Plovdiv or Tirana?

Neither city is on the coast, but the distance is very different. From Tirana, the long sandy beach at Durrës and Golem is under an hour away, warm and shallow enough for children in high summer, though crowded at weekends and not always clear near the port.

Plovdiv is around 250km from the Black Sea, so the coast is a separate trip rather than a day out. In the heat, swimming there means outdoor pools, the rowing canal or reservoirs up in the Rhodopes.

Both kitchens are hearty Balkan home cooking, but Tirana has a slight edge thanks to its farm restaurants on the surrounding hills, where tavë kosi, fërgesë and village cheeses come straight from the land. Its slow terrace coffee and end-of-meal raki also shape the day more.

Plovdiv answers with kavarma in wooden-beamed Old Town mehanas, banitsa for breakfast and Kapana's small bistros. Its real strength is wine, with Mavrud and Rubin reds from the Thracian Valley on every list. Neither city goes far beyond regional food or offers much fine dining.

Here Plovdiv is far ahead. Its layers run from the Roman theatre and the stadium under the main street to the basilica mosaics, the Dzhumaya Mosque and the painted National Revival houses of the three-hilled Old Town, and it can fill two or three days on foot.

Tirana's sights belong to the last century. Bunk'Art, the House of Leaves and Skanderbeg Square, with the Et'hem Bey Mosque and the History Museum, make a gripping introduction to the communist era, but the historic fabric is thin and the city is done in two days.

Tirana is the place for a big night. Blloku, once sealed off for the communist leadership, fills with cocktail bars and lounge terraces after a late dinner, and larger clubs near the Grand Park lake keep going into the early hours. It is a dressed-up, see-and-be-seen crowd.

Plovdiv's evenings are smaller and gentler. Kapana's craft beer and wine bars spill onto the pavements, students liven things up in term time, and most people end the night over a glass of Mavrud rather than on a dance floor.

The two are close, with Plovdiv slightly ahead on range. The forested Rhodope gorges start about 20km away, the higher Central Balkan range is an hour north and Pamporovo offers skiing in winter, though a car is close to essential. In town, the rocky tepeta hills give short climbs.

Tirana's advantage is convenience. The Dajti cable car rises straight from the city edge into beech and pine forest with views to the sea, and the Grand Park lake is close to the centre. The Bovilla reservoir and Gamti are an easy outing, while the Albanian Alps need several days.

Both make good bases, and Plovdiv's choice is a little richer and closer. Bachkovo Monastery is half an hour away, Hisarya's Roman walls and the Starosel temple under an hour, and Kazanlak's Thracian tomb and Koprivshtitsa's painted houses about an hour and a half.

From Tirana, day trips fill in the history the capital lacks. Kruja's Skanderbeg castle and bazaar are close, Berat's white Ottoman town is the highlight two hours south, and Shkodra and Apollonia are similar distances. Slower roads make most of these full days.

Families will find these two on a par, with friendly locals and little built just for children. Plovdiv is easier with a pushchair along its long car-free main street, and the singing fountains in Tsar Simeon Garden and the rowing canal playgrounds make good outings, though the Old Town cobbles are steep.

Tirana's extras are a ride up the Dajti cable car and a sandy beach at Durrës. Children are welcome in restaurants late into the evening, but heavy traffic and broken pavements make getting around with a buggy hard work.

Plovdiv is the easier city to cover on foot. One long car-free street links the station side to the Old Town, with the ruins, Kapana and most museums just off it, and only the polished cobbles on the hills slow you down.

Tirana's centre is flat and compact too, but the wide roads are full of traffic and assertive drivers, and the buses are poorly signed. You will want taxis for Bunk'Art and the Dajti cable car, and minibuses or a car for day trips.

Neither is a shopping destination, and both offer high-street chains and edge-of-town malls with no luxury to speak of. What differs is the souvenir. Plovdiv's are rose oil cosmetics, pottery and pieces from the small design studios in Kapana, while Tirana's Pazari i Ri market sells cheese, honey and raki alongside the felt hats and filigree silver also found in Kruja's bazaar.

Both are among the cheapest places to visit in Europe, so money goes a long way in either. In Plovdiv, the ruins along the main street and evenings in Kapana cost almost nothing. In Tirana, the smart Blloku restaurants and cocktail bars are where the bill rises noticeably above the bargain everyday cafés and bakeries.

Plovdiv has the memorable night out: opera and concerts in the Roman theatre on summer evenings, plus its own opera company, philharmonic orchestra and an established jazz festival.

Tirana's National Theatre of Opera and Ballet on Skanderbeg Square is easy to get tickets for through the season, but beyond it the scene is thin, and Albania's iso-polyphonic singing is more often heard in the south than in the capital.

For proper bathing, Plovdiv is the better base. The mineral pools of Hisarya are about 45 minutes away, Velingrad in the western Rhodopes is a bigger spa resort, and the local habit of aylyak, taking life slowly under the plane trees, sets an easy pace.

Tirana's nearest springs at Llixha are simple and old-fashioned, and traffic noise fills much of the centre. Its calm comes from the evening xhiro along the boulevards and the shade of the Grand Park and Dajti.