Salerno or Tirana?

Salerno lives by the sea. Its grey-sand city beaches are fine for a quick dip, and the better swimming is close at hand: kilometres of wide sand and pine woods towards Paestum, or the bright pebbly coves of Cetara and the Amalfi Coast by ferry.

Tirana is inland, so a swim means the trip to Durrës, under an hour away. There you get a long, shallow sandy beach lined with hotels and packed on summer weekends. Albania's famous clear coves around Ksamil are a separate journey of many hours.

Salerno has the edge because its best ingredients come from right next door. Mozzarella from the buffalo farms near Paestum is eaten the day it is made, colatura comes from Cetara, and the city's tables are full of fried seafood, clams and sfogliatelle.

Tirana's cooking is earthier and rooted in the farm: tavë kosi, fërgesë, morning byrek and grilled meat. Its best meals are often at farm restaurants in the hills outside the city. It is satisfying and honest, but there is less variety, and long terrace coffees and raki matter as much as the food.

Each city's own sights fill a day or two, but they come from very different centuries. Salerno is medieval. Its Norman cathedral holds Saint Matthew's relics in the crypt, the Giardino della Minerva recalls Europe's first medical school, and the Lombard castle looks down on stepped lanes that keep their old fabric.

Tirana's story is the twentieth century. Bunk'Art and the House of Leaves bring the communist years vividly to life, and Skanderbeg Square, the Et'hem Bey Mosque and the Pyramid frame the centre. Salerno's old town has more historic texture to wander, which gives it a slight lead.

Tirana is the livelier place after dark. Blloku, once sealed off for the communist elite, is a grid of cocktail bars, lounge terraces and small clubs where dinner starts late and the streets stay full past midnight. Bigger clubs by the Grand Park lake carry on later still, and dressing up is part of the evening.

Salerno's evenings are gentler. Young locals gather outside wine bars in the lanes around Largo Campo and Via dei Mercanti, and the seafront fills with people strolling with gelato. For real clubbing you go to Naples or to the summer venues along the coast.

Salerno has one of Europe's great coastlines on its doorstep. Limestone cliffs, lemon terraces and mule tracks such as the Path of the Gods and the Valle delle Ferriere lie just to the west, and the wild Cilento park lies to the south. Boat trips and kayaking add a sea-level view.

Tirana's strength is how close its mountain is. The Dajti cable car rises from the city's edge into beech and pine forest, and Bovilla's turquoise reservoir and the Gamti trails are within an hour. The Albanian Alps, though, need several days.

This is where the two differ most. From Salerno, Paestum's Greek temples and Pompeii are each about half an hour by train, ferries reach Amalfi and Positano, and Naples, Herculaneum, Ravello and Caserta are all easy outings without a car.

Tirana has fine destinations around it, from Skanderbeg's castle at Kruja to Ottoman Berat and the ruins of Apollonia. Most of them are around two hours away by road, though, and you need a minibus, a tour or a hire car. Each one takes a full day, and you will fit fewer into a week.

Salerno is easier with children. The flat, car-free seafront has playgrounds and gardens, the sandy beaches to the south are shallow, and in winter the Luci d'Artista light displays are a treat. The steep old town and winding Amalfi roads are the drawbacks.

In Tirana, families tend to stick to the Grand Park, the Dajti cable car and the open space of Skanderbeg Square. Beyond those there is a small zoo and a beach an hour away. Heavy traffic and broken pavements make pushing a buggy hard work.

Both centres are walkable. Salerno has the better links beyond that: a strip from the station to the old town that you can cover on foot, regional trains straight to Pompeii and Paestum, and summer ferries along the coast that avoid the crowded roads.

Tirana's flat centre puts Blloku, the square and the market within twenty minutes' walk. But there is no metro or tram, buses are hard to work out, and taxis are the usual way to Bunk'Art or the cable car. Assertive drivers make crossing wide roads a matter of care.

Salerno offers a bit more, mainly because of what is made nearby. It has a long pedestrian high street, painted majolica from Vietri, limoncello from the coast and colatura from Cetara. Naples is close for anything bigger.

In Tirana, the market stalls around Pazari i Ri are the main attraction, selling cheese, honey, raki and herbs. Felt hats and filigree silver can be found there and in Kruja's bazaar. The rest is malls and chain stores.

Tirana is the cheaper stay by a clear margin. Everyday meals, coffee, local wine, taxis and museum tickets cost very little, and central mid-range hotels are good value. Even the smarter Blloku cocktail bars are modest by European standards.

Salerno is good value for its area, since rooms cost far less than in the cliff villages along the coast. In high summer, though, ferry fares, lido sunbeds and entry to the big archaeological sites mount up.

Each city has a single main stage for opera, but Salerno offers more around it. The gilded Teatro Verdi runs a season of opera, ballet and concerts that draws audiences from across the region. In summer, the Ravello Festival's concerts on terraces above the sea make a memorable evening, and Naples is close by.

Tirana's National Theatre of Opera and Ballet on Skanderbeg Square makes for an easy night out. Plays are in Albanian, though, and the country's UNESCO-listed iso-polyphonic singing is rarely performed in the capital.

Neither city is a spa destination. Both have sulphur springs about an hour away, Contursi Terme for Salerno and the plainer Llixha for Tirana. In both cities, treatments mean a hotel spa.

What makes Salerno a little more restful is the sea itself, with a palm-lined promenade for slow walks at sunset. Tirana's calm comes from long coffees on terraces and the evening stroll, but traffic noise fills the centre, and you need the Grand Park or Dajti's forest to escape it.