Annecy or Biarritz?

Biarritz has the stronger beaches because it has the open ocean. There is long golden sand from the Grande Plage and Côte des Basques north into Anglet, and surf culture comes with it. The waves and currents keep swimmers between the flags, and the little Port Vieux cove is the calm alternative.

Annecy offers a different kind of swim: still, very clear lake water from grassy lawns and small shingle strips at Albigny, the Marquisats and villages such as Talloires. It is gentler and warmer at the surface in midsummer, but the season is short and there is no sand-and-surf experience.

Biarritz eats better, mostly thanks to Basque cooking and the market culture around Les Halles. You get Bay of Biscay fish, Bayonne ham, Espelette pepper and pintxos at the counter from mid-morning, and the coast has a long chocolate tradition.

Annecy's Savoyard food is hearty and good on a cold night, with fondue, tartiflette and lake féra, and its market mornings are a highlight. The canal-side terraces repeat the same cheese menus, though, so the best meals mean heading out to the lakeside villages.

Neither town is a place for great museums, and the difference lies in what kind of past you are looking at. Annecy offers a medieval old town: arcaded streets along the Thiou canal, the twelfth-century Palais de l'Isle on its island in the river, and the château of the Counts of Geneva above, with its museum of Alpine life and the lake. An unhurried day covers it, and the town is best known culturally for its international animation film festival.

Biarritz's sights are mostly shaped by the resort era that began when Napoleon III and Eugénie made it fashionable in the 1850s. That means the imperial villa, the Art Deco casino, the Russian Orthodox church and the Rocher de la Vierge out in the surf, alongside the lighthouse on its headland. Add the aquarium and the Cité de l'Océan and you have two or three days of seaside heritage rather than an old town to wander.

Biarritz has the livelier summer evenings. The streets around Les Halles stay busy with pintxos and wine late into the night, surfers gather above the Côte des Basques for sundowners, and the casino and a few clubs keep going after that. San Sebastián's bar streets are close enough for a bigger night.

Annecy's evenings are mostly a drink on a canal terrace or by the lake. There are a few wine and cocktail bars, and the town is quiet by midnight outside summer.

Annecy is one of the strongest outdoor bases in the Alps. Hikes start from town to Mont Baron and Mont Veyrier, the Bauges park is to the south, and the Col de la Forclaz is a paragliding launch of European standing. Add Alpine road passes, lake sports and ski resorts within an hour, and the range runs from summer through winter.

Biarritz's outdoors is built around the surf, with beginner breaks and well-known reef waves along the coast. On land it has the cliff path of the Basque Corniche and the green Pyrenean foothills around La Rhune. It is good walking country, but gentler and wetter than Annecy's mountains.

Biarritz has the wider choice, since it gives you two countries. San Sebastián, Hondarribia and even Bilbao's Guggenheim are in Spain, and Bayonne, Saint-Jean-de-Luz and the Basque villages of Espelette and Ainhoa are on the French side.

Annecy's outings are also good. Geneva is under an hour away, Chamonix and Mont Blanc make a mountain day, and Chambéry, Aix-les-Bains and Yvoire are easy to reach. The list leans towards lakes and Alpine towns rather than a change of culture.

Both are safe, small towns that work best with children in summer, and neither has a theme park. Annecy is easier on young legs and pushchairs, with flat streets, big lakefront parks, pedal boats and mountain toboggan runs.

Biarritz has the better rainy-day backup in its aquarium and ocean science centre, and older children can learn to surf. Small children need the sheltered Port Vieux cove, and the steep streets are hard work.

Both centres are walkable, and both need a car for the mountains. Annecy is flat and compact, with a cycle path down the western shore and summer boats to the lake villages.

Biarritz is hillier, with steps between the cliffs and the beaches. It has better links further out, though: the airport is on the edge of town and coastal trains run to Bayonne and the Spanish border.

Biarritz is the better browse, with fashion boutiques and surf shops around the Place Clemenceau and real local crafts in striped Basque linen and handmade espadrilles. Chocolatiers and gâteau basque bakeries supply the gifts.

Annecy's shopping is mostly edible: Savoyard cheese, sausage and génépi from the markets, plus kitchenware and outdoor gear on Rue Sainte-Claire. Serious shoppers head to Geneva.

Neither is cheap. Annecy is a little easier on the wallet, but being next to Geneva keeps its prices up all year. The lake beaches, trails and cycle path cost nothing, and a self-catering apartment helps.

Biarritz charges full resort rates in July and August, then becomes noticeably cheaper out of season. Eating at the market bars or staying in Anglet or Bayonne keeps costs down.

Both have the stage programme of a small town, with different strengths. Annecy's Bonlieu national stage runs contemporary theatre, dance and circus all year, and summer adds a classical festival and the Fête du Lac fireworks.

Biarritz has its own resident ballet company at the Gare du Midi and an autumn dance festival, so dance lovers have a reason to choose it. For opera, both towns send you elsewhere.

Biarritz is the better place to unwind properly. Its seafront thalassotherapy centres, part of a sea-bathing tradition going back to the nineteenth century, offer seawater pools, hydrotherapy and multi-day cures that can be the main point of a stay.

Annecy relaxes you mainly through its pace and its lakeside hotel spas around Talloires and Veyrier. Real thermal bathing means a trip to Aix-les-Bains or Saint-Gervais. Both towns are calmest outside high summer.