Antibes or Assisi?

For swimming, the two are not comparable. Antibes has some of the few sandy beaches on this part of the coast, long and shallow at Juan-les-Pins and La Salis, plus rocky coves such as La Garoupe where the water is very clear. The main drawbacks are the private beach clubs and the free stretches filling up early in August.

Assisi is a hill town in central Italy with no sea within easy reach. The nearest swimming is at the small lido beaches on Lake Trasimeno, about 45 minutes' drive away, so in practice a hotel pool is the realistic answer.

Antibes offers more to eat. The covered market on Cours Masséna sets the rhythm of the morning, Niçoise dishes such as socca and pissaladière are everywhere, and there is serious cooking on Cap d'Antibes as well as grilled fish and rosé by the sea. Near the port, tourist menus are the thing to avoid.

Assisi's cooking is excellent in its own way, built on black truffle strangozzi, Castelluccio lentils, wild boar, Subasio olive oil and Montefalco's Sagrantino. The range is narrower, though, with no market hall, little fine dining and set menus for tour groups near the basilica. The best meals are in small trattorias on the side lanes and in country agriturismi.

Here Assisi is far ahead. The Basilica of San Francesco is one of the great monuments of Europe, with the Lower Church's frescoes by Cimabue, Simone Martini and Lorenzetti beneath the Saint Francis cycle in the Upper Church. Around it stand the Temple of Minerva, Santa Chiara, the Rocca Maggiore and the Porziuncola below the walls, all in pink Subasio stone.

Antibes has one standout, the Picasso Museum in the Château Grimaldi, where the works he made in 1946 still hang above the sea. Fort Carré, the ramparts and the Garoupe chapel are pleasant additions rather than reasons to make the trip.

Antibes at least has some nightlife in summer. Juan-les-Pins keeps its beach bars and a few clubs open into the early hours in July and August, and the yacht crews fill the pubs and wine bars by Port Vauban. Out of season it shuts down, and Nice is where people go for more.

Assisi has essentially no nightlife at all. After dinner and a glass of Sagrantino, the floodlit lanes are empty by eleven. Anyone who wants bars should stay in Perugia instead.

Antibes has the edge because it offers both sea and mountains. The cape path runs over wind-carved limestone, the water around it is good for snorkelling, diving and paddleboarding, and the red Esterel cliffs and the gorges and pre-Alps above Grasse are within easy driving distance. The town itself, though, is flat and built up.

Assisi's outdoors is all on land and starts at the town walls. A path climbs Monte Subasio past the Eremo delle Carceri to open summit meadows, and the valley floor below is good for cycling between olive groves and vineyards. The Valnerina and the Sibillini are longer outings by car.

Both towns make excellent bases, and the difference is in the kind of place you visit. From Antibes you follow the coast, with Nice, Cannes, Monaco and Menton on one railway line, boats to the Lérins Islands, and hill villages such as Saint-Paul-de-Vence and Grasse behind.

From Assisi the trips go to Umbrian hill towns: Spello, Perugia and Spoleto by train, and Gubbio, Todi and Orvieto further out, with Cortona and Montepulciano across the Tuscan border. More of these need a car than on the Riviera.

Antibes works better with children, mainly because of the sand. The shallow beaches at Juan-les-Pins and La Salis suit toddlers, the town is small and easy to manage, and older children can snorkel or take the boat to the Lérins Islands.

Assisi is warm towards children but offers them little. The stepped streets are hard with a pushchair, and the frescoed churches call for silence. The Rocca Maggiore and a walk on Subasio are the highlights, and many families stay at a valley agriturismo with a pool instead.

Antibes is the easier of the two. The old town, market and port are close together on flat ground, Juan-les-Pins is a level walk away, and two stations on the coastal line make car-free trips simple. A car only really matters for Grasse and the Esterel, and summer traffic makes driving there tiresome.

Assisi's centre is small but steep, with stairs between the basilica and Piazza del Comune. The station is 4km below in Santa Maria degli Angeli, so arriving by train means a bus or taxi up the hill, and beyond the valley railway most visitors hire a car.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Antibes offers a little more. Its covered market, independent boutiques on Rue de la République with Provençal linens and ceramics, and Biot glass and Vallauris pottery nearby make for good browsing. For fashion, people go to Cannes or Nice.

In Assisi most stalls sell rosaries and Tau crosses. The things worth buying are Assisi embroidery, Deruta ceramics, truffle products and Sagrantino.

Assisi is clearly cheaper. The basilicas and most churches are free, convent guesthouses offer clean, simple rooms at low cost, and eating a few lanes back from the main sights keeps bills down. Only Easter and the big feast days push hotel rates up inside the walls.

Antibes in July and August costs as much as a luxury resort, with expensive beach loungers and seafront terraces. Spring and autumn rates, the cheap coastal trains and food bought at the market are the ways to save.

Antibes comes out ahead thanks to one landmark event, Jazz à Juan. Founded in 1960, it brings July concerts under the pines of the Pinède Gould, and the Anthéa theatre programmes plays, dance and concerts through the year.

Assisi's music is mostly sacred: organ recitals and choirs in the basilica around religious feasts, plus the costumed singing and processions of Calendimaggio in spring. For opera, or for a jazz festival of its own, it relies on Perugia.

The two are evenly matched for a relaxing stay, but they offer very different kinds of rest. Antibes has treatments: a seawater thalassotherapy centre and grand hotel spas on the cape, best enjoyed in May, June or September before the crowds arrive.

Assisi has stillness rather than spas. Convent retreats, silent walks up to the Eremo delle Carceri and empty early mornings after the tour groups leave give it a calm that comes from the place itself.