Mostar or Piran?

In Mostar, swimming is an outing. You can take a cold plunge in the Neretva below the old town or swim in the pool beneath the Kravica waterfalls about 40km south, and Neum's short stretch of coast is over an hour away. In Piran the sea is part of every day: you swim from the platforms, rocks and ladders below the walls and around the Punta, with Fiesa's pebble cove a short walk off and the small sandy beach at Portoroz for sunbeds.

Neither suits a long vacation on wide sand, but only Piran lets you swim before breakfast.

Neither is a food destination. Both eat simply and well, and the difference is meat against fish. Mostar cooks Bosnian food with an Ottoman accent: charcoal-grilled ćevapi in somun, burek and slow-cooked stews, with Žilavka and Blatina from the Herzegovina valleys and the ritual of coffee from a copper džezva. Piran serves grilled fish, squid and scampi buzara near the harbour, with Malvazija, Refosk, Istrian olive oil and salt from its own pans.

In both towns the view terraces repeat one another. For better cooking, walk a few streets back from the bridge in Mostar, or drive into the Istrian hinterland from Piran.

Mostar has the stronger story. Stari Most is a sixteenth-century arch that was destroyed in 1993 and rebuilt stone by stone. Around it lies a UNESCO old town of bazaar lanes, a mosque with a minaret you can climb and furnished Ottoman houses, while the scarred façades along the old front line add a recent history Piran has nothing like.

Piran's appeal is the townscape itself: Venetian Gothic houses on a narrow peninsula, the oval Tartini Square, the campanile of St George's and the walls above the red roofs. Its museums are small and a day covers it, whereas Mostar holds your attention for a day or two.

Neither town is the place for a big night out, and evenings in both end on a terrace. In Mostar that means drinks facing the lit bridge, with a few cocktail bars and student clubs busy on summer weekends. In Piran it is a glass of wine on Tartini Square or the sunset from the Punta, and the beach bars, casino and summer clubs of Portoroz are a few minutes away if you want more.

Mostar has the wilder setting. Bare limestone karst rises to Velež and the jagged Prenj range, rafting and kayaking run through the Neretva canyons, and the Buna spring bursts from the cliff at Blagaj. The Blidinje plateau and the birds of the Hutovo Blato wetland are a couple of hours away at most.

Piran's outdoors is gentler and coastal. There are the flysch cliffs and clifftop path at Strunjan, wading birds among the Secovlje salt pans, paddling beneath the cliffs and the Parenzana cycle route through the vineyards. The nearest real drama is inland, on the Karst plateau and in the Skocjan caves.

Piran makes the better base because three countries meet here. Trieste is under an hour away. Croatian Istria offers Rovinj, Porec and the hilltop towns of Motovun and Groznjan, Slovenia adds Predjama Castle, Lipica and Ljubljana, and in summer boats cross to Venice.

Mostar's outings are smaller places of strong character: the dervish tekke at Blagaj, walled Počitelj, the stećci tombstones at Stolac and the bridges of Jablanica and Konjic. Sarajevo is its one big city, a long day out by train through the Neretva gorge. From either town, most trips need a car or a tour.

Piran is the easier choice with children. The old town has no cars, the seafront is flat and the sea is calm and warm in summer, with a small aquarium on the harbour and a shallow sandy beach at Portoroz.

Mostar works for a day or two. The bridge divers, a minaret climb and a swim at Kravica go down well with children, but the steep, slippery cobbles defeat pushchairs and the summer heat in the valley wears small children out.

You get around both centres on foot, but Piran's is simpler. It is car-free and takes a quarter of an hour to cross, with a shuttle in from the garage at the edge of town and a promenade to Portoroz. Mostar's old town and Austro-Hungarian centre are also a short stroll, but on worn cobbles that call for good shoes.

Further afield, Mostar has the train to Sarajevo but needs a car or taxi for Blagaj and Kravica. Piran has no railway and slow regional buses, so most visitors hire a car for a day or two.

Mostar has the more interesting shopping, though neither is worth a trip for it. Along the Kujundžiluk a few coppersmiths still hammer coffee sets by hand, and you will find kilims and embroidered textiles among the imported souvenirs. Piran has a few galleries and stalls by the harbour, and its best buys are edible: Secovlje sea salt and salt flower, olive oil and coastal wine.

Mostar is far cheaper. Guesthouses, ćevapi, local wine and coffee all cost little, and only the terraces with bridge views and old-town rooms in midsummer ask more.

Piran is mid-priced for Western Europe, and in July and August old-town rooms and waterfront tables cost a lot more. Staying in Portoroz or coming out of season brings costs down, and swimming and walking there cost nothing.

Neither is a place to go for performances, and both come to life mainly in summer. Mostar has a national theatre and a youth theatre, which play mostly in local languages, plus open-air summer concerts. Piran's music has a single theme: classical concerts honouring Tartini in churches, the monastery cloister and on the main square, with occasional recitals at the small Tartini Theatre.

Piran is much the better place to unwind. Portoroz grew up as a spa resort with seawater pools and brine baths, the salt pans have an outdoor thalasso spa where you lie in brine and salt mud, and Strunjan has a seawater health resort.

Mostar has no bathing tradition still in use. Its Ottoman hammam survives only as a historic building, and spa treatments are limited to a few hotels. Rest there means long coffees in the shade and the old town falling quiet early and late in the day.