Salerno or Zadar?

Zadar is the better place to swim. The water along its riviera is clear enough that locals dive in from the promenade on the peninsula's western side, and Kolovare and Borik are within easy reach. Both are pebble or concrete platforms rather than sand. Salerno's city beaches are grey sand, but the water near the port is not as clean, so they are better for a quick dip than a long swim.

In both cities the best beaches are a short trip out of town. From Salerno that means the long lido-lined sands towards Paestum or the bright pebble coves of the Amalfi Coast. From Zadar it means Nin's shallow sandy bays or a ferry to the islands.

Salerno eats far better. It sits among some of Italy's best produce: buffalo mozzarella made that morning on the plain towards Paestum, colatura from Cetara and Amalfi lemons. The old town has friggitorie and trattorias serving fried seafood and pasta with clams, and pastry shops selling sfogliatelle.

Zadar's Dalmatian cooking is good on its own terms, with grilled fish, peka-cooked octopus or lamb, and Pag cheese with pršut. Most konobas serve much the same menu, though. Its own speciality is Maraschino liqueur, and the morning market by the walls is the best food experience in town.

Zadar packs more into a short walk. On its walled peninsula, the open Roman forum, the round ninth-century St Donatus and the Venetian gates are all within a few minutes of each other, and the Museum of Ancient Glass is worth a visit. The Sea Organ adds a modern sight that people remember.

Salerno's heritage is medieval and more scattered. The Norman cathedral, with Saint Matthew's crypt, is the highlight, followed by the Minerva garden with its links to Europe's first medical school and the Arechi Castle high above the gulf. The great ancient sites of the region are outside the city.

Neither city is a clubbing destination, and evenings out are similar in scale. The difference is the season. Salerno's old town lanes around Largo Campo and Via dei Mercanti fill with young locals on weekend nights all year, and Naples is close for a bigger night out.

Zadar's evenings belong to summer. They start at sunset by the Sea Organ and move on to café-bars on Kalelarga and terraces on the walls. Clubbers go to Zrće on Pag in high summer, and from October to May the town is quiet.

Both are strong outdoor bases, but they offer different landscapes. From Salerno you walk the Amalfi Coast's limestone cliffs on old mule tracks such as the Path of the Gods, with lemon terraces below you, or go south into the wooded Cilento hills.

Zadar has more of the sea and wilder ground. You can sail through the bare Kornati islands, climb rock in Paklenica's gorges, see the waterfalls at Krka, and on a longer day reach Plitvice. It gives Zadar a slight edge for active travellers.

This is where Salerno is strongest. The temples at Paestum and the ruins of Pompeii are each about half an hour away by train, ferries cross to Amalfi and Positano, and Naples, Herculaneum and Caserta are easy days out. You could fill a week without ever repeating a type of outing.

Zadar has good outings too. Šibenik's cathedral and Nin's tiny royal church are the best of them, but Split and Trogir make long days, and most trips work best with a car or an organised excursion.

Both work well with children, and in neither city is there a zoo or theme park. Zadar's old town is flat and car-free, which is easier with a pushchair than Salerno's stepped lanes. Children also love the Sea Organ and the tiles of the Greeting to the Sun, which light up after dark.

Salerno makes up for its steep old town with its long seafront promenade and playgrounds, and its winter Christmas lights give families a reason to come out of season. Shallow sandy water is a short trip away in both, south of Salerno and at Nin near Zadar.

Salerno is easier to travel out of. Its central strip is walkable end to end, and direct regional trains to Naples, Pompeii and Paestum make it easy to explore without a car. In summer, ferries are the sensible way along the Amalfi Coast.

Zadar's flat peninsula takes a quarter of an hour to cross, and island ferries leave from its edge. For the national parks and other towns, though, the regional buses are of little use, and a hire car or tour becomes almost necessary.

Salerno offers more. Corso Vittorio Emanuele is a long pedestrian street of Italian chains that fills up at passeggiata time. Vietri's hand-painted majolica is just outside town, and Naples is close for a bigger shopping day.

Zadar's shopping goes little beyond Kalelarga's jewellers and souvenir shops. Its best buys are food and craft: Maraschino, Pag cheese and Pag lace, ideally browsed at the market by the walls.

Salerno is the cheaper stay. As a working southern Italian city, its trattorias, coffee bars and trains charge local prices, and its rooms cost far less than on the Amalfi Coast it serves as a base for.

Zadar is closer to mid-range Western European prices, though cheaper than the towns further south in Dalmatia. Private apartments are good value outside July and August. In both cities, entry to the big sites, parks and boat trips adds up quickly.

Salerno has a real season. The gilded Teatro Verdi stages opera, concerts and ballet, and in summer the Ravello Festival's cliff-top concerts are an evening's trip away.

Zadar's highlight is the Musical Evenings in St Donatus, chamber and early music in a ninth-century church, along with klapa singing in summer squares. It is memorable, but outside July and August there is little on.

Neither city has a spa culture, and both rely on hotel spas and an unhurried pace. Salerno has genuine thermal water at Contursi Terme, an hour inland, but its main roads carry port traffic and noise.

Zadar is quieter in itself. Unwinding there means the mineral mud lagoon at Nin and watching the sun go down from the Sea Organ steps, best in the calmer months either side of high summer.