Lugano or Pula?

Pula is the stronger swimming destination. The water off the Verudela and Stoja peninsulas is very clear, pines grow almost to the waterline, and Cape Kamenjak has dozens of wild coves and cliff ledges to explore. The shore is rock and pebble, not sand, so pack water shoes.

Lugano has no coastline at all. Swimming there means a lido: lawns, decks and ladders into the lake at the mouth of the Cassarate or along the shore towards Paradiso. It is lovely on a hot afternoon, but the lake is cooler than the sea and the season is shorter.

Pula has the edge, mostly because it is the gateway to Istrian cooking: fuži pasta with truffle, scampi buzara, pršut, and Malvazija or Teran from estates nearby. The tables around the Arena are touristy, though, and the best meals are in village konobas inland.

Lugano's food tradition is the grotto, where you eat polenta, braised meats and local cheeses at granite tables with a glass of Ticino Merlot. It is satisfying but narrow and expensive, and many visitors cross into Italy for their bigger meals.

Pula has the more substantial sights, all of them Roman. The three-storey Arena still stands complete above the harbour, the Temple of Augustus survives intact on the Forum, and you enter the old streets through the Arch of the Sergii. The Venetian fortress and the Habsburg naval forts add later layers of history.

Lugano's attractions are quieter and fewer. They include Luini's Passion fresco in Santa Maria degli Angioli, the cathedral of San Lorenzo above the arcaded old town, the art collection at LAC and the Hermann Hesse museum in Montagnola. One unhurried day is enough to see them all.

Neither city is a place for big nights out, but Pula offers a little more in summer. Terraces around the Forum lead on to beach bars on Verudela and around Medulin, and a few small clubs fill up at weekends. Out of season it goes quiet.

An evening in Lugano means an aperitivo under the arcades or by the lake, followed by a long dinner. There are a handful of polished bars, the crowd is well-dressed, and most nights are over before midnight.

Lugano's landscape is in a different league. The steep wooded mountains around the lake are easy to reach by funicular and rack railway, there are walks down through chestnut woods to Gandria, and the green rivers of the Verzasca and Maggia valleys are about an hour away.

Pula's outdoors is low and coastal: macchia, olive groves and the car-free headland of Kamenjak, which is good for cycling and has dinosaur footprints along the shore. It is better for being on the water, with sea kayaking, windsurfing and wreck diving. The nearest real hiking is in the Učka range, an hour and a half away.

Lugano offers more, and it is easier to get to. Trains take you to Milan's cathedral and The Last Supper in just over an hour, to Como in about half an hour, and to the castles of Bellinzona in less. Boats carry you to Morcote, and Lake Maggiore and the Borromean Islands are within reach too.

Pula has excellent destinations of its own: Venetian Rovinj, the Byzantine mosaics of Poreč, the hilltop towns of Motovun and Hum, and the Brijuni islands. Buses are sparse, though, so most of these trips depend on hiring a car.

The two are about equally good for children, but in different ways. Pula is a seaside trip, with shallow, sheltered bays at Medulin, an aquarium inside an old fort, an Arena to clamber around, and a dinosaur park and water park within an hour.

Lugano revolves around boats, funiculars and the miniature Swiss landmarks at Melide, which suits younger children on outdoor days. Its steep streets are tiring with a pushchair, while Pula asks you to cope with summer heat and lots of driving.

Lugano is much easier without a car. The centre is walkable once you have taken the short funicular down from the station, lake boats serve the villages, and Swiss trains run to Bellinzona, Locarno, Como and Milan. Hotel stays usually include regional transport.

Pula's centre is flat and compact, and city buses reach Verudela. Beyond that, the slow trains and infrequent regional buses mean that Kamenjak, the coast and the hill towns are really only practical with a car or a scooter.

Lugano has more to offer shoppers. Via Nassa is lined with Swiss watchmakers, jewellers and Italian fashion under its arcades, and there is a big designer outlet near Mendrisio. Even so, it is a narrow, upmarket offer, and serious shoppers head for Milan.

In Pula the best buys are things to eat and drink: Istrian olive oil, truffle products, honey, rakija and wine from the market hall or straight from the producers. Apart from that, it is high-street chains and souvenirs.

Lugano is by far the dearer of the two. A boat to Morcote, a bottle of Ticino Merlot or a ride up Monte Brè all cost well above what they would just over the border. Two things lighten the bill. A hotel stay usually comes with free use of regional public transport, and Como and the other Italian lake towns are close enough to make lunch across the border a real saving.

Pula costs much less from day to day. City buses and entry to the Arena and the other Roman sites are cheap, and the town undercuts the best-known resorts further down the Croatian coast. The extras are what add up: hiring a car, which most of the region needs, boat trips to Brijuni, and the tourist-priced menus around the Arena and the harbour.

Lugano has the steadier programme, centred on LAC. Its concert hall is home to the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, and drama and dance run through the season. In summer, Estival Jazz brings free open-air concerts to Piazza della Riforma.

Pula has a more dramatic setting. On summer nights the Roman Arena hosts touring pop and rock acts, classical galas and the Pula Film Festival. Outside those months there is little beyond Croatian-language theatre at the Istrian National Theatre.

Lugano is the better place for slowing down. A lakeside bench in Parco Ciani, a long lunch in a grotto and the palm-lined shore set the pace. There is also a large indoor pool and sauna complex near Rivera, as well as the spas of the grand lakeside hotels.

Pula's spa options are limited to resort hotels on Verudela and in Medulin. Its calm comes from the coastal paths under the pines and the countryside, and it is best outside the busy summer months.