Andorra la Vella or Antibes?

Andorra la Vella has no beach at all. The Mediterranean is about three hours away by road, and warm-water swimming means a hotel pool or the thermal lagoons in Escaldes-Engordany.

Antibes is built around its shore. It has long stretches of sand at Juan-les-Pins and La Salis, and rocky coves with very clear water around Cap d'Antibes. Private beach clubs take much of the sand, and the free stretches fill early in high summer.

Neither town is worth a trip for the food alone, but Antibes eats a little better. Andorra la Vella's best meals are outside the town, in the bordas of the side valleys, old stone barns where lamb and sausages are grilled over wood fires. The restaurants along the avenues mainly feed shoppers and skiers, and the quality varies.

In Antibes, the covered market on Cours Masséna and Niçoise dishes such as socca and pissaladière, eaten outdoors with rosé, give meals a clear sense of place. There is also serious dining on the cape, though the streets by the port are full of tourist menus.

Andorra la Vella's heritage fits into one small old quarter. The Barri Antic holds the fortified Casa de la Vall, long the seat of parliament, and the Romanesque church of Santa Coloma is a short ride out. Most of the rest of the town is shops and apartment blocks.

Antibes gives you more to see. The Picasso Museum in the Château Grimaldi still holds the works he painted there in 1946. Add the sea ramparts, the star-shaped Fort Carré and the villas of the cape, and you have two full days of sightseeing.

Both are quiet, but Antibes has more going on in summer. In Andorra la Vella, evenings mean pubs and wine bars around the centre and Escaldes-Engordany. Most visitors go to bed early, and the real après-ski happens up in the resort villages.

In July and August, Antibes stays up late in Juan-les-Pins, with beach bars and a few clubs open into the early hours. The lanes by Port Vauban have pubs full of yacht crews. Out of season much of this closes, and people head to Nice for a bigger night out.

Andorra la Vella is surrounded by high mountains. The ski areas are a short ride away, the UNESCO-listed Madriu-Perafita-Claror valley starts almost in town, and marked trails climb to glacial lakes, refuges and summits close to 3,000m.

Antibes offers outdoors by the sea: the coastal path around the cape, snorkelling and diving in clear water, and sailing in the bay. For real hiking you need to travel out to the red cliffs of the Esterel or the pre-Alps above Grasse, because the land around the town is flat and built up.

From Andorra la Vella the choices are few. You can go down to the cathedral town of La Seu d'Urgell, east to Puigcerdà and Llívia on the Cerdanya plateau, or over the high pass to Foix and its castle in about two hours.

Antibes has a far richer choice of day trips. Nice is twenty minutes away by train, and Cannes, Monaco and Menton are on the same line. Boats cross to the Lérins Islands, and the hill villages of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Eze and Grasse, along with the glassworks of Biot, are all close by.

Both work for families, but for different trips. Andorra la Vella suits families who come for the mountains: ski schools and beginner slopes in winter, toboggan runs, rope courses and an animal park in summer, and Caldea's pools when it rains. The traffic-heavy main street is less fun, and children who do not ski or hike may soon get bored.

Antibes is a beach vacation for small children, thanks to its gently shelving sand, which is rare on this coast. Ice cream on the ramparts and boats in the harbour fill the gaps between swims, but little else is built for children, and August heat calls for early starts.

Antibes is a little easier, mostly because it is on a railway. The coastal line from the stations at Antibes and Juan-les-Pins reaches Nice, Cannes and Monaco without a car, though inland villages and the Esterel are slow to reach by bus, and summer traffic is heavy.

Andorra la Vella has a walkable centre and buses up the valleys to the other parishes, but there is no train anywhere in the country. Getting there means a long drive from airports in Spain or France, and many trailheads are simpler to reach by car.

Many people go to Andorra la Vella mainly to shop. Low taxes have turned its avenues into a long strip of department stores and shops selling ski gear, perfume, electronics and spirits. What it lacks is character and local craft.

Antibes is the opposite: small and local, with olive oil and soaps from the covered market and Provençal linens and ceramics in the old-town boutiques. There is no department store, so for fashion you go to Cannes or Nice.

Andorra la Vella is easier on the wallet. Rooms are good value outside the peak ski weeks, set lunches are fair, and low taxes keep drinks cheap. Ski passes and the spa still cost what they do at any mountain resort.

Antibes is expensive in July and August, especially near the beaches and on the cape. It is much kinder in spring and autumn, and the coastal trains and food from the market help keep costs down.

Andorra la Vella has little live performance outside summer, when a jazz festival in Escaldes-Engordany and classical concerts in Ordino fill the calendar. For the rest of the year an evening of music is hard to find.

Antibes has Jazz à Juan, running since 1960, with July concerts under the pines of the Pinède Gould a few steps from the sea. The Anthéa theatre covers the rest of the year, and Nice is close for opera.

For pure soaking, Andorra la Vella is ahead. Hot springs feed Caldea in Escaldes-Engordany, with lagoons, saunas and a quieter adults-only section that suit tired legs after a day on the slopes. The busy avenues are not restful, but the side valleys are very quiet.

Antibes offers seawater thalassotherapy and hotel spas on the cape. Its real calm comes in May, June and September, with slow market mornings and evening walks on the ramparts before the summer crowds arrive.