Ljubljana or Verona?

Neither city has a shore, but Verona has better swimming within reach. Lake Garda's southern shore is about half an hour away, with lidos, lawns that run down to the water and Sirmione's flat limestone shelves, so a summer swim fits easily into an afternoon.

From Ljubljana a swim takes more effort. The options are the Sava on the city's edge, Lake Bled about an hour away, or the Adriatic at Piran, around an hour and a half away. On that coast the shore is mostly concrete platforms and small pebble strips rather than sand.

Both cities serve hearty regional food, and both are at their best over a glass of local wine. Verona has more depth. Its menus include Amarone risotto, bigoli with duck and bollito with peppery pearà, served in old osterie around Piazza delle Erbe and in Veronetta, and Valpolicella and Soave are made a short drive away.

Ljubljana's cooking is plainer: štruklji, Carniolan sausage and jota in gostilna inns. Its Central Market under Plečnik's colonnades is a pleasure, though, and the orange wines from Brda and Vipava are worth seeking out. You will work through the range sooner here.

Verona has much more history to show. It has a Roman amphitheatre still in use, a Roman theatre on the hillside, the Romanesque Basilica of San Zeno and Castelvecchio in its Scarpa setting, all inside one UNESCO-listed loop of the Adige.

Ljubljana's appeal belongs mostly to the twentieth century. It lies in Plečnik's bridges, embankments and library and the baroque old town below the castle, and its museums are good rather than great. Each city fills two or three days, but you will see more in Verona's.

Neither city is for a big night out, and in both, evenings mostly mean a drink outdoors. In Ljubljana that means the terraces along the Ljubljanica. At weekends Metelkova's scruffy clubs in the old barracks stay open late and give the city an alternative edge that Verona lacks.

Verona's evenings are built around aperitivo in Piazza delle Erbe, with cheaper student bars across the river in Veronetta. In summer the opera crowd leaving the Arena near midnight keeps the centre busy late.

This is where Ljubljana is strongest. Tivoli Park runs straight into forest from the centre, and Šmarna Gora is a climb locals do before work. Triglav National Park, the emerald Soča and the Škocjan caves are all close enough for a day out.

Verona's surroundings are gentler. There are vineyard walks in Valpolicella, the long cycle route up the Adige valley and the beech woods of the Lessinia. Monte Baldo and the reliable sailing winds on Garda are about an hour away. The Dolomites are too far for a comfortable day trip, while Ljubljana has real Alps close by.

Both cities are good bases, but Verona's list of outings is hard to match. Venice, Padua with Giotto's chapel, Palladio's Vicenza and Gonzaga Mantua can each be reached by train in about an hour or less. The lake towns on Garda and the Valpolicella and Soave cellars are closer still.

Ljubljana's outings are smaller in scale: Bled's island church, Škofja Loka, Predjama Castle in its cliff face, Piran and the wine villages of Brda. Trieste and Zagreb are about two hours away. Together they cover much of Slovenia, but a car is useful more often than it is from Verona.

Verona has the bigger attractions for children, though they are outside the city. Gardaland, the water parks on Garda's southern shore and the drive-through safari at Parco Natura Viva are each about half an hour away, and the lake has calm, shallow swimming. You will usually need a car, and summer afternoons are very hot.

Ljubljana is quieter and easier. The centre is calm and largely car-free, and there are the castle funicular, the dragons on the Dragon Bridge and a puppet theatre that small children can follow without the language. Its zoo and science centre are modest, though, and families run out of things to do after a few days.

Both centres are flat, compact and largely closed to traffic, and neither city has a metro or tram. Ljubljana has a slight edge. The old town, the market, the museums and Tivoli Park are all within about twenty minutes' walk, and electric shuttles and bike-share fill the gaps.

Verona's centre is just as easy on foot, though the station is a longer walk from Piazza Bra. Its trains are much better for leaving town, with fast links to Venice, Milan and the lake. Ljubljana relies on intercity buses and a slow rail network.

Ljubljana's buys are small and local: pumpkin-seed oil, honey, salt from the coastal pans, Idrija lace and finds from the Sunday antiques market on the embankment. A few design boutiques sit in the old town lanes and on Trubarjeva, but there is no luxury quarter and the big malls are out on the edge of the city.

Verona has proper shopping street by street. Via Mazzini, marble-paved and lined with Italian fashion labels, and the boutiques and jewellers along Corso Porta Borsari make for a smart, provincial browse. Amarone, Garda olive oil and the star-shaped pandoro are the things to take home, and serious shoppers make the trip on to Milan.

Ljubljana is the somewhat cheaper stay. Set lunch menus at the inns, fairly priced local wine and low entry charges at sights keep daily costs moderate. Rooms in the old town are the main expense and cost as much as in Western Europe in summer.

In Verona, everyday eating is also reasonable, especially in Veronetta's student osterie. Hotels in the historic centre are expensive, though, and on opera nights and during trade fairs they become scarce. In both cities, staying a little outside the centre saves the most.

Verona has an experience Ljubljana cannot match: summer opera in the Roman Arena, with grand productions of Verdi and Puccini for thousands of people and candles lit as darkness falls. The Roman theatre adds Shakespeare, dance and jazz, and in the cooler months the Teatro Filarmonico takes over with a quieter season.

Ljubljana's programme is steadier through the year. It has the Philharmonic, the national opera house and Cankarjev dom, and in summer its festival fills Plečnik's Križanke courtyard. It is good for a concert night, but not a reason to plan a trip.

Neither city has its own bathing tradition, so both send you out of town for warm water. Verona has the better springs, and they are closer. Sirmione's thermal pools face the lake, a spring-fed lake sits in an old villa garden near Lazise, and the springs at Caldiero, used since Roman times, are just east of the city.

Ljubljana has a large water park with saunas on its eastern edge, and Slovenia's spa towns are about an hour away. The quiet, car-free riverside is restful in itself.