Skopje or Thessaloniki?

Here the two cities are far apart. Skopje has no beach at all. Summer swimming means pools, the Matka reservoir is too cold for bathing, and Lake Ohrid is about three hours away, so it belongs on the itinerary as a stay of its own.

Thessaloniki's own waterfront is not for swimming either, and the suburban beaches at Perea and Nea Michaniona are ordinary. Kassandra in Halkidiki is about an hour's drive away, though, with clear water and some of the best coves in Greece. If swimming matters, this is the city to pick, ideally with a hire car or a few nights on the coast.

Both cities eat in the hearty Balkan and Ottoman way, with grilled meat, peppers and a glass of something strong before the meal. Skopje's version is tavche gravche in clay dishes, kebapi in the Old Bazaar and long tavern tables in Debar Maalo, and its Tikves wines are a real find. But you will have tried most of it within a few days.

Thessaloniki has more variety and more to taste. Sephardic and Anatolian refugee influences add range to the meze tables, mornings bring bougatsa and trigona, and the Kapani and Modiano markets let you graze among the stalls. Neither city is about fine dining, but in Thessaloniki everyday eating is a reason to come.

Skopje's sights divide at the Stone Bridge. North of it are the Ottoman lanes, caravanserais and mosques of the Old Bazaar, with Kale Fortress above and the carved walnut iconostasis of the Holy Saviour close by. South of it are the statues and neoclassical facades of the Skopje 2014 programme, which visitors either love or laugh at. The 1963 earthquake, remembered in the ruined railway station, explains much of the city, and two or three days covers it all.

Thessaloniki has more depth. Its UNESCO-listed Byzantine churches, from the Rotunda's mosaics to Agios Dimitrios, sit alongside Roman remains and two museums of real weight, one holding the gold of ancient Macedonia and one devoted to Byzantine culture. The catch is that these sights stand apart from one another in a modern centre rebuilt after a great fire early in the twentieth century, while Skopje's bazaar survives as a whole quarter.

Skopje's evenings happen on café-bar terraces in Debar Maalo, where coffee turns to rakija as the night goes on. In summer the bazaar courtyards stay busy late. It is friendly and local, but it mostly happens at weekends.

Thessaloniki is a student city that goes out from eleven until well past three, and it does so on weeknights too. You can move from meze bars in the Ladadika warehouses to the louder DJ bars around Valaoritou and the tables of the Bit Bazaar, and in summer there are open-air clubs on the edge of town. If nights out are a big part of the trip, it is the obvious pick.

Both cities have good outdoors close by, but of different kinds. Skopje's is mountain and canyon, and very close: Vodno rises from the southern suburbs with a cable car to the summit cross, and Matka's limestone gorge, with kayaking and cliff-top monasteries, is half an hour out. Mavrovo and the Sar mountains add high ridges and beech forest further away.

Thessaloniki mixes mountains and sea. In town there are the Seich Sou pines and a long, flat waterfront for evening walks, and further out you have serious hiking on Olympus from Litochoro and sailing or kayaking around Halkidiki. Both have skiing within reach in winter. Skopje's wild country starts nearer the centre, while Thessaloniki's is more varied but needs a car.

Thessaloniki has the stronger list of day trips. Within an hour or so you reach the royal tombs at Vergina, Alexander's birthplace at Pella and the sanctuary at Dion under Olympus. Waterfall-filled Edessa, the Naoussa vineyards and boat trips along the Mount Athos coast fill longer days.

From Skopje the best-known trip, Ohrid, is too far for a day. Still, the Roman mosaics at Stobi combine well with a Tikves winery visit, Kratovo sits inside its volcanic crater, and Ottoman Prizren is about two hours away across the Kosovo border. It is a decent spread, but none of it matches the ancient Macedonian sites around Thessaloniki.

Neither city is built around children, but Thessaloniki gives families a bit more. The seafront promenade has playgrounds and a park strip for easy afternoons, and the Noesis science centre and planetarium is a proper outing. Halkidiki's beaches are within reach for swimming days.

In Skopje the best outings are the Vodno cable car and a boat into Matka Canyon, with a small zoo and funfair by City Park as extras. Uneven pavements and fierce summer heat wear small children out quickly in both cities, which is why families in each tend to pair the city with a lake or the coast.

Each city has a compact, flat core for walking. In Skopje it runs along the Vardar from the bazaar to Macedonia Square and Debar Maalo. In Thessaloniki it is the strip behind the waterfront from the White Tower to the markets and Ladadika.

Beyond the centre, Thessaloniki is easier. A metro line runs under the centre and the buses cover the rest, slow as they are in traffic. Skopje has no metro or tram, and its double-decker buses are hard to make sense of, so visitors use taxis for Vodno and Matka. In both cities a hire car is the practical way to see the countryside.

Thessaloniki is the more rounded place to shop. Tsimiski and the streets around it make a proper high street, and there are small independent shops near Valaoritou. The Kapani and Modiano markets are ideal for taking home olives, loukoumi and tsipouro.

Skopje has less range but a craft tradition Thessaloniki lacks. Workshops in the Old Bazaar still make silver filigree and copperware, and the Bit Pazar market is good for spices and peppers for ajvar. Outside the bazaar, though, you are down to a few malls of chain stores.

Skopje is the cheaper of the two by a clear margin. Tavern dinners with wine, morning burek and coffee, taxis and central rooms all cost very little, and most sights are free or close to it.

Thessaloniki is good value by Southern European standards, because its tavernas and bars are priced for students and locals rather than tourists. Still, a week there costs noticeably more, especially once you add car hire for Vergina or Halkidiki.

Both cities have the institutions of a modest capital, and plays in both are almost all in the local language. Thessaloniki has more to offer a visitor: the waterfront Concert Hall with its State Orchestra, summer concerts in the hillside theatre at Dasos, and late rebetiko and laika sessions that fill tavernas.

Skopje's high points depend on when you go. The long-running autumn jazz festival has a solid name in the region, and the summer festival uses the bazaar and fortress as stages. On other nights, starogradska songs in Debar Maalo's taverns are the most enjoyable live music.

Neither city is a spa destination, and in both the Ottoman hamams survive as monuments or galleries rather than working baths. Each has a simple thermal spring about half an hour out: Lagadas near Thessaloniki, and Katlanovska Banja, a sanatorium-style spa, near Skopje.

The difference lies in how you slow down. Thessaloniki has iced coffee by the sea and the long evening walk along the gulf, which gives it a slight edge for a restful stay. Skopje's version is hours on shaded terraces in Debar Maalo, pleasant but without the open water.