Vienna or Zadar?

Vienna's swimming is river and lake bathing. There are free spots along the Danube Island, the calmer and warmer Alte Donau with its old lidos, and the Neusiedler See about an hour out. It is a pleasant way to cool off on a summer evening, but that is all.

Zadar has the real thing. The clear Adriatic is warm enough from June to September and locals swim straight off the stone promenade. The city beaches at Kolovare and Borik are pebble or concrete, but Nin's sandy shallows and the pale sand of Sakarun on Dugi Otok are a short trip away.

Vienna has a whole cuisine of its own. Schnitzel and Tafelspitz come from wood-panelled Beisl taverns, strudel and Sachertorte from the grand coffee houses, and the year's wine from Heuriger taverns in the city's own vineyards. International choice is thin, but there is far more to explore.

Zadar eats well from a narrow Dalmatian menu: grilled fish, black risotto, lamb cooked under the peka, Pag cheese and Maraschino. The market by the walls makes the best morning. After a few days, though, the konobas begin to look alike.

Vienna is an imperial capital on a grand scale. It has the Hofburg, Schönbrunn, St Stephen's and the Ringstrasse, plus museums of world standing: Bruegel at the Kunsthistorisches, Klimt at the Belvedere and Schiele at the Leopold. A week barely covers it.

Zadar's history is older and packed into a smaller space. The Roman forum, the round Church of St Donatus and the Venetian walls share one small peninsula, and the glass and archaeological museums are good, but two days sees everything. Its most memorable sights, the Sea Organ and the Greeting to the Sun, are modern.

Neither city is a reason to go out, but Vienna offers more, and all year round. There are bars and small clubs under the Gürtel arches, the Bermuda Triangle in the old town, deckchair bars along the canal in summer and electronic nights in old industrial spaces. In winter there is the formal ball season.

Zadar's evenings are seasonal and gentle: sunset at the Sea Organ, then café-bars on Kalelarga and terrace bars on the walls. Serious clubbing means the trip to Zrće on Pag in high summer, and from October to May the town is quiet.

Vienna has easy green escapes. Vineyard trails climb through the Vienna Woods to the Kahlenberg, the Prater has long meadows, the Donau-Auen protects wild floodplain forest, and cycling along the Danube is flat. The Rax and Schneeberg are about an hour and a half away.

Zadar is the stronger base for the outdoors. Paklenica's limestone gorges offer serious hiking and climbing, boats and charters go out to the Kornati and Telašćica, and Krka and Plitvice are within reach. Sea kayaking among the islands fills the days in between.

Both cities make good bases, and the difference is in the kind of trip. From Vienna you go by train or boat: to another capital in Bratislava, the Wachau with Melk and Dürnstein, the abbeys of Klosterneuburg and Heiligenkreuz, Haydn's Eisenstadt, or Brno across the Czech border.

Zadar's outings follow the coast and the islands. There is Šibenik with its cathedral and fortresses, tiny Nin, Split and Trogir for a long day, and ferries to Ugljan, Pašman and car-free Silba. Most of these need a car or an organised excursion, while Vienna's need only a ticket.

Vienna is the easier city with children. Schönbrunn Zoo, the Prater's rides and Ferris wheel, the Haus des Meeres aquarium and the ZOOM children's museum fill the days. The Natural History and Technical Museums take care of rainy ones, and trams are easy with a pram.

Zadar is safe, and its car-free old town is simple with a pushchair, but there is no zoo, aquarium or theme park. Days revolve around the sea, on Nin's shallow sand or a short ferry ride, and the midsummer heat can wear small children out.

Vienna is about as simple as big cities get. The centre inside the Ring is walkable, and U-Bahn, trams and buses run on one ticket to Schönbrunn, the Danube Island and the vineyard villages alike. The U-Bahn runs through the night at weekends.

You can cross Zadar's flat peninsula on foot in a quarter of an hour, and the island ferries leave from its edge. Beyond that the buses are basic, so the national parks and the coast call for a hire car or excursions, and parking is tight in summer.

Vienna has proper shopping. The luxury houses line the Kohlmarkt and Graben, the high-street brands are on Kärntner Strasse and Mariahilfer Strasse, and independent designers are in Neubau. Augarten porcelain, crystal and Loden coats are crafts worth taking home, and the Christmas markets add a season of their own.

In Zadar you buy a few local gifts rather than plan a shopping trip. Maraschino, Pag cheese and lace, olive oil and figs are the things to take home, and the market by the walls is the best place to find them.

Vienna is the more expensive of the two. The big palaces and museums charge full admission and eating out costs more than in southern Europe. Day passes, set lunches, Heuriger buffets and standing places at the opera bring the cost down.

Zadar is easier on the budget, especially if you take a private apartment outside July and August, and ferries and konoba meals are fairly priced. Your money goes on high-summer rooms near the peninsula, restaurants on the main old-town streets, and boat trips or national park entry.

This is where the two cities differ most. Vienna has opera at the State Opera on most nights, the Vienna Philharmonic in the Musikverein's Golden Hall, a full programme at the Konzerthaus, operetta at the Volksoper and drama at the Burgtheater, as well as the Boys' Choir at Sunday Mass.

Zadar has one memorable summer series, the Musical Evenings in St Donatus, plus concerts in churches and squares and some klapa singing in July and August. Outside summer there is little to attend.

Vienna has real thermal bathing: the pools and saunas of Therme Wien in Oberlaa, the Art Deco Amalienbad, and Baden's sulphur springs half an hour away. Long coffee-house afternoons and walks in the palace gardens add to the calm.

Zadar's rest comes from its slow pace rather than from spas: café mornings, a siesta and sunset from the Sea Organ steps. Apart from the hotel spas at Borik, the mud lagoon at Nin is the closest it comes to a spa.