo's big outing, Mostar, is about two hours away on a fine train through the Neretva gorge, and Konjic, Blagaj and Počitelj can be added on the way. Travnik and the bridge at Višegrad are worth seeing too, but the roads are slow, so most trips take a full day.

The two are much alike for children: warm towards them, but with little made for them. Kotor's draws are the street cats, safe swimming in the bay and a boat to Our Lady of the Rocks. The steep, hot fortress climb is a poor fit for small legs.

Sarajevo has the Trebević cable car, carriage rides out to the streams at Vrelo Bosne, a small zoo and gentle skiing in winter. On the other hand, its main sights are about war, and smog from the grills and the valley can bother young lungs.

Sarajevo is easier to move around. The tram follows the valley floor from Baščaršija west to Ilidža, taxis are cheap and plentiful, and the centre is flat. You will still want a taxi or tour for the Tunnel of Hope and the ski mountains.

You can cross Kotor's car-free old town in a few minutes, but leaving it is the problem. Buses are infrequent, the single road round the bay jams in summer, and most visitors hire a car or driver for Lovcen and the coast.

Sarajevo has real craft shopping. Coppersmiths still hammer coffee sets on Kazandžiluk, and the Bezistan and the lanes around it sell kilims, slippers and filigree, although you need to sort it from the souvenir stock.

Kotor has mostly trinkets, cat-themed gifts, lace and a few galleries. The best buys are things to eat and drink, such as Vranac and Njegusi ham from the green market. For brands, people go to the Tivat marina.

Sarajevo is much cheaper. Street food, sit-down meals, trams, taxis and museum entry all stay low, and comfortable central rooms cost well below Western European levels.

Kotor costs moderately, and less than the bigger resorts along the coast. In July and August, though, rooms and terrace meals inside the walls reach resort rates. An apartment in Dobrota or Muo and a visit in May, June or September bring the cost down.

Sarajevo has a working stage life. The National Theatre runs drama, opera and ballet through the season, and the Philharmonic plays regularly. MESS brings theatre in autumn, a jazz festival fills venues in November, and you may hear sevdah in traditional restaurants.

Kotor has nothing like that all year. Its music comes with the summer festival of recitals and choirs, the carnival and the decorated boats of Boka Night.

Rest in Kotor comes from the pace of the place rather than from pools. With no bathing tradition, a spa means a resort hotel along the bay or at Tivat. The calm is in early mornings on the water and long lunches in the shore villages, with the old town kept for early or late visits to avoid the summer midday crowds.

For actual soaking and treatments, Sarajevo is the better choice. The sulphur springs at Ilidža, at the end of the tram line, have been used since Roman times and feed warm pools, and the shaded avenue to Vrelo Bosne makes a quiet walk afterwards. Winter smog in the valley makes it less restful in the colder months.