Antibes or Monaco?

Antibes is the stronger beach town. Juan-les-Pins and La Salis have long, gently sloping sand, which is rare on this stretch of coast, and Cap d'Antibes adds clear coves like La Garoupe and flat rocks to swim from. Private clubs take much of the sand, but there are public stretches in between.

In Monaco, sea bathing mostly happens off the sand. Larvotto is a single short beach, groomed and sheltered by breakwaters, and most other swimming is from hotel pools, beach clubs or rock platforms. The water is just as clear, but for real beach days you would end up taking the train to Menton or Nice.

Monaco has the edge for anyone who wants to eat well, mainly because of its unusual number of starred and grand hotel dining rooms cooking Riviera and Ligurian food. At the Condamine market you can try barbagiuan, the local chard-and-ricotta pastry. The drawback is formality: casual, cheap meals are scarce, and diners dress up.

Antibes is simpler and easier going. The covered market on Cours Masséna, socca and pissaladière, and grilled fish with rosé in the old town lanes make for pleasant eating, though you need to steer clear of the tourist menus near the port.

Monaco has more to see, and it is closely packed. The Rock holds the Prince's Palace and its guard ceremony, the cathedral with Grace Kelly's tomb and the Belle Époque Oceanographic Museum, while Monte-Carlo adds the Casino and the national museum's villas.

Antibes depends on one outstanding sight, the Picasso Museum in the Château Grimaldi, which holds the work he made there in 1946. Around it are the sea ramparts, the old cathedral and the star-shaped Fort Carré. Both can be seen in a couple of days, but Monaco gives you more variety.

Monaco offers more of a night out, though it is a glamorous one. Evenings revolve around the Casino square, hotel bars and glossy clubs at Larvotto and the port, and they peak in summer and on Grand Prix weekend.

Antibes is more casual and more seasonal. Juan-les-Pins has beach bars and a few clubs open late in July and August, while the lanes by Port Vauban have English-speaking pubs full of yacht crews. Out of season both go quiet early.

Both are equally good for the outdoors, but the landscapes differ. Around Antibes the shore is low and rocky. The cape path follows wind-carved limestone past pines, and the red porphyry cliffs of the Esterel and the Gorges du Loup are within reach for proper hikes.

Monaco has mountains right behind the town. You can climb to the Tête de Chien viewpoint or take the old mule path from Èze-sur-Mer up to Èze, and the high Mercantour lies further inland. In both, the clear water is good for snorkelling, diving and paddleboarding.

Both are excellent bases, and the difference is which end of the coast is closest. Antibes is in the middle, with Cannes, the boat to the Lérins Islands, Grasse, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Biot and Vallauris all close by.

Monaco is at the eastern end. Menton, Èze, La Turbie and Villefranche are quick to reach, and the Italian border, with Sanremo and Dolceacqua beyond, is nearer. Cannes and Grasse take longer from here. Choose by whether you lean towards Provence or towards Italy.

For families the two are much the same overall, but they offer different things. Antibes has the better beach for small children, with soft, gently shelving sand where toddlers can paddle, and an easygoing small town around it. Apart from the beach, there is little made for children.

Monaco makes up for its thin beach with the aquarium in the Oceanographic Museum, the palace guard ceremony, a small animal garden and lifts that save little legs on the hills. Formal restaurants and high costs make longer family stays harder there.

Monaco is easier to get around. The principality is only about 3km across, free public lifts and escalators take care of the slopes, and buses and a little harbour ferry fill the gaps. Its station puts the whole coast within easy reach by train.

Antibes is walkable in its old centre, and Juan-les-Pins is a flat half-hour walk away, with trains along the coast. Buses to the cape and the hill villages are slow, though, so inland trips go better by car, and summer traffic and parking on the coast road are a real problem.

Monaco is the place for luxury shopping. The Carré d'Or around the Casino gardens packs fashion houses, jewellers and watchmakers into a short walk, and a covered mall adds a few mainstream labels, though there is little else.

Antibes is small and local by comparison. Its covered market sells olive oil, herbs and soaps, and the old town has independent shops for Provençal linens and ceramics, plus a bric-a-brac market. Glass from Biot and pottery from Vallauris are just down the road.

Neither is cheap, but Antibes is much easier on the wallet. Summer rooms near Juan-les-Pins and on the cape cost resort prices, yet spring and autumn bring big drops, the old town has cheaper meals and the market makes self-catering easy.

Monaco is among the most expensive places anywhere, from hotels to a café coffee, and rates rise further on event weekends. Its pleasures that cost little are walking the Rock and the gardens and riding the free lifts, which is why many visitors stay over the border in Beausoleil or along the coast and come in by train.

Monaco is far stronger here. The Monte-Carlo Opera performs in the gilded Salle Garnier of 1879, the Philharmonic and Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo have international reputations, and the winter-to-spring season is followed by the Printemps des Arts and later an autumn jazz festival.

Antibes has one standout event, Jazz à Juan, held every July under the pines of the Pinède Gould since 1960. The Anthéa theatre covers the rest of the year on a regional scale. For jazz by the sea in July it is a fine choice. For opera or ballet, Monaco is the place.

Monaco has the better offer for a day of treatments. The large thalassotherapy centre beside the Casino continues an old tradition of sea-bathing cures, with heated seawater pools, and several grand hotels have big spas. The Japanese Garden and the ramparts of the Rock make for calm walks.

In Antibes, wellness means a smaller seawater centre and the spas of the Cap d'Antibes hotels, which non-guests can often book. Its restfulness comes more from the pace of May, June and September, with long market mornings and evening strolls along the ramparts.