Andorra la Vella or Saint-Tropez?

There is no contest here. Andorra la Vella lies in a Pyrenean valley about three hours' drive from the Mediterranean. Its glacial lakes are too cold for a proper swim, so warm water means a hotel pool or the Caldea lagoons.

Saint-Tropez is built around a beach summer. On the Ramatuelle side, the long strip of fine sand at Pampelonne mixes beach clubs with public stretches. Coves such as Escalet and Cap Taillat are quieter, and Les Graniers and La Ponche are close to town for a quick dip.

Saint-Tropez eats a little better. It has Provençal grilled fish and bouillabaisse, rosé from the Côtes de Provence vineyards around the town, and the produce market on the Place des Lices. Its weakness is value: the best tables are polished, and the cheaper ones trade on the harbour view.

Andorra la Vella serves heartier mountain food, such as escudella, trinxat and lamb grilled over wood fires in the bordas of the side valleys. The restaurants along the shopping avenues are uneven, though. It feeds a hungry hiker or skier well, but nobody comes for the cooking.

Neither town is a heritage destination, and you can see either in a day. Saint-Tropez has the stronger single sight in the Musée de l'Annonciade, with its pointillist and Fauvist paintings from Signac's time. It adds the maritime museum in the citadel and the ochre lanes of La Ponche.

Andorra la Vella's heritage is older and more scattered. In the Barri Antic stands the Casa de la Vall, the seat of the Andorran parliament for centuries, and out in the valleys are Romanesque churches such as Santa Coloma with its round bell tower.

Saint-Tropez is far livelier after dark in summer. Afternoon parties at the Pampelonne beach clubs lead to champagne on the harbour terraces and then to famous clubs that stay open until dawn, all of it dressy and expensive. Out of season the town falls quiet.

Andorra la Vella keeps early hours all year, with pubs and wine bars in the centre and in Escaldes-Engordany. The real après-ski happens up in the resort villages, not in the capital.

Andorra la Vella has the bigger outdoors. The capital sits at about 1,000m among peaks near 3,000m, with ski areas close by in winter. From late spring, marked trails lead to glacial lakes and refuges, and the UNESCO-listed Madriu-Perafita-Claror valley starts at the edge of town. Road cyclists come for the long climbs.

Saint-Tropez's nature is coastal and gentler. The Sentier du Littoral passes pine-backed coves on its way to Cap Camarat, and cork-oak forest covers the Massif des Maures. There is sailing on the gulf and the island national park of Port-Cros and Porquerolles, although summer heat and the risk of fire can close trails.

Saint-Tropez has more within easy reach. The hilltop villages of Ramatuelle and Gassin, Grimaud with its ruined castle and the canals of Port Grimaud all lie around the gulf, with boats across the bay and wine estates that open for tastings. Porquerolles and Bormes-les-Mimosas fill a longer day, but summer traffic is the catch.

From Andorra la Vella the list is shorter. The cathedral town of La Seu d'Urgell is about half an hour to the south, Puigcerdà and the enclave of Llívia are in the Cerdanya, and Ax-les-Thermes and Foix lie over the pass in France.

Andorra la Vella suits families better, as long as they come for the mountains. There are ski schools and beginner slopes in winter, toboggan runs, rope courses and an animal park in summer, and family pools at Caldea for wet days. The heavy traffic on the main shopping street is the drawback.

Saint-Tropez has gently shelving sand at Pampelonne and Gigaro, which suits small children, but little else for them. The harbour and the beach clubs are aimed at adults, and the cost makes a long family stay hard.

Neither has a railway and both centres are walkable, but Andorra la Vella is easier to get around once you are there. National buses run up the valleys and ski buses serve the slopes in winter. A car still helps for trailheads, and the valley road clogs at weekends.

You can cross Saint-Tropez on foot in a few minutes, but the beaches are several kilometres out, the regional buses are slow and the single road along the gulf jams in July and August. The passenger boats from Sainte-Maxime and Port Grimaud are often the best way in.

Saint-Tropez has more style. Fashion houses keep summer boutiques behind the port, and the Tropézienne sandal is still stitched by hand in workshops in the old town. The Place des Lices market adds linen, baskets and pottery.

Andorra la Vella is about quantity and low taxes rather than character. Its long strip of shops running into Escaldes-Engordany is the place to stock up on ski and outdoor gear, perfume, electronics and spirits, but it has little in the way of local crafts or independent design.

Andorra la Vella is much the cheaper of the two, but what you pay there follows the snow. In the high winter weeks hotels fill and charge accordingly, and a ski day adds a lift pass and equipment hire at the same rates as other mountain resorts, often with an evening at Caldea on top. A summer day of walking costs far less, little beyond the bus to the trailhead and lunch.

Saint-Tropez is at its dearest in July and August. Rooms, loungers at Pampelonne and even a sandwich on the port cost far more than elsewhere in Provence, and taxis or parking come on top. Late spring and autumn ease the bill without ever making the town cheap. Many budget visitors sleep inland or across the gulf and come over for the day, bringing a picnic from the Place des Lices market.

Neither town is a place for an evening of theatre or opera, and both come alive mostly in summer. Andorra la Vella has a small national classical orchestra and summer festivals, with jazz in Escaldes-Engordany and classical music in Ordino. The rest of the year brings occasional concerts in its congress hall.

Saint-Tropez has open-air concerts in gardens and on the citadel, and live sets at the beach clubs. It also has a tradition of its own in the Bravade, the costumed procession with muskets held each May.

Andorra la Vella has a real thermal offer in Caldea, fed by the hot springs of Escaldes-Engordany. Its lagoons, saunas and adults-only section make a natural end to a day on the slopes. For real quiet, the stone villages of the side valleys are better than the town itself.

Saint-Tropez has only hotel spas, which are aimed at their own guests. How restful it feels depends on the season: it is crowded and loud in high summer, but slow and calm in May, June and September.