Ljubljana or Zadar?

This is the clearest difference between the two. In Zadar, swimming is part of every summer day: you step into clear water from the stone promenade, walk to Kolovare, or take a ferry to Ugljan or out to Sakarun's pale sand on Dugi Otok. The city beaches are pebble and concrete, but Nin's shallow sand is close by.

Ljubljana is inland. A swim means the Sava, Lake Bled about an hour away, or a drive of an hour and a half to the concrete platforms at Piran. That is a nice extra on a hot day, but you would not plan a trip around it.

Ljubljana eats and drinks better. The Central Market under Plečnik's colonnades, inns serving štruklji and jota, a few ambitious modern kitchens and, above all, wine bars pouring Vipava, Brda and orange wines by the glass give a week of meals some variety.

Zadar sticks to the Dalmatian coastal repertoire: grilled fish, black risotto and peka lamb. Pag cheese and Maraschino are distinctive, but the konobas on the peninsula serve much the same menu, and the main streets lean towards tourist cooking.

The two are on a par, but the interest is different. Ljubljana's appeal is one architect's vision across a whole cityscape: Plečnik's bridges, embankments and library, baroque churches and the castle on its hill. Zadar layers three thousand years on one small peninsula, with the Roman forum, the round church of St Donatus and the Venetian walls, plus the Sea Organ on the waterfront. Its glass and archaeology museums are more distinctive than Ljubljana's galleries.

Evenings in both cities are spent outdoors by the water, and the real difference is the season. Ljubljana's students keep the terraces along the Ljubljanica busy for most of the year, especially during term, and Metelkova's scruffy clubs in the old barracks give it one genuine late-night corner at weekends. On weekdays the riverside quietens after midnight.

Zadar has a summer scene. Evenings start with the sunset on the Riva and move on to café-bars along Kalelarga and terraces on the walls. Anyone after proper clubbing heads to Zrće on Pag, about an hour away. From October to May going out mostly means a quiet drink in a café-bar.

Both are excellent bases for the outdoors, one for mountains and the other for mountains and sea. From Ljubljana you can reach the Julian Alps, Triglav, the Soča's rafting and the Postojna and Škocjan caves, and there is winter skiing within reach.

Zadar adds water to the mix. There are sailing trips to the Kornati and Telašćica, sea kayaking among the islands, Paklenica's climbing gorges, and Krka and Plitvice for waterfalls. Its summer heat makes hiking hard work, though, while Ljubljana's hills are walkable for most of the year.

Ljubljana has the edge because it sits in the middle of a small country. Bled, Škofja Loka, Predjama Castle, Idrija and the coast at Piran are all easy outings, and Trieste and Zagreb are close enough to cross the border for a day.

From Zadar, the best options run along the coast: Šibenik's cathedral, royal Nin, and Split and Trogir if you don't mind a long day. Island ferries add something Ljubljana cannot offer, but more of it depends on a car or an organised excursion.

For families the two are much alike: safe, flat, car-free centres with little built specially for children. What differs is how you spend the day. In Ljubljana that means the castle funicular, the dragons, Tivoli's playgrounds, a small zoo and a puppet theatre. In Zadar it means the sea: Nin's shallow sand, ferry rides and the glowing Greeting to the Sun after dark, best in June or September before the heat peaks.

Ljubljana is easier to get around. Everything a visitor wants lies within about twenty minutes' walk, electric shuttles and bike-share fill the gaps, and intercity buses fan out across the country.

Zadar's peninsula is just as walkable, but beyond it the local buses are basic and regional connections are weak, so the national parks and the coast really need a hire car or a tour. Its advantage is the ferries, which leave from the edge of the old town.

Lace is the souvenir the two share. Ljubljana's comes from Idrija and is worked on bobbins, while Zadar's comes from Pag and is made with a needle. Beyond that, Ljubljana gives you a little more to browse. The Central Market sells pumpkin-seed oil, honey and salt from the coastal pans, gingerbread hearts and wooden crafts make easy gifts, a few independent designers keep shop in the old town, and on Sunday mornings antiques are laid out along the embankment.

Zadar's marble Kalelarga is mostly jewellers, chains and souvenir stalls, so the open-air market by the walls is the stop to make time for. Pag cheese, figs and olive oil are the things to buy there, and Maraschino is the obvious bottle to take home. In neither city is shopping a reason to choose it.

Costs are similar, and in both cities accommodation is the big expense in July and August. Ljubljana saves you money because everything is within walking distance and most sights cost little to enter. Zadar's private apartments are good value outside high summer, but boat trips and national park tickets add up quickly.

Ljubljana has far more on offer. The Philharmonic, whose roots go back to 1701, the National Opera and Ballet and the programme at Cankarjev dom run all year, and the summer festival fills the Križanke courtyard.

Zadar has one memorable highlight, early and chamber music inside St Donatus on summer evenings, plus some klapa singing in the squares. Outside July and August there is little to see or hear.

Neither city has a bathing tradition of its own, but Ljubljana has more to offer. There is a big sauna and water park on the edge of town, and Slovenia's thermal spa towns are within about an hour's drive. Zadar's version is gentler: hotel spas at Borik, the healing mud at Nin's lagoon, and the simple pleasure of watching the sunset from the Sea Organ steps.