Rovinj or Salerno?

Rovinj has the better swimming on the doorstep. Very clear water runs past kilometres of limestone ledges, pebble coves and bathing platforms through the Golden Cape park, and people step in straight off the stones below the old town walls. Taxi boats reach quieter coves on St Catherine and Red Island. The price is that there is no sand, and water shoes are a must.

Salerno's town beaches are grey sand, fine for a quick dip but in murkier water near the port. Its best beaches take an outing: the long sandy lidos towards Paestum, or the bright pebbly coves of the Amalfi Coast. If you want sand, choose Salerno. If you want clear sea a few steps from your room, Rovinj is better.

Salerno eats better, especially day to day. Buffalo mozzarella comes in fresh from the plain towards Paestum, colatura comes from Cetara next door, and the old town lanes are full of friggitorie, wood-fired pizza and sfogliatelle at prices locals pay.

Rovinj's Istrian cooking is good: truffle pasta, scampi buzara, peppery olive oil and Malvazija. The harbour menus, though, are written for visitors and there is little cheap everyday food. Its best meals are often a drive away in the hinterland konobas.

Neither town is a heavyweight, but Salerno has more substance. Its Norman cathedral holds the relics of Saint Matthew in an ornate crypt, the Giardino della Minerva recalls Europe's first medical school, and the Arechi Castle overlooks the gulf. Seeing it all fills a day or two.

In Rovinj the sight is the townscape itself. Pastel Venetian houses climb to St Euphemia, whose bell tower you can climb, and the Batana House tells the story of the local fishing boats. An afternoon covers it.

Salerno has more going on after dark. On weekends and all summer, young locals fill the squares around Largo Campo and Via dei Mercanti until late, and the seafront carries the evening passeggiata. Clubbing still means the coast or Naples.

A night in Rovinj is a long dinner and a drink on the rocks at sunset, with a few waterfront bars and the odd late venue in high season. The old town is mostly quiet by midnight, and outside summer it goes very still.

Salerno has the grander landscape. The Amalfi Coast's cliffs and lemon terraces begin just west of the city, and old mule tracks such as the Path of the Gods and the Valle delle Ferriere make serious walking. To the south, the Cilento adds river gorges and wild headlands.

Rovinj's outdoors is gentler and closer to hand: flat gravel paths through the Golden Cape, kayaking and diving around the low islands, boats up the green Lim Fjord and quiet vineyard roads inland. It suits cyclists and easy walkers, not mountain hikers.

Salerno is one of the best bases in southern Italy for day trips. Paestum's Greek temples and Pompeii are each about half an hour away by train, and ferries reach Amalfi and Positano. Naples, Herculaneum, Caserta and Vietri's ceramic workshops are all easy days out without a car.

Rovinj has a good list too: Pula's Roman amphitheatre, Porec's mosaic basilica, the hill towns of Motovun and Groznjan, and even Piran and Trieste across the border. But almost all of it needs a car, and there are fewer famous names.

The two are about level for children, but the vacations look different. Rovinj suits a resort-style stay, with campsites and hotels that have pools and playgrounds and shaded, pushchair-friendly paths in the Golden Cape. On the other hand, the shore is rock and the old town is steep, slippery cobbles.

Salerno's strengths are its flat, car-free promenade with playgrounds, and the shallow sandy beaches south of town that suit small swimmers. Its weak points are an old town of steps, winding coast roads that test carsick children, and no zoo or aquarium.

Salerno is easier once you leave town. The station, seafront, shopping street and old town make one walkable strip, regional trains run direct to Naples, Pompeii and Paestum, and summer ferries handle the Amalfi Coast, so most visitors never need a car.

Rovinj is even simpler within the town, where the car-free old town and shore path put everything within walking distance. But there is no railway, and the hill towns, wineries and much of the coast are realistically reached only by driving.

Salerno offers more to browse. Corso Vittorio Emanuele is a long pedestrian street of Italian clothing stores that is at its busiest during the evening stroll, and hand-painted majolica from nearby Vietri makes a distinctive thing to take home.

Rovinj has no fashion streets at all. Its charm is the lane of Grisia, lined with small galleries and artists' studios, plus regional produce such as truffles, olive oil and lavender. Choice thins out once summer ends.

Salerno is the cheaper stay. Its hotels cost far less than the cliff villages along the coast, and trains, buses and everyday meals are priced for residents. The extras that add up are ferries, sunbeds at the lidos and entry to the big archaeological sites.

Rovinj ranks among the dearer stops on the Croatian coast, especially in July and August, when old town rooms and harbourside fish sold by weight push costs up. Private apartments, campsites and travelling in late spring or September keep it manageable.

Salerno has a real performing arts life in the gilded Teatro Verdi, which stages opera, concerts and ballet through its season. In summer, the Ravello Festival's cliff-top concerts are close enough for a special evening.

Rovinj offers little beyond the summer: some classical concerts in St Euphemia, music on the squares and the occasional performance of bitinada, the local unaccompanied singing. Bigger summer concerts mean a drive to Pula's arena.

Rovinj is the more restful choice. The resort hotels along the Golden Cape have well-equipped spas that outside guests can use, and in May, June and September the town settles into a gentle routine of pines, long lunches and late swims. High summer crowds are the drawback.

Salerno has hotel spas and the sulphur pools of Contursi Terme an hour inland. Its calm comes from sunset walks on the palm-lined promenade, but traffic and port noise mean it is never really a retreat.