Nafplio or Tirana?

Nafplio has the sea on its doorstep. Arvanitia's pebbles are a walk from the old town, the sandy, pine-backed bay of Karathona is about 3km away, and Tolo's longer beach is a short drive further. The sheltered gulf makes for calm swimming, although none of these beaches is large.

From Tirana, the sea is an outing: under an hour to the long sandy beach at Durrës and Golem. Hotels and beach clubs line the shore there, and the water near the port is not always clear. Albania's famous southern coves are a different trip altogether.

Tirana eats better. Its cooking is rooted in farm produce, from the morning byrek to tavë kosi, and the farm restaurants on the hills around the city are worth the trip on their own. Slow coffee and a raki at the end of the meal set the pace.

Nafplio's tavernas serve good grilled octopus, slow-cooked lamb and Nemea red, but the busiest squares fall back on the same tourist menus, and the best fish often means a drive to Tolo. Neither city offers much beyond its own national cooking.

In Nafplio, the main sight is the town itself. It has one of the best-preserved old towns in Greece, the Palamidi and Bourtzi fortresses, the story of the first capital of modern Greece, and Mycenaean armour in the museum in the old Venetian arsenal. The list is short, but it hangs together well.

Tirana tells a different story: the 20th century and its dictatorship, at Bunk'Art and the House of Leaves. The Et'hem Bey Mosque on Skanderbeg Square is one of the few older buildings to survive. These visits stay with you, but there is less historic town to explore, and two days covers it.

Tirana is far livelier after dark. Blloku packs cocktail bars, terraces and small clubs into a few streets, the young local crowd stays out past midnight in summer, and bigger clubs around the Grand Park lake stay open later still.

Nafplio's evenings are a long dinner followed by a drink by the harbour. The town is busy on summer weekends when visitors arrive from Athens, but very quiet on winter weeknights, and there are no real clubs.

Both cities have hills at the edge of town, but the scenery differs. Nafplio's outdoors is coastal: the path around the Akronafplia headland, the coastal trail to Karathona, limestone for climbers and sea kayaking off Tolo, with Arcadia's fir forests further inland.

Tirana's is mountain and forest. The cable car lifts you up Mount Dajti, the Bovilla reservoir in its gorge is about an hour away, and there are rivers for rafting further out. In both places, the summer heat means walking is best left for spring and autumn.

Few places can match Nafplio here. Tiryns is about ten minutes away, Mycenae under half an hour and Epidaurus about forty minutes, so three of Greece's great ancient sites are short outings. Corinth, the Nemea vineyards and the car-free islands of Hydra and Spetses make longer days.

Tirana's day trips are good but take more effort. Kruja is close, but Berat, Shkodra and Apollonia are each about two hours away on slow roads, and each fills a whole day.

Nafplio is the easier place with children. The old town is largely free of traffic, the gulf beaches are calm and shallow, and the boat out to the Bourtzi is a small adventure, though the steps up to Palamidi are hard work in the heat.

Tirana welcomes children in its cafés and on the evening stroll, and the Grand Park and the Dajti cable car make good outings. But heavy traffic and uneven pavements are tiring for parents, and the beach is an hour away.

Both centres are flat and walkable, so the difference lies beyond them. In Tirana, cheap taxis and city buses reach Bunk'Art or the Dajti cable car, even if the bus routes are confusing and the wide roads take care to cross.

Nafplio's old town is small and easy on foot, but regional buses are infrequent. Most visitors hire a car for the ancient sites and the beaches, then struggle to find parking near the walls in summer.

Neither city is worth visiting for its shops, but what you bring home differs. In Nafplio's old-town lanes you find worry beads, ceramics, small galleries, Argolid olive oil and Nemea wine, which takes an hour or two to browse. Tirana's best is the Pazari i Ri market, with cheese, raki, felt hats and filigree silver, and it also has malls of international chain stores, which Nafplio lacks.

Tirana is the clear choice on a budget. Meals, coffee, taxis and museum entry cost little, and even the smarter Blloku bars stay well below what you would pay in most European capitals.

Nafplio costs about what you would expect in a well-known Greek town. Tavernas and site fees are fair, but old-town guesthouses charge more at weekends and in high summer, so the real savings come on weekdays and in spring and autumn.

Neither city has a deep arts scene, but each has one strong attraction. Nafplio's is seasonal: ancient drama on summer evenings in the theatre at Epidaurus, plus a classical music festival in the town's historic buildings. Tirana's runs through the season at the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet on Skanderbeg Square, with a few jazz bars as well, though plays there are performed in Albanian.

Nafplio is the more restful of the two. The calm comes from the sea, the walk around the headland and the harbour cafés, especially outside July and August, and the thermal water at Loutraki is about an hour away.

Tirana has the slow coffee and the evening xhiro too, but traffic noise fills much of the centre, so for real peace you go to Dajti or the Grand Park. The simple sulphur spas at Llixha are about an hour's drive away.