Antibes or Bologna?

This is Antibes's strongest advantage. It has long sandy beaches at Juan-les-Pins and La Salis, which are rare on this coast, plus rocky coves and flat swimming rocks around Cap d'Antibes. A beach day is something you can do every day.

Bologna is inland on the Po plain. The nearest swimming is on the Romagna Riviera at Rimini, about an hour away by train, where the water is warm but often greenish and the sand is lined with rows of rented umbrellas. It's an escape from the city heat, not a reason to go.

Bologna is one of Italy's great eating cities. People come for tagliatelle al ragù, tortellini in brodo, mortadella and fresh pasta rolled in shop windows, with Parma and Modena's cheeses, hams and vinegars close by. The only real limit is that nearly everything is Emilian.

Antibes eats well at the covered market on Cours Masséna, with socca, pissaladière, grilled fish and rosé, but it has the range of a coastal town. Near the port you need to choose carefully to avoid tourist menus.

Bologna's whole centre is the sight. Its brick streets are lined with UNESCO-listed porticoes, and it has the Two Towers, the seven churches of Santo Stefano and the Archiginnasio of Europe's oldest university. It deserves two or three full days.

Antibes has one outstanding sight, the Picasso Museum in the Château Grimaldi on the sea wall. Around it are a pretty old town, Fort Carré and a few small museums, and they make a pleasant addition to beach days rather than the main event.

Bologna's students keep its evenings going for most of the year, with crowds outside cheap bars on Piazza Verdi, small taverns along Via del Pratello and aperitivo that turns into wine bars around the Quadrilatero. It is informal, though, and the city goes quiet in August.

Antibes runs on the opposite calendar. Its beach bars and clubs in Juan-les-Pins come alive in July and August, and yacht crews fill the pubs near Port Vauban. Out of season, much of it closes.

Antibes has more for outdoor days, and most of it involves water. You can follow the limestone path around the cape, snorkel, dive or paddleboard in clear water, and reach the red cliffs of the Esterel or the Gorges du Loup for real hiking.

Bologna's outdoors are green hills rather than sea. The arcaded climb to San Luca, the gypsum caves of the Parco dei Gessi and the Via degli Dei trail to Florence are all good walks. North of the city, though, the land is flat farmland.

Both are excellent bases, but Bologna's day trips carry more weight. Fast trains reach Florence in about half an hour, Ravenna's mosaics, Ferrara, Modena and Parma are all close, and Venice and Verona are an easy day out.

From Antibes the coastal line runs through a string of Riviera towns from Cannes to Menton. Inland are hill villages such as Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Eze and Grasse, and there are boats to the Lérins Islands. These are charming trips, but on a smaller scale.

Neither town has much built for children, but the days work differently. In Antibes, family life revolves around the gently shelving sand at Juan-les-Pins and La Salis, which suits toddlers better than pebbles.

In Bologna the appeal is a flat, mostly car-free centre with shade under the arches, easy pasta meals and a tower to climb. A day at Mirabilandia is the treat for children. Summer heat is hard on small children in both places.

Bologna is the simpler place to get around. Its sights sit inside a compact, flat centre with few cars, the porticoes give shelter from sun and rain, and the main station is on the edge of the old town.

Antibes's old town and port are easy on foot, and the coastal railway works well along the Riviera. Cap d'Antibes, Grasse and the Esterel are slow by bus, and summer traffic and parking make driving a chore.

Bologna gives you more to browse. Visitors leave with Parmigiano, mortadella and balsamic vinegar from the Quadrilatero, and Via Farini and the Galleria Cavour have a small cluster of luxury fashion, with vintage shops and bookshops in the university quarter.

Antibes's shops are small and Provençal, mainly the covered market and boutiques selling linens and ceramics. For fashion, people go to Cannes or Nice.

Bologna is the cheaper stay. Trattoria meals and aperitivo with food are good value, most churches are free to enter, and you hardly spend anything getting around. Hotels are the costly part, especially during the big trade fairs.

Antibes in July and August is priced like a luxury resort, from hotel rooms to beach-club loungers. Going in spring or autumn and buying food at the market keeps costs down.

Bologna has a music scene all year. The Teatro Comunale stages opera, ballet and symphonic concerts, jazz plays in basement clubs, and students fill small venues with indie gigs. In summer there are concerts and films in Piazza Maggiore.

Antibes's highlight is Jazz à Juan, one of Europe's oldest jazz festivals, held each July under the pines by the sea. Outside July, the Anthéa theatre carries a modest programme.

Neither is a spa destination, and the kind of rest differs. Antibes offers seawater thalassotherapy and grand-hotel spas on Cap d'Antibes, and its calmest months are May, June and September.

Bologna has real thermal springs nearby at Castel San Pietro Terme and Porretta Terme, and offers long lunches under the porticoes, although the university quarter is noisy.