Kotor or Split?

Kotor has no beach of its own. Swimming there means concrete platforms and pebble strips along the road to Dobrota and Muo. The water is warm and calm but less clear in the enclosed inner bay, and a proper beach day means the half-hour trip to Jaz or the coves around Budva.

Split puts the sea on your doorstep. Bačvice's shallow sandy bay is a short walk from the palace, the pine-shaded coves around Marjan are quieter and deeper, and ferries to Brač, Šolta and Hvar reach longer beaches. The city beaches fill in July and August, but in Split a swim fits into an ordinary day.

Both cooks draw on the same coast, with grilled fish, black risotto and octopus, and in both the best meals are away from the busiest old-town squares. Kotor adds mountain flavours from smoked Njegusi ham, sharp cheese and dark Vranac. Its range is narrow, though, and the good konobas are spread along the shore at Dobrota, Prcanj and Perast.

In Split you eat better without leaving town. Pašticada and peka, the fish market and the Pazar, Plavac Mali and Pošip, and the family konobas of Varoš give you more choice and more consistent cooking. Neither city offers much fine dining.

Kotor is a single townscape rather than a list of sights. It is a UNESCO-listed triangle of marble lanes under the cliff, with the 12th-century Cathedral of St Tryphon, the Maritime Museum in an old palazzo and the walls climbing to St John. A couple of days covers it well.

Split has the greater landmark. Diocletian's Palace is a Roman emperor's residence that people still live in, with the cathedral set inside his mausoleum and the substructures showing the original plan. The Meštrović Gallery adds a serious art collection. Two days also covers Split, but there is more to see in that time.

Evenings in Kotor mean a drink on a square once the day visitors leave, with the walls lit up on the cliff above, and the town goes quiet early outside summer. For a real night out, people head half an hour down the coast to Budva.

Split keeps its nightlife in town. In summer the bars in the palace alleys stay full until late, and the beach bars and clubs at Bačvice run into the early hours. Both are seasonal, though, and from October to May Split also shrinks to a handful of bars.

Both cities sit hard against limestone mountains, and in both spring and autumn are the best seasons for hiking. Kotor's setting is the more dramatic. The bay winds inland like a fjord between walls that rise more than 1,000m from the water, and the Ladder of Kotor and the road into Lovcen National Park start at the town gates. Kayaking along the shore is the best way to take it in.

Split has more variety and less drama. Marjan's pine woods are a short walk from the palace and Mosor and Kozjak have ridge hikes. Within about an hour you reach Biokovo, rafting in the Cetina canyon at Omiš and the waterfalls of Krka. With sailing among the islands as well, Split suits active travellers who want a different activity each day.

Kotor's outings are rich but mostly follow one bay: Perast and the island church of Our Lady of the Rocks, then Herceg Novi, Budva and Sveti Stefan. Inland, the road over Lovcen leads to Cetinje and Njegos's mausoleum. Dubrovnik and Ostrog make long days, and most of these trips are easier with a car.

Split has slightly more within reach, and it is easier to get to. Trogir and Šibenik are two more UNESCO-listed towns, Salona and Klis are close to the city, and in summer the harbour ferries make Hvar, Brač and Vis simple trips.

Kotor's car-free old town is safe and small. Children enjoy its street cats and the boat ride to Perast's island church, but the fortress climb is steep and hot, and the sandy beaches need a drive.

Split is the easier place with children. Bačvice is shallow enough to paddle in and within walking distance, Marjan has shade and room to run, and a ferry ride to an island is often the highlight. Neither city has much built for children, and both are hot and crowded in high summer.

Inside Kotor's walls everything is a few minutes' walk away, but leaving town is harder. Buses run too rarely, the single road round the bay jams in summer, and most visitors hire a car or a driver for Lovcen or the Lustica coves.

Split works better without a car. The palace, Varoš, Bačvice and Marjan are all a short walk apart, and the ferry port and the bus and railway stations sit together at the harbour. The polished stone and many steps in the palace streets make for hard going with a pushchair.

Neither city is a shopping destination. Kotor's lanes sell silver filigree, lace and cat-themed souvenirs, and the best buys are Vranac, Njegusi ham and honey from the green market. For brands, people go to the marina at Tivat.

Split goes a little further, with the mainstream chains on Marmontova, malls on the edge of the city and the Pazar for figs, honey and local brandies.

Kotor is the cheaper place to stay. Konoba meals, local wine and buses are moderately priced, and an apartment in Dobrota or Muo avoids the resort rates charged inside the walls in July and August.

Split costs more in high summer, when rooms near the old town cost what they would in a large Western European city and island ferries add up for a family. Its bakeries, markets and palace sights stay inexpensive, and both cities cost noticeably less in May, June and September.

Kotor has no year-round stage. Its programme is summer recitals in the squares and churches, plus the carnival and Boka Night, with masked parades and decorated boats on the bay.

Split has the Croatian National Theatre, with opera, ballet and drama through the season, and the Split Summer Festival stages opera in the Peristyle. Klapa singing in the palace vestibule is the local sound worth looking for.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, so in both a spa means a hotel spa. In Kotor the calm lies outside the walls, in quiet mornings on the bay and long lunches in the villages along the shore, and the old town is best visited early or late.

In Split, taking it slowly is a local habit. Fjaka, the unhurried Dalmatian idleness, shows in the long coffees on the Riva. There are more massage studios and resort spas along the coast, and Marjan's pine woods or a nearby island are quiet when the old town is loud.