Mostar or Zagreb?

Neither city has a beach, but Mostar is closer to water worth a day out. The pool beneath the Kravica waterfalls is about 40km south, and the Adriatic at Neum is a little over an hour away. The cold Neretva also gives a bracing plunge from the rocks below the old town.

From Zagreb the coast is about two hours over the hills, so locals cool off at Jarun and Bundek instead. These are pleasant lakes for a hot afternoon, not a reason to come.

Zagreb gives you more to eat your way through. Dolac market fills each morning with farmers' cheese and vegetables, and there is štrukli, turkey with mlinci, Zagorje sausages, wine from Plešivica and decent craft beer. A handful of serious kitchens lift the top end.

Mostar's table is narrower but full of character: charcoal-grilled ćevapi in somun, burek and slow-cooked stuffed vegetables, plus Herzegovina's Žilavka and Blatina. Bosnian coffee from a copper džezva is the ritual to slow down for. Beyond that the choice runs out quickly, and the riverside terraces trade more on the view than the cooking.

The two are about level, but they offer different kinds of sightseeing. Mostar is one concentrated scene: the sixteenth-century Stari Most, rebuilt after 1993, the divers on its crown, the Kujundžiluk bazaar, the Koski Mehmed Pasha minaret, and Ottoman houses with carpeted rooms. The war-scarred façades along the old front line add a sobering layer.

Zagreb spreads its heritage across the medieval Upper Town and the Austro-Hungarian Lower Town, and it has more to do indoors. There are museums from the Strossmayer old masters to Naive Art and the Museum of Broken Relationships, and Mirogoj's arcaded cemetery is among its loveliest corners.

Zagreb has a real evening out. Café-bars on Tkalčićeva turn from coffee to drinks, smaller cocktail and craft beer bars hide around Flower Square and in Lower Town courtyards, and in summer the crowd heads to the lakeside clubs at Jarun. It stays friendly rather than wild.

In Mostar the evening is mostly dinner and a drink facing the floodlit bridge. Once the day visitors leave, the old town falls quiet, with only a few bars and student clubs busy on weekends.

Both have good outdoors within reach, but the landscapes could hardly be more different. Mostar's is harsh and dramatic: bare limestone mountains, the jagged Prenj range, rafting and kayaking in the Neretva canyons, the Buna spring bursting from the cliff at Blagaj, and birdlife at Hutovo Blato. The summer heat confines serious walking to spring and autumn.

Zagreb's countryside is green and gentle. Medvednica's beech woods and mountain huts are a tram and bus ride from the centre, Maksimir and the Sava embankments suit a run or a ride, and Plitvice's lakes make a long day south.

There is as much to see around one as the other, but the trips differ in kind. Around Mostar you visit small Ottoman and medieval places: the dervish tekke at Blagaj, hillside Počitelj, the stećci tombstones at Stolac, and Tito's bunker at Konjic. Most need a car or a tour, though the train ride to Sarajevo through the Neretva gorge is a highlight in itself.

Zagreb's excursions lean towards castles and baroque towns, such as Trakošćan above its lake, moated Varaždin and little Samobor. Ljubljana is in range for a long day.

Zagreb is the easier city with children. The Lower Town is flat, the trams take pushchairs, and there is the zoo in Maksimir, the old trams and mock mine at the Tesla technical museum, and the funicular ride up the hill. Summer adds swimming at Jarun.

Mostar fills a day or two: the bridge divers, climbing a minaret, and a swim at Kravica that children remember. After that, the steep, polished lanes and the valley heat begin to tell, though restaurants welcome children warmly.

Zagreb is simpler to move around. A dense web of blue trams covers the city, the funicular saves the climb to the Upper Town, and buses run on to Medvednica and the airport. You only need a car for the Zagorje castles or Plitvice.

Mostar's sights all lie within a short riverside walk, but its cobbles are slippery, and once you leave the centre, the city buses are of little use to visitors. Blagaj, Počitelj and Kravica mean a hire car, a taxi or a tour.

Neither city is a shopping destination, but Zagreb offers a broader everyday mix. Ilica has chains and local fashion, a few design shops are scattered nearby, and there are distinctly Croatian things to take home: licitar honey hearts, cravats and lace. The Sunday flea market at Britanski trg is worth a browse.

Mostar's shopping is essentially one street, the Kujundžiluk. Hand-hammered copper coffee sets and kilims are the prize, if you find a craftsman at work among the imported souvenirs.

Mostar is clearly the cheaper stay. Family guesthouses, grilled meat, local wine and coffee all cost little, and only bridge-view terraces and midsummer old-town rooms push prices up.

Zagreb is reasonable for an EU capital, especially compared with the Croatian coast. Trams, museums and market food are kind to a budget, but smart restaurants, cocktails and good hotels cost what they would further west.

Zagreb has a real cultural calendar. The Croatian National Theatre stages opera, ballet and drama, the Lisinski hall hosts the Zagreb Philharmonic and visiting orchestras, and the Zagreb Soloists play in churches. Summer adds concerts in Upper Town courtyards.

Mostar has a national theatre and a youth theatre, but both perform mainly in local languages. Apart from summer open-air events, an evening of music usually means a band in a café bar.

Mostar has no bathing culture. The Ottoman hammam near the bridge survives as a historic building rather than a working bath, and spa treatments are limited to a few hotels. The rest you get here comes from the river itself, early in the morning and again in the evening, when the coach groups have left.

Zagreb offers more for a restful stay, though the city itself has little beyond hotel wellness floors. The difference lies in the Zagorje hills to the north, where spa resorts such as Tuheljske, Krapinske and Stubičke Toplice are within about an hour. That makes a day in hot spring water an easy addition, which Mostar cannot match. Back in town, long café mornings and shady parks keep the pace slow.