Rovinj or Split?

Both have clear Adriatic water and swimming within a short walk of the old town, so the difference lies in the shore itself. Rovinj swims off limestone ledges and concrete platforms under the pines of the Golden Cape, with taxi boats to St Catherine and Red Island for quieter coves. There is almost no sand, and water shoes are a must.

Split has the one thing Rovinj lacks: Bačvice, a shallow sandy bay where locals play picigin in knee-deep water. Its quieter, pine-shaded coves lie around Marjan, and Brač and Hvar have longer beaches a ferry ride away, though the city beaches are packed in high summer.

Both are fish-and-wine towns with too many tourist menus in the old centre, but Split has more good food in everyday reach. Its fish market and the Pazar, the bell-baked peka, pašticada with gnocchi and the family konobas of Varoš give you more to explore, and burek and bakeries keep breakfast simple.

Rovinj's strength is its region: Istrian pasta with truffle, peppery olive oil, Malvazija and Teran, and countryside konobas worth the drive. In town itself there is little cheap everyday eating, so the best meals mean taking the car or paying more.

Split's Diocletian's Palace is a sight of a different order: a Roman emperor's residence that is still lived in, with a cathedral inside his mausoleum, vaulted halls beneath and the Meštrović Gallery up on Marjan. It fills two good days.

In Rovinj the old town is the sight: pastel Venetian houses climbing to St Euphemia, whose bell tower you can climb, plus the small Batana House on the town's fishing boats. It is a lovely place to wander, but one slow afternoon covers it.

Split has a real night out in summer: bars in the stone alleys and stairways of the palace that stay full late, and beach bars and clubs at Bačvice that run into the small hours. Rovinj's evening is a long dinner, then a drink on the rocks at sunset or in one of a few waterfront wine and cocktail bars, and the old town is mostly quiet by midnight. Both fade out of season, Rovinj more completely.

Each has a pine-forest park on its doorstep, the Golden Cape in Rovinj and Marjan in Split, but beyond that Split's setting is far wilder. Ridge hikes on Mosor and Kozjak, the Biokovo range rising to over 1,700m, rafting and canyoning in the Cetina gorge and the waterfalls of Krka are all within about an hour.

Rovinj's outdoors is gentler: flat gravel paths for cycling, kayaking and diving around the low islands of its archipelago, the green Lim Fjord and quiet vineyard roads inland. It suits easy days on a bike or in the water rather than mountain walking.

Both are strong bases, but Split's trips are easier and you can do them without a car. Trogir, the ruins of Salona and Klis Fortress are close by, Šibenik's cathedral is about an hour away, and ferries from the harbour reach Hvar, Brač and Vis.

Rovinj's surroundings are just as rewarding: Pula's amphitheatre, the mosaics of the Euphrasian Basilica in Porec, the hill towns of Motovun and Groznjan, and even Piran and Trieste across the border. Almost all of it, though, means hiring a car.

Rovinj's shore is rock and concrete, so small children swim in water shoes under close watch, whereas Split has a shallow sandy bay right in the city where toddlers can paddle. Rovinj makes up for it with its large campsites and resorts, which have pools and playgrounds, and with the flat, shaded paths of the Golden Cape, good for pushchairs and bikes. The old town itself is a steep climb on polished cobbles, and the coast's waterparks are a drive north.

Split's extras suit older children better: the Roman walls, the underground halls of the palace and a ferry ride to an island, which is often the best day of the trip. July and August bring hard heat and packed beaches, and the palace streets are full of steps. That is why many families rent an apartment outside the centre and come in for the old town.

Rovinj has intercity buses to Pula, Porec and Zagreb but no railway, so once you leave town a car is close to essential, and parking near the old town is tight in summer. Split has its ferry port, intercity bus station and railway station side by side on the harbour, and local buses run out to Solin and Trogir, so you can travel a long way without driving.

Inside town the two are much alike. Rovinj's car-free old town and its waterfront promenade into the Golden Cape put everything within walking distance, with bikes for the coast paths and taxi boats to the islands. In Split the palace, the Riva, Varoš, the markets and Bačvice are all within about fifteen minutes' walk of one another. Split's weak point is the coast road, which is slow with traffic in summer.

Neither is a place to shop, and in both the best buys are olive oil, wine and local brandy. Rovinj has more character in the galleries and artists' studios along Grisia, and it sells Istrian truffle products. Split adds the mainstream chains on Marmontova and the Pazar by the palace gate for honey and dried figs.

Neither is cheap in July and August, but Split is the easier one on the budget. Bakeries, the green market, local buses and inexpensive palace sights keep daily costs down, and outside high summer Split is a modestly priced city.

Rovinj is one of the dearer resorts on the Croatian coast, and its harbour restaurants charge for the view. Private apartments, the campsites and a visit in late spring or September are the ways to spend less there.

Split has a proper stage: the 19th-century Croatian National Theatre with opera and ballet in season, and the Split Summer Festival performing in the Peristyle. Klapa, the local harmony singing, often fills the domed vestibule of the palace. Rovinj offers only summer concerts in St Euphemia and on its squares, plus the occasional bitinada singing linked to the batana boats, and for anything larger people go to Pula's arena.

Neither town has a bathing tradition, so in both a spa day means a hotel, and both are calmest in May, June and September. The difference lies in where you find it. In Rovinj the wellness areas belong to the larger resort hotels on the Golden Cape and along the shore, so a sauna or treatment comes with a walk back under the pines. In a town this small, a quiet stretch of shore is never far from the harbour.

Split offers two kinds of spa: hotel spas in the resorts east of the centre, and massage studios in the city itself. Its calm is more a local habit than a place. Dalmatians call it fjaka, the slow idleness of hour-long coffees on the Riva and empty streets in the afternoon heat. In high summer, though, real rest means the pine woods of Marjan or a ferry to an island, not the old town.