Piran or Zagreb?

Piran has the Adriatic right at its walls, but here you swim rather than sunbathe. You climb down ladders from concrete platforms around the Punta or use the small pebble cove at Fiesa. For sand you go to Portoroz or the quieter shore at Strunjan.

Zagreb is two hours from the sea. Lake Jarun and Bundek are pleasant for a swim on a hot afternoon, but a real beach day means leaving the city for the day.

Zagreb offers more variety and more of its own character. There are štrukli, turkey with mlinci and Zagorje sausages, the farmers' stalls at Dolac each morning, and a coffee culture that is a pastime in itself. Its serious kitchens are few, but the range is wider than on the coast.

Piran keeps things simple, with grilled fish, squid and scampi buzara by the harbour, local olive oil, Malvazija and salt from the pans. The seafood is good, but the harbour menus repeat one another, and for variety you have to drive inland.

Piran is a single sight: a compact Venetian Gothic peninsula around Tartini Square, the campanile of St George and the old walls on the ridge. Its maritime museum and monastery cloister are modest, and a day covers the lot.

Zagreb needs two days. There is the Upper Town with St Mark's tiled roof and the Stone Gate, and the Austro-Hungarian Lower Town around the Green Horseshoe. Add the Mimara and Strossmayer collections, the Museum of Naive Art and the ivy-covered arcades of Mirogoj.

Piran goes quiet soon after sunset drinks on the Punta. The beach bars, casino and few summer clubs of Portoroz are the only step up.

Zagreb has a proper night out, though a relaxed one. The terraces of Tkalčićeva fill on warm evenings, smaller cocktail and craft beer bars sit around Flower Square, the lakeside clubs at Jarun open in summer, and student venues run all year.

Zagreb has a forested mountain on its doorstep. The beech woods, marked trails and huts of Medvednica are a tram and bus ride away, Maksimir's lakes and oak woods are in town, and Plitvice's waterfalls make a long day trip south.

Piran's outdoors is coastal and gentler. There are the flysch cliffs and clifftop path at Strunjan, wading birds among the Secovlje salt pans, kayaking under the cliffs and the Parenzana cycle route through the vineyards. For woodland walking without a car, Zagreb gives you more.

Piran's position where three countries meet is its great strength. Trieste is under an hour away, Rovinj, Porec and Motovun lie across the border in Istria, and Predjama Castle and Ljubljana are on the Slovenian side. In summer, boats cross the gulf to Venice.

Zagreb's choice is good but lower-key: Trakošćan and the Zagorje hills, baroque Varaždin, Samobor and Karlovac's star-shaped fortress. Nothing on that list matches Venice or Trieste, though Zagreb does have a train to Ljubljana while Piran depends on a car.

Both are safe and easy with children for a few relaxed days, and neither is built around them. What differs is the setting. Piran has the sea, with a car-free old town, calm warm water and a small aquarium, though swimming is from ladders and the sand is at Portoroz.

Zagreb has city outings instead: the zoo in Maksimir, the old trams and planes at the Tesla technical museum, the funicular ride and lake swimming at Jarun in summer.

Inside Piran you need no transport at all, since the car-free old town takes a quarter of an hour to cross on foot. Beyond it there is no railway, and the buses are slow, so exploring the region usually means hiring a car.

Zagreb has a real network. Blue trams run across the city, the funicular lifts you to the Upper Town and buses go out to Medvednica and the airport, so you can see far more without driving.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Zagreb at least has Ilica's chains and local fashion, a few design shops, licitar hearts, Croatian neckties and a Sunday flea market at Britanski trg. Piran comes down to a few galleries and the salt, olive oil and wine of the coast, though these are well worth taking home.

Zagreb is the cheaper stay. Central apartments are reasonably priced, trams and museums cost little, and bakery snacks and market food keep everyday spending low.

Piran is mid-priced, and July and August cost more because old-town rooms are scarce and the waterfront restaurants charge for the view. Staying in Portoroz or coming out of season helps, and the town's main pleasures, swimming and walking, are free.

Zagreb has a season that runs through the year. Opera and ballet play at the ochre Croatian National Theatre, the Zagreb Philharmonic is at Lisinski, the Zagreb Soloists perform in churches and halls, and there are jazz clubs and summer courtyard concerts. Much of the spoken theatre is in Croatian.

Piran's music is a summer affair of Tartini concerts in churches, the monastery cloister and on the square. Out of season there is little to go to.

Piran is the better place to unwind. Portoroz has seawater pools and brine baths, you can lie in salt mud at the outdoor spa among the Secovlje pans, and the car-free lanes at dusk set the pace.

Zagreb's spas in town are mostly hotel wellness floors, and its thermal pools are about an hour away in Zagorje, at Tuheljske or Stubičke Toplice. Its calm comes from long café mornings and shaded parks rather than treatments.