Mostar or Positano?

Positano wins clearly. Spiaggia Grande lies right below the town and Fornillo is a short cliff walk away, while Arienzo, Laurito and further coves are reached by stairs or boat. The shore is coarse grey sand and pebble that shelves steeply, so water shoes help.

Mostar has no beach at all. The Neretva is too cold for more than a quick dip off the rocks, and the real swim is in the pool below the Kravica waterfalls, about 40km away. The Adriatic at Neum is over an hour's drive, so the sea is a day out from Mostar rather than part of daily life.

The two eat equally well, but the cooking is very different. Mostar's food comes from the land and the grill: ćevapi in somun bread, flaky burek, stuffed peppers and slow stews. To drink, there is Žilavka and Blatina from the hot Herzegovina valleys and Bosnian coffee from a copper pot. The better cooking is a few streets back from the bridge terraces.

Positano's menu is the sea and lemons: spaghetti with clams, grilled fish, scialatielli and limoncello. Every meal comes with the view, and the price reflects it. Both menus are narrow, but Positano's also shrinks with the seasons, as many kitchens close over winter.

Mostar has far more to see. The sixteenth-century Stari Most was destroyed and rebuilt, and divers still leap from its crown. Around it are the Kujundžiluk bazaar, the minaret of the Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque, the Ottoman houses and the scarred buildings of the old front line, enough to fill a day or two.

Positano's sights are the town's stacked houses, the majolica dome of Santa Maria Assunta and the Roman villa beneath the church that was buried by Vesuvius. That is a morning at most, and serious museums mean a trip to Naples.

Both are quiet after dark, and neither is worth choosing for nights out. Mostar's evenings mean drinks on terraces facing the floodlit bridge. A few cocktail bars and student clubs keep going later at weekends. Positano offers aperitivo over the water and a well-dressed crowd at a cave club on the main beach, but this only lasts through the summer season.

Positano has the more spectacular setting and the easier access to it. The Lattari mountains fall straight into the sea, and the Path of the Gods and the trails to Montepertuso start from town. You can also take a kayak or boat along the cliffs to the Li Galli islets.

Mostar's surroundings are wilder but harder to reach. There are the bare limestone ranges of Velež and Prenj, rafting in the Neretva canyons, the Blidinje plateau and the birdlife of Hutovo Blato. Most of this needs a car, and in both places the summer heat keeps hikers to spring and autumn.

Positano has the stronger list of outings. Amalfi, Ravello, Capri and Sorrento are a ferry ride away, while Pompeii, Herculaneum and Paestum make full days, and in season the boats do most of the work. Out of season, ferries are scarce and the buses slow.

Mostar's excursions are smaller and more local. You can visit the dervish tekke at Blagaj, the walled hillside village of Počitelj, the medieval tombstones at Stolac and Tito's bunker at Konjic. Sarajevo is the one big name, two hours away by a scenic train, and most other trips need a car or a tour.

Neither town is built for small children, but Mostar is slightly easier. Watching the bridge divers, climbing a minaret and swimming at Kravica fill a couple of days, and restaurants welcome children readily. The catch is slippery cobbles and fierce summer heat.

Positano is mostly staircases, which makes a pushchair useless, and its pebbly beaches drop off quickly. It suits older children who like boats and swimming better than toddlers.

Mostar is easier on foot. The old town, the bridge and the Austro-Hungarian centre follow the river in a short stroll, though the polished stones call for good shoes. Beyond the centre, you need a car or taxi.

In Positano, almost every walk means hundreds of steps. Buses on the single coast road fill up and crawl in summer, and parking is so scarce that a car is a burden. Ferries are the practical way to move along the coast, but mostly in season.

Positano gives shoppers more reason to browse. Its lanes sell moda Positano, the loose white linen and printed resort wear the town is known for, alongside sandals cut to fit while you wait and hand-painted ceramics. It is all one look, but it is a distinctive one.

Mostar's shopping is the Kujundžiluk, where a few coppersmiths still hammer coffee sets by hand among kilims and lamps. Much of the stock is imported souvenirs, so look for a craftsman at work in his doorway.

The gap here is enormous. In Mostar, guesthouses, meals and local wine cost little, and moving a few streets away from the bridge terraces brings prices down further. Few places in Europe stretch a budget as far.

Positano sits at the other extreme. Sea-view rooms, beach loungers, terrace dinners and boat transfers all carry premium prices. Basing yourself in Praiano or Sorrento and visiting by bus or ferry, or coming in May or October, softens the cost.

Neither offers much of a stage, and the little there is differs in kind. Mostar has a national theatre and a youth theatre that perform mainly in local languages, plus open-air concerts in summer. Positano has the occasional summer concert in a church or square, but Ravello's classical music festival on its terrace above the sea is close enough for an evening, and Naples is the place for opera.

Positano is better for an unwinding trip. Several upscale hotels have spas and pools cut into the cliff, and the lazy lunches and terrace afternoons do the rest. Choose May, June or late September, though, as high summer is crowded.

Mostar's Ottoman hammam is a monument rather than a working bath, and treatments are confined to a few hotels. Its calm comes from long coffees in the shade and the quiet old town in the early morning and evening, once the coach groups have gone.