Antibes or Milan?

This is where Antibes is clearly ahead. Sand is rare on this coast, and the long, shallow beaches of Juan-les-Pins and La Salis, with views back to the ramparts, make the beach the centre of a summer stay. Around the cape, coves such as La Garoupe and the flat rocks give clear-water swimming of a different kind.

Milan has no sea at all. Locals cool off at the Idroscalo near Linate or in open-air pools, and the nearest proper swimming is from the pebbly lidos of Lake Como or Lake Maggiore, about an hour away by train.

Milan is the better place to eat. Its own cooking is rich and buttery, from saffron risotto to ossobuco and cotoletta, and because people come to the city from all over Italy you can also eat well from every other region, as well as at a serious fine-dining level. The early-evening aperitivo around the Navigli, Brera and Isola is a meal in itself.

Antibes eats well in a narrower, sunnier way. Mornings start at the covered market on Cours Masséna, and the Niçoise dishes, socca, pissaladière and grilled fish, go with rosé on a terrace. Outside a few good bistros and the tables on the cape, though, the choice is that of a coastal town, and the lanes near the port lean on tourist menus.

Milan has the bigger sights. The marble Duomo and its rooftop spires, the Last Supper at Santa Maria delle Grazie, the Pinacoteca di Brera and Michelangelo's Rondanini Pietà in the Castello Sforzesco would anchor any trip to Italy, though they sit in clusters within a largely modern city.

Antibes has one sight of that calibre in miniature. The Picasso Museum in the Château Grimaldi holds the works he painted there in 1946, set above the sea. Around it are the old town lanes, the star-shaped Fort Carré and the lighthouse chapel on the cape, enough for a couple of unhurried days.

Milan has the more complete night out, and it runs all year. Evenings move from aperitivo on the Navigli towpaths to the smarter bars of Brera, the mixed and gay-friendly streets of Porta Venezia, and clubs that range from dressy venues on Corso Como to warehouse nights.

Antibes comes alive mainly in July and August, when Juan-les-Pins keeps its beach bars and clubs open late and yacht crews fill the pubs near Port Vauban. Out of season it goes quiet. The two peak at opposite times: Milan empties in August, just as the Riviera is at its liveliest.

The two are fairly even here, but the outdoors means different things. In Antibes it begins at the door and centres on the sea: the coastal path over the limestone of the cape, snorkelling and diving in clear water, sailing in the bay, then the red Esterel cliffs and the Gorges du Loup for proper hikes.

In Milan the city itself is flat and often hazy, but trains reach the wooded shores of Como and Maggiore, the Grigne ridges for via ferrata, and the ski slopes in winter as a full day out.

Both are excellent bases, but the trips are of a different kind. From Antibes they are short hops along one coast and up into the hills: Nice, Cannes, Monaco and Menton by train, boats to the Lérins Islands, and the hill villages of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Eze and Grasse, though the inland ones are easier with a car.

From Milan, high-speed trains reach whole cities in their own right: Verona's arena, Turin's palaces and Bologna, as well as Bergamo, Lake Como and Lugano over the Swiss border.

The two are about even for families, but they suit different ages. Antibes is best for small children, with sandy, shallow beaches that pebble coasts can't match and a small, safe town, but beyond swimming and boats in the harbour it has little built for children.

Milan is better for older children and wet days, with the submarine and trains at the science museum, the aquarium by Parco Sempione, and Leolandia or Gardaland within reach. Both get hot in summer, Milan more humid and Antibes more crowded.

Milan is the easier city to get around without a car. Its flat centre is walkable from the Duomo to Brera, and five simple metro lines and a dense tram network cover the rest, with trains from three stations running straight to the lakes.

Antibes is easy only within a smaller area. The old town, the market and Port Vauban are close together, and the coastal railway reaches Nice and Monaco without trouble. Beyond that, buses to the cape and the hill villages are slow, and summer traffic and parking are a real problem.

For shopping the two are hardly comparable. Milan is a world fashion capital, with the great Italian houses in the Quadrilatero around Via Montenapoleone, historic shops under the Galleria's glass roof and a long-standing department store by the Duomo. Corso Buenos Aires, the vintage shops of Brera and Porta Ticinese, and the design showrooms add variety.

Antibes offers small local pleasures instead: olive oil, herbs and soaps from the covered market, Provençal linens and ceramics in the old town, and glass and pottery in nearby Biot and Vallauris.

Neither is cheap, and costs peak at different moments. In Antibes, July and August are the problem, when rooms near the beaches and on the cape are priced like a luxury resort and beach-club loungers add up. Spring and autumn are much cheaper, and buying food at the market saves a lot.

Milan stays expensive all year and gets worse during trade fairs and fashion weeks. Aperitivo snacks as a light supper, office-worker lunch menus and a hotel near a metro stop outside the centre help to keep costs down.

Milan is far ahead here. La Scala's season of opera and ballet opens each December on the feast of Sant'Ambrogio, and the Piccolo Teatro, a fine symphony orchestra and big summer concerts at San Siro fill the rest of the year.

Antibes has one major event, Jazz à Juan, held every July since 1960 under the pines a few steps from the sea. Beyond that there is a regional programme at the Anthéa theatre, and for opera people go to Nice. The timing works in Antibes' favour in summer, when Milan's opera and concert halls go quiet.

Neither is a spa destination, and they are about equal, but rest takes different forms. In Antibes it comes from seawater thalassotherapy, grand-hotel spas on the cape and the slow rhythm of May, June and September, while high summer is anything but restful.

Milan offers a thermal spa complex with outdoor pools and the 1930s Bagni Misteriosi pools in summer, but for real calm most visitors take the train to the lakes.