Pula or Zurich?

Pula has the real sea. It has no sand, but there is very clear Adriatic water off rocks, platforms and pebble coves on Verudela and Stoja. The wild inlets of Cape Kamenjak are the best swimming, and the season runs into late September. Water shoes are wise because of urchins and sharp rock.

Zurich swims too, but in a lake and a river. You go in from the lawns and wooden bathing houses at Utoquai or Mythenquai, or float down the Limmat at Letten. It makes a fine dip after sightseeing in a short summer, but it is not a beach vacation.

The two are about even, but the cooking could hardly be more different. Pula's strength is Istrian produce: truffle pasta, scampi buzara, pršut, Malvazija and Teran. The best meals are in hinterland taverns and harbour konobas rather than around the Arena.

Zurich is polished city dining. Expect veal with rösti in guild houses, fondue in winter and international places around Langstrasse, and the chocolate and Paradeplatz confectionery are the real highlight. It has fewer markets than Pula, and every meal costs considerably more.

Both cities fill a day or two well, but in different ways. In Pula the history is out in the open. You can walk from the Arena to the Temple of Augustus on the Forum and through the Arch of the Sergii, with Roman mosaics tucked into the backstreets and Habsburg naval forts around the coast.

Zurich's strengths are indoors and in its churches. The Kunsthaus, the National Museum and the Rietberg's world art lead the way, alongside the Grossmünster of the Reformation and the Chagall windows of the Fraumünster.

Zurich is far livelier after dark. Electronic music runs deep there, with clubs in Kreis 4, Kreis 5 and Zurich West open until morning at weekends, Langstrasse busy late and the Street Parade every August. Its one brake is the price of a round.

Pula's evenings are gentler and mostly seasonal. Think terrace drinks below the fortress, beach bars on Verudela and around Medulin, and a few small clubs on summer weekends. Out of season the city is quiet early.

Zurich has the bigger outdoors. The Uetliberg ridge is a short train ride away, and Rigi, Pilatus and the Glarus valleys are within about an hour for high-mountain hiking, with ski slopes such as Flumserberg in reach in winter.

Pula's landscape is low and coastal. It is best at the car-free Kamenjak headland, which suits walking, cycling, kayaking among the islets and diving on naval wrecks. The nearest real mountains, on Učka, are about an hour and a half's drive away.

Both are good bases, but Zurich makes touring effortless. Lucerne is under an hour by train, and Bern, Basel, St Gallen and the Rhine Falls are about as easy, all without a car.

Pula's range is just as attractive: Rovinj, the Byzantine mosaics of Poreč, the hill towns of Motovun and Grožnjan, and the Brijuni islands by boat. With thin bus links, though, most of these really need a hire car.

Zurich is the easier city with children. Highlights include the zoo's Madagascar rainforest hall, shallow lake lidos with lawns, the Technorama a short train ride away and trams that take buggies without fuss.

Pula works well for a seaside family trip. The shallow bays around Medulin and Premantura, the aquarium in an old fort and the Arena's underground passages all appeal. However, rocky shores, summer heat and a reliance on the car make it more effort.

Zurich is about as easy as cities get. Trams, S-Bahn trains, funiculars and lake boats share one ticket, and the airport is a short train ride from the centre. A car is more trouble than it is worth.

In Pula, the flat centre around the Arena and the Forum is easy on foot, and city buses reach Verudela. Beyond that, buses are sparse and the train is of little use, so Kamenjak and the hill towns call for a car or scooter.

Zurich is the shopping city here, with Bahnhofstrasse's watchmakers, jewellers and department stores, Altstadt antiques and the design shops in the old viaduct arches.

In Pula, what is worth carrying home is mostly edible: olive oil, truffle products, Malvazija, honey and pršut from the market hall or straight from the producers.

Pula is by far the cheaper choice. Apartments and simple konobas keep costs moderate, especially in spring and autumn, although rooms in July and August and meals near the Arena cost more.

In Zurich, high prices shape the whole trip, from a simple hotel room to a lunch or a drink. Supermarket picnics, the free lidos and a combined transport and museum card help only a little.

Zurich has a year-round stage: the Opernhaus for opera and ballet, the Tonhalle Orchestra, the Schauspielhaus, and indie and jazz at the Rote Fabrik.

Pula's moment is summer in the Arena, when concerts and film festival screenings take place under Roman arches. For the rest of the year there is little beyond Croatian-language theatre.

Zurich has more real bathing. There are thermal pools in the vaults of an old brewery, winter saunas in the wooden lake and river bathing houses with cold plunges between sessions, and Roman hot springs at Baden.

In Pula, relaxing means resort hotel spas on Verudela and in Medulin, long coffees on the Forum and pine-shaded coastal walks outside high summer.