Siena or Zadar?

This is where the two differ most. Zadar is a swimming town all summer: people swim off the stone promenade, at the pebble and concrete platforms of Kolovare and Borik, on the long shallow sand at Nin, and from ferries out to the coves of Ugljan, Pašman and Dugi Otok.

Siena has no sea at all. The nearest good beaches are on the Maremma coast, a full day's outing, so in town swimming means a pool at your hotel or agriturismo.

Siena eats better. Its kitchen has more depth: hand-rolled pici with duck ragù, ribollita, cinta senese pork, and a baking tradition of panforte and ricciarelli. On top of that come Chianti Classico, Brunello and Vino Nobile, all grown close by and poured by the glass.

Zadar's Dalmatian cooking is pleasant, with grilled fish, black risotto, lamb or octopus cooked under the peka, and Maraschino, the town's own cherry liqueur. But the konobas tend to serve the same menu. Neither town offers much international food.

Siena is the richer place to look at. Its whole centre is one of the most complete medieval cities in Europe, built around the Campo, the Palazzo Pubblico and the Duomo. Behind them come Santa Maria della Scala and the Pinacoteca's Sienese painters, enough for two or three full days.

Zadar's interest lies in its many layers on a small peninsula: the Roman forum, the round church of St Donatus, the Venetian walls and a fine Museum of Ancient Glass. The Sea Organ adds a modern touch, but the whole town is covered in less time.

Neither is a party town, but Zadar has a little more going on. Summer evenings start with the sunset at the Sea Organ and move on to café-bars on Kalelarga and terrace bars on the walls. For real clubbing, the beach at Zrće on Pag is about an hour away in high summer.

Siena's evenings are a long dinner and a glass of wine on the Campo, and the streets are quiet before midnight. The exception is the Palio, when the contrade feast outdoors until late.

Zadar has the wilder and more varied outdoors. The Velebit range and the gorges of Paklenica offer serious hiking and climbing, the Kornati and Telašćica can be sailed, and the waterfalls of Krka and Plitvice are within reach.

Siena's countryside is gentler and more pastoral: the clay hills of the Crete Senesi and the rolling Val d'Orcia. Its great strength is gravel cycling on the strade bianche, which start at the edge of town, but there are no high mountains and no coast.

Siena is the stronger base, and by a wide margin. Florence, San Gimignano, Volterra, the Chianti villages, Montalcino, Pienza and Montepulciano are all close, along with abbeys such as Sant'Antimo and the roofless San Galgano, so there is a different outing for every day of a week.

Zadar's best trips are Šibenik's cathedral and Nin's tiny royal church. Split and Trogir make long days by motorway, and ferries reach the island villages. Both places need a car to get the most from their surroundings.

Zadar is easier with children. The old town is flat and car-free, the waterfront suits pushchairs and scooters, and the Sea Organ and the light-up Greeting to the Sun fascinate small children. Most of the day can be spent on Nin's shallow sand.

Siena is safe and welcoming, and older children enjoy climbing the Torre del Mangia. But its steep lanes are hard going with a pushchair, and families usually do better at a countryside farmhouse with a pool.

Both centres are car-free and easy to walk, but the ground is different. Siena sits on three ridges, so there are steep climbs and stepped lanes, and escalators lead up from the station in the valley below. Buses rather than slow trains are the way to Florence.

Zadar's peninsula is flat and can be crossed in a quarter of an hour. Its real advantage is the ferries that leave from the edge of the old town for the islands. In both places a hire car is the practical way to see the wider region.

Both towns are modest for shopping, and Siena has a little more to offer. Banchi di Sopra and Via di Città have Italian shoes, leather goods and stationers, and there are majolica ceramics, contrada scarves and a large weekly market by the Fortezza.

Zadar's Kalelarga is mostly chains, jewellers and souvenirs. The best things to take home are edible or handmade: Maraschino, Pag cheese and Pag lace.

Zadar is somewhat kinder to the wallet. Private apartments are good value outside July and August, and the ferries and buses are cheap, though national park entry and boat trips add up.

In Siena, rooms inside the walls are scarce and expensive in summer and around the Palio, and the separate museum tickets mount up. Simple osteria meals and staying in an agriturismo outside town help balance the cost.

Siena has the fuller calendar, and it lasts beyond summer. The Accademia Chigiana holds concerts in palaces and churches, Siena Jazz adds performances by its teachers and students, and the Rinnovati and Rozzi theatres stage drama and music through the winter.

Zadar's highlight is the summer series of early music inside St Donatus, a memorable setting, with klapa singing in the squares. Outside July and August there is little to attend, and theatre is in Croatian.

Siena wins clearly on this, thanks to its thermal springs: the travertine pools at Rapolano, the medieval bath at Bagno Vignoni, the free pools at Bagni San Filippo and the hot river at Petriolo. Rural spa hotels in the hills complete the picture.

Zadar has no bathing tradition beyond hotel spas at Borik and the healing mud of Nin's lagoon. Its way of unwinding is the slow seaside day that ends at sunset on the Sea Organ steps.