Sarajevo or Tbilisi?

Neither city works for a beach trip, and from both the sea means a separate journey: the Adriatic is about three hours from Sarajevo and the Black Sea about five from Tbilisi. In summer, Sarajevo locals cool off in cold mountain rivers and at Jablanica lake. Tbilisi has the Tbilisi Sea reservoir and the small hill lakes, which are welcome in its fiercer July heat. Sarajevo is easier to pair with a few days on the coast.

Both cities feed you well, but Tbilisi has the wider table. Sarajevo's cooking is careful Ottoman-Balkan comfort food: ćevapi from the Baščaršija grills, burek sold by weight, lamb slow-cooked under a lid, and the long ritual of Bosnian coffee with rahat lokum. It is satisfying, but the range is narrow.

Georgian cuisine has more depth. There are dumplings, cheese breads, walnut and pomegranate sauces, piles of fresh herbs and the toastmaster-led supra, and alongside the food comes a wine tradition thousands of years old, poured in the bars of Sololaki. If eating and drinking are the point of the trip, Tbilisi gives you more.

The two are evenly matched, but they differ in character. Sarajevo's strength is how close its faiths and empires sit: the mosques and covered markets of Baščaršija give way within minutes to Habsburg avenues, cathedrals and the Old Synagogue. The twentieth century is very present here, from the Latin Bridge of 1914 to the Tunnel of Hope.

Tbilisi is more about old architecture and the Orthodox church. It has sixth-century Anchiskhati, carved wooden balconies under Narikala, faded Art Nouveau entrance halls in Sololaki and the Colchian gold of the National Museum. Sarajevo moves you more, and Tbilisi gives you more to look at as you walk.

Tbilisi is the far stronger place to go out. It has a techno scene known across Europe, with big clubs in industrial and Soviet-era buildings running past dawn, plus wine bars in Sololaki and courtyard bars near Marjanishvili.

Sarajevo's evenings are gentler and centre on café-bars around Ferhadija, a few student cellar bars and small clubs, and rakija late into the night. They are sociable and cheap, but if you want to dance, Tbilisi is the city to choose.

Sarajevo has the mountains on its doorstep. The cable car rises from the Old Town to Trebević and the old Olympic bobsleigh track, Jahorina and Bjelašnica are under an hour away for skiing or summer ridge walks, and Lukomir, Vrelo Bosne and Neretva rafting are all within reach.

Tbilisi's own hills, Mtatsminda and the forested national park, are pleasant but tamer. The big landscapes of the Greater Caucasus are about two hours up the Military Road, and Kazbegi really needs a night away.

From Sarajevo, the standout is Mostar, about two hours south by a scenic train through the Neretva gorge, with Konjic and its old stone bridge as a stop on the way. Blagaj's dervish house and the fortress village of Počitelj lie just beyond Mostar and can be added to the same day. Elsewhere, slow, winding roads make Travnik and Višegrad more of an effort.

Tbilisi has the richer and easier choice. UNESCO-listed Mtskheta is only half an hour away, and Kakheti's family wineries, walled Sighnaghi and the Alaverdi and Gremi monasteries fill a full day. The rock-cut town of Uplistsikhe and the cave monastery of David Gareja in the semi-desert add real variety.

Tbilisi is a little better with children. The funicular up to the Mtatsminda amusement park and its Ferris wheel is a proper treat, and Georgians are happy to have children in restaurants late into the evening. On the other hand, the steep cobbles, underpass stairs and summer heat are hard work with a pushchair.

Sarajevo's flat Old Town is easier underfoot, and the cable car and carriage rides to Vrelo Bosne are good outings. But the main sights are about history and war, which little of the city softens for children, and winter smog is unkind to small lungs.

Sarajevo is the simpler city to get around. Its long, narrow valley keeps the layout easy to grasp, the historic centre is flat, and one tram line runs the length of the valley floor from Baščaršija to Ilidža.

Tbilisi's centre is walkable too, but the walking is uphill and on broken pavements. The two-line metro covers the main axis, and most visitors end up using ride-hailing apps. Aggressive traffic and underpasses at the big crossings make it more tiring on foot.

Neither city is a shopping destination, and both are best for local crafts. In Sarajevo, that means the coppersmiths hammering coffee sets on Kazandžiluk and the carpets and slippers of the Bezistan. Tbilisi has the Dry Bridge flea market for Soviet curios and old silver, cloisonné enamel jewellery, qvevri wine to carry home, and a few local designers in Vera and Sololaki.

Both are among the easiest cities in Europe on the budget, and a stay costs about the same in either. In Sarajevo, the cheapest pleasures are a plate of ćevapi or a bazaar coffee, though prices rise in the Old Town during the summer film festival. In Tbilisi, a Georgian meal with wine and the free churches keep costs down, while boutique hotels and cocktail bars come closer to Western prices.

Tbilisi gives a visitor more to watch. Georgian folk dance ensembles and the ancient polyphonic singing, best heard in church, need no translation, and neither do the Gabriadze marionette plays. The Moorish-style Opera and Ballet Theatre adds a full classical season.

Sarajevo has the National Theatre, the Philharmonic and sevdah in small venues, but its stage life peaks during the MESS theatre festival and the November jazz festival. Outside those, there is little to plan around.

Bathing is part of Tbilisi's identity. In the sulphur bathhouses of Abanotubani, you book a private room with its own hot pool and a vigorous kisi scrub, a ritual that has barely changed in centuries.

Sarajevo has thermal water too, at the Ilidža spa at the end of the tram line, but its historic hammam no longer works as a bath. Its calmer moments come from the shaded avenue at Vrelo Bosne and an unhurried coffee. Neither city is especially restful otherwise, with Tbilisi's traffic and Sarajevo's winter smog.