Portofino or Zadar?

Neither town has a classic sandy beach of its own. In Portofino you swim off rock platforms and ladders on the way to the lighthouse, in very clear, deep water. Paraggi's small bay is mostly taken up by paid loungers, and San Fruttuoso's pebbles are a boat ride or a hike away.

Zadar offers more room to swim. Locals go in straight off the promenade, and Kolovare and the pine-shaded shore at Borik are close at hand. There is real sand at Nin and at Sakarun on Dugi Otok, and quieter coves on Ugljan and Pašman are a short ferry ride away.

Portofino has good Ligurian dishes, from trofie with pesto to pansoti and the cheese focaccia of Recco. Around the harbour, though, you are mostly paying for the yachts in view. People who care about food go to Camogli or the trattorie in the hills.

Zadar is the more satisfying place to eat, though it is not a food destination either. Grilled fish, black risotto and dishes slow-cooked under the peka come at fair prices in its konobas. The market by the walls is worth a morning, and Maraschino, the town's historic cherry liqueur, gives meals a local finish.

In Portofino the main sight is the village itself. Add the church of San Giorgio, Castello Brown and the abbey of San Fruttuoso in its roadless cove, and you have seen it all in about a day, enjoyed more for the scenery than for history.

Zadar has much more to see. The peninsula holds the open Roman forum, the round church of St Donatus, the Cathedral of St Anastasia and UNESCO-listed Venetian walls. It also has good small museums of ancient glass and archaeology, and the Sea Organ adds a modern touch. It fills two full days.

A night out in Portofino means aperitivo and dinner by the harbour, dressed up among the yachts, and then it is over. For anything later you have to go to Santa Margherita, Rapallo or Genoa.

Zadar keeps going for longer. Sunset on the Riva leads on to café-bars along Kalelarga and terrace bars on the walls. In high summer the clubs at Zrće on Pag are about an hour away. It is still a relaxed scene, and it goes quiet from October onwards.

Both are excellent bases for the outdoors, but on very different scales. Portofino's outdoors is a single protected headland. Trails run through holm oak and pine to Monte di Portofino and down to San Fruttuoso, some of them exposed and chained. The marine reserve offshore, with its red coral and the bronze Christ of the Abyss, draws divers.

Zadar's nature is bigger and further out, and you need a car or a boat to reach it. There are Paklenica's limestone gorges and climbing routes, the bare Kornati islands, the cliffs of Telašćica, and the waterfalls of Krka and Plitvice. In both places spring and autumn are the best times to hike.

Portofino has the slight edge, mainly because getting out is easy and a pleasure in itself. Boats and buses reach Santa Margherita, Rapallo and Camogli quickly, and Genoa's medieval centre and palaces are under an hour away. In summer, ferries go to the Cinque Terre and Portovenere.

Zadar's day trips are good but take longer. Šibenik's cathedral and the tiny Church of the Holy Cross at Nin are close, but Split and Trogir make for long days. Most trips are much easier with a car or an organised excursion.

Portofino is safe, and children enjoy the boats and the walk up to the castle. But the steep steps defeat pushchairs and what little sand there is lies in paid clubs. Families usually stay further along the coast and go to Genoa for its aquarium.

Zadar is simply easier with children. The broad promenade suits pushchairs and scooters, and the Greeting to the Sun lights up after dark. Nin's shallow sandy beaches are ideal for small swimmers.

You can walk around either centre in minutes, but Portofino's paths up to the church, castle and lighthouse are steep. Getting in and out is the real difficulty. Portofino depends on one narrow coast road from Santa Margherita, about 5km away, with very little parking and crowded summer buses. The ferries in the warmer months are a far nicer way in.

Zadar's peninsula is flat and fully pedestrian, and the island ferries leave from the edge of the old town. For the national parks and the wider coast, though, you will need a hire car or an organised excursion.

Neither is a place to shop, and you can see the shops in either within an hour or so. What differs is what you find. Portofino's few lanes are lined with big fashion and jewellery houses and resort wear for people coming off the yachts, plus a little Ligurian lace and pesto.

Zadar is more local and everyday. There are jewellers and chains on the marble Kalelarga, an open-air market by the walls, and Maraschino, Pag cheese and Pag lace to take home.

On cost the two are far apart. In Portofino you pay for the setting itself. There are only a handful of hotels, nearly all of them luxury, and the harbour view is added to the bill at every table. The paths over the headland are the main free pleasure, and the usual way to make a visit affordable is to stay in a neighbouring town and come in for the day.

Zadar is a mid-range destination by comparison, and cheaper than the better-known Dalmatian towns further south. The costs that catch people out are the extras, such as national park tickets and boat trips to the islands, and rooms on the peninsula in July and August. A week there in June or September costs far less than a few nights in Portofino.

Portofino offers little beyond the odd summer concert in the piazzetta or at the castle. For a real evening of music you go to Genoa's Teatro Carlo Felice.

Zadar has something worth planning a visit around. The Musical Evenings in St Donatus bring early and chamber music into the ninth-century church. In July and August there are also concerts in squares and other churches, and you may hear klapa singing. Outside summer the programme thins out.

Portofino's hillside hotels are luxury properties with their own spas, pools and massage rooms, and that gives it the edge if you want to be pampered. The calm comes early and late in the day and outside high summer, on shaded paths above the water. In the middle of a summer day the tour boats fill the harbour.

Zadar has fewer spas, mostly in the resort hotels at Borik, and like Portofino it has no bathing tradition. Its ways of unwinding are simpler and more local: coating yourself in mud from the mineral-rich lagoon at Nin, long café mornings and an afternoon siesta, best enjoyed in the quieter weeks either side of high summer.