Sarajevo or Tirana?

Neither city is on the coast, but the sea plays a very different part in each. From Sarajevo the Adriatic is about three hours by road, so summer swimming means cold mountain rivers, the lake at Jablanica or a pool.

Tirana has Durrës under an hour away, with a long sandy beach, shallow water that suits children and a warm sea in high summer. It is a crowded, built-up strip rather than the clear coves of the south, but it makes a real beach day possible, which Sarajevo cannot offer.

The two are broadly level, but they feed you differently. Sarajevo's cooking centres on the grill and the bakery: ćevapi in somun from the Baščaršija grills, burek sold by weight, and Bosnian coffee served with rahat lokum as a ritual of its own.

Tirana's food leans towards the farm and the season. It means baked lamb with yoghurt, fërgesë of peppers and curd cheese, and long lunches at farm restaurants in the hills, with Blloku adding a few Italian-leaning places. Neither city goes far beyond its own cuisine.

Sarajevo has much the richer set of sights. Ottoman Baščaršija, the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque, the Austro-Hungarian avenues with their cathedrals and synagogue, the Latin Bridge of 1914 and the Sarajevo Haggadah give it centuries of layers. The Tunnel of Hope and the War Childhood Museum make the 1990s real.

Tirana's story is mainly the twentieth century. Bunk'Art and the House of Leaves, the old secret police building, are memorable visits into the communist years, and the Et'hem Bey Mosque and the mosaic of the National History Museum frame Skanderbeg Square. Beyond that the old fabric is thin, and two days covers the city's own sights.

Tirana is the better night out. Blloku, once the closed quarter of the communist leaders, is a grid of cocktail bars and lounge terraces that stays full past midnight in summer, and larger clubs near the Grand Park lake run into the early hours. People dress up to be seen there.

Sarajevo is cheaper and more low-key. Evenings revolve around café-bars near Ferhadija and a few student cellar bars, and they are more likely to end over rakija than on a dancefloor.

Both cities have a cable car up a mountain on their doorstep, Trebević above Sarajevo and Dajti above Tirana, but Sarajevo goes much further. Its Olympic mountains, Jahorina and Bjelašnica, are under an hour away, with reliable skiing in winter and open ridges for hiking and biking in summer. Lukomir, high above the Rakitnica canyon, and the springs of Vrelo Bosne add variety.

Tirana has the forests and viewpoints of Dajti National Park, the turquoise Bovilla reservoir and walks around Gamti. Its finest mountains, the Albanian Alps, need more than a day, and the summer heat confines walking to spring and autumn.

Day trips are a strength of both cities, and about equally good. From Sarajevo the highlight is Mostar, reached by a scenic train through the Neretva gorge, with Konjic's Cold War bunker, Blagaj and Počitelj along the same route and the Višegrad bridge to the east.

Tirana covers a wider span of history. Berat's white Ottoman houses, Skanderbeg's castle at Kruja, the Roman amphitheatre in Durrës and the Greek ruins of Apollonia are all within about two hours. In both countries the roads are slow, so plan full days.

Neither city is built around children, and they come out about even, with different drawbacks. Sarajevo's flat Old Town, the Trebević cable car and the carriage rides to Vrelo Bosne are easy wins, and there is gentle skiing in winter. The main sights, though, are about war, and winter smog is hard on small lungs.

Tirana has the Grand Park's lake and playgrounds, Dajti and the shallow beach at Durrës. There, the strain is the traffic, poor pavements for buggies and strong summer heat.

Sarajevo is a little easier to get around. Its tram runs along the valley floor from Baščaršija to Ilidža, a single line that a visitor can follow without effort, and the flat centre is easy on foot. Away from the tram, the hillside neighbourhoods mean steep steps.

Tirana has no tram or metro. Its compact centre can be walked in about twenty minutes, but the buses are confusing, wide roads with assertive drivers need care, and Bunk'Art or the Dajti cable car usually mean a taxi.

Sarajevo has the more rewarding bazaar. On Kazandžiluk coppersmiths still hammer out coffee sets, and the Bezistan and its lanes sell kilims, slippers and filigree, though you need to sort the craft from the souvenir stock.

Tirana's best stop is the Pazari i Ri market, better for honey, cheese, olives and raki than for objects, with Kruja's bazaar for felt hats and embroidery. Neither city has much for fashion beyond malls and high-street chains.

Both are among Europe's cheapest capitals, and the difference is small. In each, coffee, pastries, grilled meat and taxis cost little, and good central hotels are far below Western European levels. Where prices rise, they rise in different places: in Sarajevo it is the Old Town and the summer film festival, and in Tirana it is the smart restaurants and cocktail bars of Blloku.

Sarajevo has more to offer on stage, though neither city is a destination for it. The National Theatre stages opera and ballet, the Philharmonic plays regularly, MESS brings international theatre in autumn and the jazz festival fills November. Sevdah songs in traditional restaurants give the city its own sound.

Tirana's opera and ballet house on Skanderbeg Square makes an easy evening, but the scene is thin beyond it. Albania's iso-polyphonic singing is heard more in the south than in the capital.

Sarajevo is the more restful of the two. The thermal springs at Ilidža, used since Roman times, are at the end of the tram line, and the shaded avenue of Vrelo Bosne makes a calm walk afterwards. Winter smog in the valley is the one thing that takes the edge off.

Tirana has no bathing tradition of its own. The nearest hot springs are the simple spa hotels at Llixha, about an hour away, so relaxing in town means hotel spas, slow coffee and the evening xhiro, with Dajti and the Grand Park as escapes from the traffic noise.