Mostar or Pula?

Mostar has no beach life of its own. The Neretva is too cold for more than a quick plunge, and the real swim is the pool beneath the Kravica waterfalls about 40km away, with the Adriatic at Neum more than an hour off.

Pula is a proper swimming destination, though on rock and pebble rather than sand. Pine-shaded coves line Verudela and Stoja, the wild headland of Cape Kamenjak has dozens of inlets, and the sheltered bays of Medulin suit anyone who wants gentler water. Bring water shoes.

Mostar's table is narrow but satisfying: charcoal-grilled ćevapi in somun bread, burek, stuffed peppers and slow-cooked stews, with Žilavka and Blatina from the surrounding valleys and Bosnian coffee as a ritual of its own. Beyond that, there is little choice.

Pula draws on Istria, a richer and more varied kitchen: truffle pasta, scampi buzara, grilled squid, pršut and estate olive oil, with Malvazija and Teran to drink. The town's own restaurants are only middling, so the best meals come from a drive to the village konobas or the coastal harbours.

Both cities are built around one great monument, and both can be seen in a day or two. Mostar's is the rebuilt Old Bridge with its divers, surrounded by the Kujundžiluk bazaar, Ottoman houses, a climbable minaret and the war-marked buildings of the old front line, a history that is raw and recent.

Pula offers a little more to see and spans more centuries. The Arena is among the best preserved Roman amphitheatres anywhere, the Temple of Augustus still stands on the Forum, and Venetian and Austro-Hungarian layers add a hilltop fortress museum and a ring of naval forts.

Neither city is a place to go out, but Pula gives a summer evening more to do. After terrace drinks around the Forum, the evening can move to beach bars on Verudela and around Medulin, with a few small clubs busy at weekends.

Mostar's evenings centre on dinner overlooking the lit bridge, and the old town turns quiet once the day visitors leave. A few cocktail bars and student clubs carry on at weekends, and that is the extent of it.

The two are equally strong outdoors, but in opposite settings. Around Mostar it is mountains and rivers: the bare limestone of Velež and the wild Prenj range, rafting and kayaking in the Neretva canyons, the Buna spring at Blagaj and birdlife in the Hutovo Blato wetland.

Pula's outdoors is low coast and sea. Kamenjak is a car-free headland for walking and cycling, with dinosaur footprints on the shore, and the water offers sea kayaking, windsurfing and wreck diving. Serious hiking means a drive to the Učka range. In both, summer heat pushes walking into spring and autumn.

Pula has the richer range of outings. Rovinj, the Byzantine mosaics of Poreč, the hill towns of Motovun and Grožnjan with their truffle and wine estates, and the Brijuni islands are all close, and Piran and Trieste make longer days.

Mostar's trips are smaller and closer to home: the dervish house at Blagaj, the walled village of Počitelj, Stolac's medieval tombstones and the wartime sites at Jablanica and Konjic. Sarajevo, reached by a scenic train through the Neretva gorge, is the one big city within reach. In both places a car makes most of this far easier.

Pula is much the easier choice with children. Days revolve around the sea, with shallow bays at Medulin and Premantura, and there is an aquarium in an old fort, the Arena to clamber round and the Brijuni safari park.

Mostar holds children's attention for a day or two: the bridge divers, the minaret climb and a swim at Kravica. But the polished, sloping cobbles defeat pushchairs and the valley heat is hard on small children, though restaurants welcome families warmly.

Both centres are compact and walkable, and Pula's is slightly easier: flat streets, with city buses out to the hotel areas and southern coves. Mostar's old town is a short stroll too, but its worn, slippery cobbles call for good shoes and its buses are no help to visitors.

Beyond town, both depend on a car or tour. Mostar has one real advantage, the train to Sarajevo, while Pula's rail line is slow and its regional buses are thin.

Shopping is modest in both, and what is worth buying differs. In Mostar it is handmade copper from the few workshops still working on the Kujundžiluk, among much imported souvenir stock. In Pula the souvenirs are edible: Istrian olive oil, truffle products, wine and honey from the market hall and producers.

Mostar is clearly the cheaper stay. Guesthouses, meals and wine cost little, and even the pricier bridge-view terraces are easy to avoid by stepping a few streets away.

Pula sits in the middle. Spring and autumn are reasonable, but in July and August rooms and restaurants near the Arena cost about as much as Western European coasts, and car hire and boat trips add up.

Pula has the one memorable stage of the pair: in summer the Roman Arena hosts touring concerts, classical galas and film festival screenings under the stone arches. Out of season the Istrian National Theatre performs in Croatian.

Mostar offers less. Its national and youth theatres play in local languages, and outside summer's open-air concerts, live music means the occasional café band.

Neither has a spa tradition, but Pula gives more to someone who wants to slow down. Resort hotels on Verudela and in Medulin have pools, saunas and massage, and pine-shaded coastal paths make for easy evening walks.

In Mostar the Ottoman hammam is a monument, not a working bath, and treatments are few. Its calm comes from early mornings and evenings by the river once the old town empties.