Trieste or Zadar?

Zadar is the better place for a swimming vacation, mostly because of what lies just beyond it. In town, Kolovare and Borik are pebble and concrete, much like Trieste. But Nin's long sandy shallows are twenty minutes away, and ferries from the harbour run to island coves such as Sakarun on Dugi Otok.

Trieste's sea is just as clear, and swimming at Barcola is a pleasant local ritual. You do it from stepped concrete and lawns, though, and the prettier coves at Sistiana and Duino are rocky. If you want sand, Trieste has almost none.

Trieste is the more interesting place to eat. Its buffets carve boiled pork and ham with horseradish, jota soup appears on menus next to Adriatic sardoni, and the coffee houses have their own vocabulary. The Karst osmize, where farms sell their own wine and cheese for a few weeks at a time, are an experience Zadar has nothing like.

Zadar serves sound Dalmatian cooking, such as peka lamb, black risotto and Pag cheese, and it has Maraschino as its own liqueur. But the konobas on the peninsula mostly serve the same menu. You'll eat well enough there, but not in as much variety.

Trieste has more to see, and it spans more of history. There are the imperial set pieces of Piazza Unità and the Borgo Teresiano, the cathedral and castle on San Giusto, Miramare on the coast and one of Europe's largest synagogues. The Risiera di San Sabba memorial adds the twentieth century to the story.

Zadar packs three thousand years onto a small walled peninsula. The Roman forum, round St Donatus and the Venetian gates stand within a few minutes of each other, and the glass museum is excellent. Two days covers it all, and the Sea Organ gives it a modern sight Trieste has no equivalent for.

Neither city is built for a big night out, and they differ mainly in season. Trieste's evenings run on year-round aperitivo around the Canal Grande and Cavana, with student bars that stay open through the winter.

Zadar is livelier in July and August, when people move from the Riva to terrace bars on the walls. Serious clubbers make the hour's journey to Zrće on Pag. Out of season it goes quieter than Trieste does.

Zadar has the bigger and wilder outdoors. Paklenica's gorges and climbing walls rise behind the coast, the stark Kornati and Telašćica lie out at sea, and Krka's waterfalls are an hour away. Sea kayaking among the islands is easy to arrange.

Trieste's landscape is tighter but very close at hand. You can walk the Strada Napoleonica above the gulf or the Rilke Path at Duino, explore the Grotta Gigante and snorkel in the Miramare reserve. Its sailing water is a match for Zadar's.

Trieste has the richer choice, because three countries meet around it. Aquileia's mosaics, star-shaped Palmanova and the Collio vineyards are in Italy, Piran and Ljubljana are across the Slovenian border, and Venice is a long but realistic day by train.

Zadar's best outings are Šibenik's cathedral town and little Nin. Split and Trogir are possible but make long days, and you'll need a car or a tour for most of them. Its own strength is the island ferries, out to Ugljan, Pašman and car-free Silba.

Both cities are safe and calm with children, and neither has much built for them. Trieste's best family outings are the Grotta Gigante, the small aquarium and the science centre, which suit older children. Its steep, stepped streets and lack of sand make it harder going with toddlers.

Zadar is easier with small children: the old town is flat and car-free, Nin has shallow sandy beaches, and the Sea Organ and light-up Greeting to the Sun go down well with most children.

Trieste is the easier city to get around without a car. Its flat waterfront centre is walkable, and dense city buses run out to Barcola, Miramare and up onto the Karst. Passenger boats cross the bay to Muggia. The only hard work is the climb up San Giusto.

Zadar's peninsula takes a quarter of an hour to cross on foot, and the island ferries leave from its edge. Beyond Borik, though, the local buses don't help much, and the national parks really need a hire car or an organised excursion.

Neither city is a shopping destination, but Trieste gives you a little more to browse. The shops around Corso Italia cover ordinary Italian fashion, and antique shops in the old town lanes recall the merchant port. Its coffee, Karst wine and presnitz make good things to take home.

Zadar's Kalelarga has jewellers, chains and souvenir shops. The best things to bring back are edible or handmade: Maraschino, Pag cheese and Pag lace, most easily found at the market by the walls.

The two cost much the same over a stay, but the money goes in different places. Trieste is steady through the year, with rooms tightening only around the Barcolana regatta and in high summer. A buffet lunch or a coffee at the bar costs little.

In Zadar the price depends on the season. Apartments are good value in June and September and much dearer in July and August. Boat trips and national park entry add up quickly in a vacation built around them.

Trieste is the clear choice for evenings at the theatre. The Teatro Verdi on the waterfront runs a full opera and ballet season, operetta survives there as a Habsburg legacy, and the Rossetti and the Slovenian theatre add drama.

Zadar has one memorable highlight, the summer early-music concerts inside St Donatus. You may also hear klapa singing in the squares. Outside July and August there is very little on.

Trieste's way of switching off belongs to the city, and it works in any month. You can spend a slow morning with the papers in one of the grand Habsburg-era coffee houses, then end the day on the Molo Audace, strolling out along the stone pier into the gulf as the light fades. Its literary past gives those idle hours some atmosphere, but for thermal baths you have to leave town.

Zadar's slow pace is tied more to the sea and to summer. Life eases off in the midday heat, and in the evening people gather on the waterfront steps by the Sea Organ to watch the sun drop behind the islands. Nearby Nin has a shallow lagoon with an old local custom of mud bathing, which Trieste has nothing like, and most of Zadar's spas are in the resort hotels at Borik.