Aix-en-Provence or Chamonix?

Neither town is a beach destination, but from Aix the Mediterranean is within an hour. You can reach Marseille's city beaches, the coves of the Côte Bleue and the calanques around Cassis, mostly small and pebbly.

Chamonix offers lake swimming instead, at little Lac de Passy down the valley or at Lake Annecy, over an hour away, and only in July and August. In both places the pool is the everyday way to swim.

Aix eats better and with more variety. It has morning markets on Place Richelme, long Provençal lunches of daube, tians and grilled fish, Coteaux d'Aix rosé and calissons to finish, even if the smartest terraces rely on their setting.

Chamonix cooks Savoyard food built on melted cheese, such as fondue, raclette and tartiflette. It is wonderful after a cold day on the slopes but repetitive over a week, and many kitchens close between seasons. Some of its best meals are on refuge terraces facing the glaciers.

This is where the two differ most. Aix is a whole town of honey-stone mansions in the Mazarin quarter, with fountains on almost every square and a cathedral that runs from a Merovingian baptistery to baroque. Add the Musée Granet and the Cézanne trail from Les Lauves to Bibemus, and you have two or three unhurried days.

Chamonix's heritage is mountaineering. The Musée Alpin, the guides' quarter and the climbers' cemetery tell that story well, but half a day covers it. The view of Mont Blanc is the town's real monument.

Both are small, and neither suits a big night out, but their evenings feel quite different. Aix drinks on terraces around Place des Cardeurs with a student crowd. It has wine and cocktail bars and a few small clubs, and it goes quiet during term breaks.

Chamonix runs on après-ski. Loud bars at the foot of the slopes fill in the late afternoon, then the evening moves to a lane of old-town pubs full of seasonal workers and young English-speaking visitors. In Aix, proper clubbing means Marseille, half an hour away. Chamonix has nothing like that within reach.

Aix has fine country around it: Sainte-Victoire to climb, the Calanques for cliff walks and kayaking, cycling in the Luberon and the Verdon gorge further off. It is best in spring and autumn, before and after the summer fire closures.

Chamonix is on another scale. Cable cars carry you from the town centre to 3,842m on the Aiguille du Midi, and the Tour du Mont Blanc and Lac Blanc trails start from the valley. There is skiing, climbing, paragliding and the Vallée Blanche, with the world's oldest guiding company on hand.

Aix is the stronger base by some way. Marseille, Avignon and Arles are each within an hour, with Roman Nîmes and the Pont du Gard beyond. The Luberon villages, the Alpilles and Cassis make the list long, though the villages need a car.

From Chamonix, the appeal is crossing borders: Courmayeur and the Aosta valley in Italy, Martigny in Switzerland on the Mont Blanc Express, and Annecy and Geneva by road. After those, the options thin out to other resorts along slow mountain roads.

Chamonix gives children more to do. Winter brings nursery slopes and sledging. In summer there are lake trails, the luge, treetop courses, the Merlet animal park and the little red train to the Mer de Glace, though the highest cable cars are not for toddlers.

Aix is safe and pleasant, with a pedestrian centre and fountains, but its sights are for adults and summer afternoons are fiercely hot. Families there tend to rely on a pool and drive out to La Barben zoo or the coast.

Both centres are small enough to walk, but Chamonix has the edge beyond them. Buses and the Mont Blanc Express run the length of the valley and are free with the guest card, so a car is optional, even if the winter ski buses are packed.

Aix is easy on foot and has buses and trains to Marseille. Its TGV station, though, sits out on the plateau, and the Provençal villages that make the region worth exploring are hard to reach without a hire car.

In Aix, shopping is part of a stroll through the old town. There are French fashion and shoe boutiques around Rue d'Italie and Rue Fabrot, delicatessens, and flower and textile markets. Good things to take home include calissons, santons, olive wood and printed fabrics.

Chamonix is for specialists. Its outdoor and climbing shops, some run for generations, are among the best anywhere for technical gear. Beyond cheese, génépi and rock crystals there is little else, and for fashion you go to Geneva or Annecy.

Neither is cheap, but Aix is easier on the wallet. Old-town hotels are few and costly, especially in July, yet back-street lunch menus, market picnics and walking everywhere keep daily spending down.

Chamonix adds the cost of the mountains to resort-priced rooms: lift passes, the big cable cars, guides and paragliding all add up. Free valley transport, self-catering and trails that start from the valley floor help, as do the shoulder seasons.

Aix is a serious stop for opera and dance. Its July festival stages opera in the courtyard of the Archbishop's Palace, and Ballet Preljocaj is based at the Pavillon Noir. The Grand Théâtre de Provence and the Jeu de Paume host orchestras and plays through the year.

Chamonix has a summer jazz festival, with some sets played high in the mountains. Otherwise there are church concerts and mountain film evenings, and no theatre season at all.

Both have a thermal side, in very different settings. Aix was founded on warm springs, and the Thermes Sextius spa stands on the site of the Roman baths. Its real tonic, though, is the slow Provençal rhythm of markets, long lunches and shaded squares.

In Chamonix, you unwind after effort. There is a large spa with hot outdoor pools facing the glaciers, chalet saunas, and the old thermal baths of Saint-Gervais down the valley. The town starts early and stays busy, so it suits active people more than those who want idle rest.