Ljubljana or Piran?

Neither place has a long sandy beach, but only Piran lets you swim from your doorstep. The water off the Punta and the seafront ladders is clear and warm by August. Fiesa's pebble cove is a short walk away, and Portoroz's small artificial sand beach is along the promenade.

From Ljubljana, swimming is always an excursion. You can go to the Sava on the city's edge, to the lakes at Bled or the colder Bohinj, or drive down to the same coast that Piran sits on.

Ljubljana offers the broader table. You have the Central Market by Plečnik's colonnades, gostilna inns serving štruklji and jota, riverside wine bars pouring Vipava, Brda and orange wines, and a few modern kitchens. That is enough to fill a week.

Piran is narrower and simpler: grilled fish, squid and scampi buzara in konobas around Tartini Square, with Malvazija and Refosk from the hills. It is good seaside eating, but the harbour menus repeat each other, and anything more ambitious means driving inland.

Both are places to wander rather than tick off sights, but Ljubljana gives you more to wander through. Plečnik's bridges, embankments and library form a UNESCO-listed townscape, the castle stands on its hill, and the galleries and Metelkova's murals can fill two or three days.

Piran's appeal is packed into one Venetian Gothic peninsula: Tartini Square, the campanile of St George's and the walls on the ridge above the red roofs. The maritime museum and the monastery cloister are pleasant extras, and a single day sees it all.

Ljubljana is no party city, but it has noticeably more going on after dark. Students liven it up, terraces line both banks of the Ljubljanica, and Metelkova's scruffy clubs run late at weekends. In Piran, an evening means a glass of wine at sunset on the Punta or Tartini Square, then quiet. Portoroz's beach bars, casino and summer clubs are the only alternative.

Ljubljana is by far the stronger base for the outdoors. Šmarna Gora and Tivoli's wooded hills are on the doorstep. The Julian Alps, the Vintgar gorge, rafting on the Soča and Velika Planina's high pasture are all an hour or so away, and in winter there is skiing close by.

Piran's outdoors is gentler and coastal: the flysch cliffs at Strunjan, wading birds among the Sečovlje salt pans, kayaking along the shore and the Parenzana cycle route through olive groves. The Škocjan caves on the Karst are an easy trip from either town.

Both towns make excellent bases, but they point in different directions. From Ljubljana you look inland, into the heart of Slovenia: Bled, Škofja Loka, painted Radovljica and mining Idrija, with Zagreb and Trieste each about two hours away.

Piran looks across the borders. Trieste is under an hour away, the Croatian hill and harbour towns of Rovinj, Poreč and Motovun lie to the south, and summer boats run to Venice. Predjama Castle and Lipica are within reach of both.

Both are calm, safe and largely car-free, so neither is hard work with children, and in both you will run out of children's attractions in a few days. The difference is in the kind of stay. Ljubljana has the castle funicular, the dragon statues, a zoo, a science centre and a puppet theatre, all on flat streets. Piran has calm, warm sea, a small aquarium and shallow sand at Portoroz instead, though its lanes are steep and swimming in town means concrete ledges.

In town, both are places to walk. Ljubljana's pedestrianised centre has a bike-share and electric shuttles, and Piran's peninsula takes a quarter of an hour to cross on foot.

The difference shows once you leave. Ljubljana sits at the centre of Slovenia's intercity buses and trains. Piran has no railway and only slow regional buses, so exploring Istria or the Karst usually means hiring a car.

Ljubljana has the wider choice, though neither town is a shopping destination. What it has and Piran lacks is a little browsing: small design and fashion boutiques along Trubarjeva street and the old-town lanes, and the Sunday-morning antiques and flea market on the embankment. Idrija lace and gingerbread hearts make gifts you won't find on the coast. For big-name brands, you have to go out to the malls on the city's edge.

Piran is narrower but more rooted in its setting. Its best buys are the salt flower from the Sečovlje pans, Istrian olive oil and a bottle of Malvazija or Refosk, all bought close to where they are made. Apart from these, the lanes and harbour offer little more than a few galleries and souvenirs. For clothes or a longer browse, you have to leave Piran for the capital or for Trieste across the border.

Ljubljana is the easier of the two on your budget. Set lunch menus at the inns, sights that cost little and a centre you can walk keep daily spending moderate, and summer rooms in the old town are the main expense.

In Piran the summer premium is sharper. Old-town rooms are scarce and expensive in July and August, and the waterfront restaurants charge for the view. Staying in Portoroz or coming out of season helps, and the swimming costs nothing.

Here the capital is in a different league. Ljubljana has the Slovenian Philharmonic, with roots going back to 1701, the National Opera and Ballet, Cankarjev dom's year-round programme and the summer festival in Plečnik's Križanke courtyard.

Piran's music is mainly a summer series in Tartini's honour, played in churches, the monastery cloister and on the main square. The small theatre puts on the occasional recital, and there is little to attend outside the warm months.

Piran is the better place to unwind. Portoroz's seawater pools and brine baths, the outdoor thalasso spa among the salt pans and the seawater health resort at Strunjan are all close by. The car-free lanes and evening light over the bay set a slow pace.

Ljubljana is restful in its own way, quiet and green, with long afternoons at riverside cafés. For bathing, though, it has only a water park and hotel spas, and the thermal spa towns are around an hour's drive away.