Naples or Pula?

Pula is the better place to swim. The water along the Verudela and Stoja peninsulas is very clear, pines grow almost to the shore, and Cape Kamenjak, about 10km south, has wild coves and cliff ledges to spread out on. There is no sand, so water shoes are needed, and the shallow bays at Medulin are the ones for small children.

In Naples the sea is part of the view more than part of the day. Locals swim off the rocks below the Lungomare and at small Posillipo lidos, but the water near the port is not always clean and the sandy stretches are paid beach clubs. The really good swimming means a boat to Procida, Ischia or Capri.

Naples is the stronger food city by a distance. Pizza was born here and is still made in loud, plain rooms across the historic centre, alongside fried pizza, cones of fried seafood, sfogliatelle and coffee drunk standing at the bar. The Pignasecca and Porta Nolana markets and the trattorias serving ragù and genovese make eating one of the main reasons to come, even if international food is scarce.

Pula has a good regional kitchen behind it, with truffle pasta, scampi buzara, pršut and Malvazija wine, but the city's own choice of restaurants is small and the tables around the Arena lean towards tourist menus. The best Istrian meals are mostly found by driving out to village taverns.

Both cities have outstanding Roman remains, but on very different scales. Pula has one superb monument in the Arena, plus the Temple of Augustus, the Arch of the Sergii and a Venetian fortress, all seen comfortably in a day or two.

Naples asks for a week. Its Greek-planned centre is crowded with Gothic and Baroque churches, the Archaeological Museum holds the treasures of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and beneath the streets run tunnels, cisterns and the catacombs of San Gennaro. The Royal Palace, Capodimonte and the Certosa di San Martino add still more.

Naples has the livelier nights, though few clubs. Students crowd Piazza Bellini and its lanes, and the bars on the slopes of Chiaia spill into the alleys until well past midnight all year, so evenings are spent in noisy, sociable crowds in the street.

Pula's evenings are quiet and mostly seasonal: a drink on the Forum, a beach bar on Verudela, and a few small clubs on summer weekends. Out of season, most nights end early.

Naples has the more dramatic setting. You can walk to the crater rim of Vesuvius, explore the old craters of the Phlegraean Fields at Astroni and Lake Avernus, and snorkel at Gaiola, with the Path of the Gods on the Amalfi Coast within a long day's reach. Green space inside the city itself is limited.

Pula's landscape is gentler: low stony coast, macchia and olive groves. Its best asset is car-free Kamenjak, good for walking, cycling and kayaking among the islets, and it suits divers interested in naval-era wrecks. The Učka range offers proper hiking, but about an hour and a half away.

Naples has one of the richest sets of day trips in Europe. Pompeii and Herculaneum are each under an hour away by train, Caserta's palace is nearby, and ferries run to Capri, Ischia and Procida, with Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi and Paestum also within reach. Most of it can be done without a car.

Pula is a good base for Istria: Rovinj, the Euphrasian Basilica at Poreč, the hill towns of Motovun and Grožnjan, and the Brijuni islands. The list is shorter and more modest, and limited buses mean a hire car does most of the work.

Pula is the easier city with children. Its sheltered bays around Medulin and Premantura are safe for small swimmers, the aquarium in an Austro-Hungarian fort fills half a day, and children can roam the Arena's stands and underground passages. Rocky shores and the need for a car still take some effort.

Naples welcomes children warmly in every pizzeria, but it is tiring with them, with scooters in narrow lanes, missing pavements and steps for pushchairs. Older children enjoy the tunnels, funiculars and Pompeii, and many families stay in Sorrento or on an island and come in for the day.

Neither city is easy beyond its centre, but the problems differ. Naples has a real metro line, with art-filled stations, and four funiculars up to Vomero and Posillipo, but buses are slow, the Circumvesuviana is crowded, and the walkable centre is shared with scooters. You never need a car.

Pula's centre is small and flat, and everything from the Arena to the market is minutes apart on foot. Away from it, buses are infrequent and the train is of little use, so the coves at Kamenjak and the Istrian hill towns are far easier with a car or scooter.

Naples is much the better place to shop. Its Chiaia workshops still make handmade suits, shirts and silk ties, Via Toledo and the Galleria Umberto I offer the main high street, and Via San Gregorio Armeno makes nativity figures all year. Coral and cameos from Torre del Greco add another craft to buy.

In Pula the best things to take home are things to eat and drink: olive oil, truffles, wine, rakija and pršut from the market hall or straight from producers. Fashion is limited to chain stores on the old-town street.

Naples goes further on a modest budget. Pizza, street food, coffee at the bar and transport are all cheap, and there are plenty of simple B&Bs in the centre. Costs climb only when you head to the islands or the Amalfi Coast.

Pula is reasonable in spring and autumn, with private apartments and simple konobas, but in July and August rooms cost about as much as on the Western European coasts. Because you need a car to see the surrounding area, car hire and boat trips add up quickly.

Naples has a far fuller programme. The Teatro di San Carlo, the oldest opera house in Europe still in use, stages opera, ballet and concerts through its season, the conservatory and the old churches add chamber music, and Neapolitan song is still sung in small theatres and trattorias.

Pula has one memorable stage: the Arena on a summer night, with concerts, galas and film festival screenings under the Roman arches. Outside that season it relies on Croatian-language drama at the Istrian National Theatre and the odd live band.

Naples has the better spa options, though not within the city itself. The volcanic ground feeds the old thermal springs at Agnano, and Ischia, about an hour away by hydrofoil, is a true spa island with terraced thermal gardens above the sea. Naples itself is too loud for rest.

Pula has no thermal tradition, only the spa areas of resort hotels in Verudela and Medulin. What it does offer is calm: outside high summer, slow coffees on the Forum and pine-shaded coastal walks come easily.