Antibes or Dijon?

This is the widest gap between the two. Antibes has the long, gently shelving sand of Juan-les-Pins and La Salis, which is rare on a coast that is mostly pebble, plus coves and flat-rock swimming around Cap d'Antibes. Private beach clubs take part of the sand, and the free stretches fill early in high summer.

Dijon is hours from any coast. Lac Kir, the reservoir on the western edge of the city, has a supervised lawn-and-sand bathing area for a hot afternoon. Beyond that, swimming means a pool.

Antibes cooks in the Niçoise way: socca, pissaladière, stuffed vegetables and grilled fish with rosé, all built around the morning market on Cours Masséna. It is pleasant, but the range is that of a coastal town, and the lanes near the port lean on tourist menus.

Dijon goes much deeper. As the gateway to Burgundy it has the classic slow-cooked dishes, its own mustard, pain d'épices and cassis, the iron market hall of Les Halles, and wine bars pouring village Burgundies by the glass from vineyards that start at the edge of town. For a trip planned around eating and wine, it is clearly the better choice.

Antibes has one outstanding sight, the Picasso Museum in the Château Grimaldi on the sea wall. Around it are the ramparts, the star-shaped Fort Carré and Villa Eilenroc on the cape, and two days covers the lot.

Dijon has more to work through. It was the capital of the Dukes of Burgundy, and their palace now holds one of France's oldest fine arts museums, home to the carved Valois tombs. Add the half-timbered streets, Notre-Dame with its gargoyles and lucky owl, the Romanesque crypt of Saint-Bénigne and Sluter's Well of Moses, and you have two or three days of real substance.

Neither is a place for big nights, but Antibes has the livelier summer. In July and August, Juan-les-Pins keeps beach bars, lounges and a few clubs going into the early hours, and the old-town pubs by Port Vauban fill with yacht crews. Nice is close if you want more. Out of season it goes very quiet.

Dijon's evenings follow the university calendar rather than the weather. Rue Berbisey and the squares around Place Émile Zola mean wine bars, beer and late dinners, with only a handful of clubs, and outside term the streets empty by midnight.

Antibes has the more striking outdoors. The coastal path around Cap d'Antibes crosses wind-carved limestone above water clear enough for snorkelling and diving, and the bay suits sailing and paddleboarding. The red cliffs of the Esterel and the gorges and pre-Alps above Grasse are close enough for proper hiking.

Dijon's country is gentler. West of town, the combes have walking trails and cliffs for climbing, the Burgundy Canal towpath gives long, flat cycling, and the signed vineyard route towards Beaune is the classic ride. The granite hills and lakes of the Morvan are the wildest landscape nearby, but there are no mountains and no sea to swim or dive in.

Both make excellent bases, Antibes slightly more so. From the middle of the Riviera, trains run to Nice, Cannes, Monaco and Menton, boats cross to the Lérins Islands, and the hill villages of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Eze and Grasse lie inland. Italy is within a day.

Dijon's excursions centre on wine and abbeys: the Route des Grands Crus through Gevrey-Chambertin and Vougeot to Beaune, then Fontenay Abbey, Semur-en-Auxois and, on a longer day, Vézelay. Beaune and Besançon are easy by train, but most of the wine villages need a car, a bike or a tour.

Antibes suits children better, mainly because of the sand. Its shallow, gently shelving beaches are easy for small swimmers, and the boats in Port Vauban, Fort Carré and the crossing to the Lérins Islands fill the gaps. August heat and full beaches call for early starts.

Dijon is safe, small and largely pedestrian. It has a natural history museum and planetarium at the Jardin de l'Arquebuse, play areas in the Parc de la Colombière and paddling at Lac Kir. Its tastings and fine art museums, though, are aimed at parents.

Antibes is easy on foot between the old town, the market and the port, and the coastal railway is excellent for the Riviera towns. Further out it gets slow: buses to the cape and the hill villages take their time, and summer traffic and parking on the coast road are a real headache.

Dijon is the simpler city to move around. Its pedestrian core puts the station, market, palace and cathedral minutes apart, two tram lines reach the outskirts and Lac Kir, and regional trains run down the wine route to Beaune. Only the wine villages away from the line call for a car.

Neither is a shopping destination, and both are best for things to eat or take home. Antibes leans Provençal: olive oil, herbs and soaps at the covered market, linens and ceramics in the old-town boutiques, and Biot glass and Vallauris pottery in the villages nearby.

In Dijon you fill your bag with mustard, pain d'épices, cassis, Burgundy from the wine merchants and cheese from Les Halles. Rue de la Liberté also has a department store and French chains, which Antibes lacks. For serious fashion, Antibes sends you to Cannes or Nice, and Dijon has little to offer.

Antibes is the dearer of the two. In July and August, rooms near the beaches and on the cape cost luxury-resort rates, and loungers and seafront terraces add up. Spring and autumn, self-catering from the market and the cheap coastal trains bring the bill down.

Dijon has the moderate hotels and fair bistro set lunches of a French regional city, and wine by the glass is cheap. The costs there come from the wine itself: serious restaurants, cellar tastings and good bottles.

Antibes has one famous fixture, Jazz à Juan, held under the pines at Juan-les-Pins every July since 1960. The Anthéa theatre and summer open-air events fill the rest of the year, and for opera you go to Nice.

Dijon has the steadier season. The Opéra de Dijon plays in the nineteenth-century Grand Théâtre and the acoustically fine Auditorium, alongside a national drama centre and a venue for touring bands. Its programme follows the academic year, so it is strongest just when Antibes is quiet.

Antibes has the edge for pampering, with a seawater thalassotherapy centre and the grand-hotel spas on Cap d'Antibes, which outside guests can often book. In May, June and September the town slows to market mornings and evening walks on the ramparts, though high summer is anything but restful.

Dijon has no spa tradition and only a few hotel spas, some offering grape-based treatments. Its calm comes from the provincial pace instead: long lunches, quiet squares and slow afternoons among the vines.