Lecce or Ohrid?

Lecce has the stronger beaches, though none of them are in town. Within about forty minutes by car you reach the pale coves and sea stacks of Torre dell'Orso on the Adriatic, or the long, shallow sands of Porto Cesareo on the Ionian. Both have proper sea swimming from early summer into autumn.

At Ohrid you swim in fresh water, from concrete platforms, jetties and short pebble strips rather than sand. The advantage is closeness: the coves below Kaneo and the town beach at Potpeš are a walk from the old town, and the lake is calm and very clear.

Lecce eats better, and more distinctively. A day there runs from pasticciotto and almond-milk iced coffee at breakfast to ciceri e tria and fava purée with chicory at dinner, with dark Negroamaro from the surrounding plain. Simple old-town osterie do this well.

Ohrid's Macedonian home cooking is honest and filling: tavče gravče, grilled meats, ajvar and lake fish such as belvica. The waterfront menus repeat one another, though, so the good meals take some seeking out in the upper old town or the shore villages. Neither city offers much beyond its own region's food.

The two are closely matched, but their history comes from different worlds. Lecce is a flat Baroque townscape in honey-coloured limestone, with carved facades such as Santa Croce, the enclosed Piazza del Duomo and half a Roman amphitheatre sunk below the main square. You enjoy it by wandering, and the museums are minor.

Ohrid's heritage is medieval and Orthodox. The frescoes in St Sophia, St John at Kaneo above the water and the Cyrillic-era site at Plaošnik are spread over a hillside topped by Samuel's Fortress, so seeing them means climbing as well as looking.

Neither is a place to come for nightlife, but Lecce keeps going for more of the year. Students fill the wine bars and small cocktail bars in the old-town lanes at weekends outside summer. In August the dancing moves to beach clubs around Gallipoli, which means a drive.

Ohrid only comes alive in high summer, when café-bars line the promenade and beach clubs on the southern shore play late. From autumn to spring most evenings end at the dinner table.

Ohrid wins on landscape. The deep, ancient lake is ringed by mountains, and Galičica National Park climbs steeply behind it to summits and paragliding launches, with a view of Lake Prespa on the other side. Kayaks and the lakeshore path give easier options.

Lecce sits on a flat plain of olive groves, so its outdoors is the coast. Cliffs and sea caves run from Roca Vecchia towards Santa Maria di Leuca, Le Cesine draws birdwatchers, and the snorkelling and diving are better than anything a lake can offer.

Lecce is the better base for touring. Otranto's cathedral mosaic, Gallipoli's island old town and the frescoes at Galatina are all close, and white Ostuni and the trulli of Alberobello are within reach for a longer day. Trains run to Brindisi and Bari, though a car makes most trips far easier.

From Ohrid the obvious outing is St Naum, which in summer you can reach by boat along the shore. Bitola and the mosaics at Heraclea, Lake Prespa and a crossing into Albania for Korçë add variety, but the roads are slow.

Both work for relaxed family time, and neither has a zoo or theme park. Lecce's old town is flat and largely free of cars, which is easy with a pushchair, and the shallow sand around Porto Cesareo suits toddlers. The summer heat means building the day around a long midday rest.

Ohrid offers unsalted, calm lake water within reach of town, boat rides and the prehistoric pile village at the Bay of Bones. Its steep, cobbled lanes are harder with small children, so a lakeside apartment is the easy option.

Ohrid is easier to manage without a car. The promenade, bazaar and old town lie close together, cheap taxis cover short hops, and summer boats run along the shore, though the old town's stairs are tiring.

Lecce's centre is flatter and just as walkable, and fast trains leave from the edge of the old town. Beyond the walls, though, the Salento's slow local railways and summer-only beach buses push most visitors into a hire car, which then has to be parked outside the restricted centre.

Neither is a shopping destination, and each has one craft worth looking for. In Lecce it is cartapesta, papier-mâché saints made in old-town workshops, along with limestone carvings, Grottaglie ceramics and food shops selling olive oil and wine. In Ohrid it is the lustre-coated Ohrid pearl, best bought from a long-established family workshop, plus filigree silver and icons.

Ohrid is markedly cheaper. Guesthouse rooms, meals with Macedonian wine, taxis and church entry all cost little, and late spring or early autumn bring prices down further.

Lecce is reasonable by Italian standards, with cheap pastries and trattorias and fairly priced palazzo bed and breakfasts. A hire car and paid beach loungers add up, though. Both towns get pricier in August.

Lecce has more to see. The Politeama Greco and Teatro Paisiello run a modest season of opera and theatre, and through the summer the Salento's villages dance to pizzica, which peaks at the huge open-air Notte della Taranta in Melpignano.

Ohrid's live culture is almost entirely its Summer Festival. Its concerts, opera and plays in St Sophia and the ancient theatre make memorable evenings, but there is little outside that window.

Lecce has more for a restful stay. The sulphur grottoes and cliff-top pools of Santa Cesarea Terme are under an hour away, several old masserie on the plain have become quiet spa retreats, and the long afternoon closing slows everyone down.

Ohrid offers hotel spas and little else formal, as its nearest thermal springs are far off near Debar. Its real draw for unwinding is a still lake in May, June or September, before August brings the crowds.