Antibes or Paris?

This is where Antibes is strongest. It has real sand that shelves gently at Juan-les-Pins and La Salis, rocky coves around the cape such as La Garoupe, and a sea warm enough to swim in from June into early October.

Paris has only stand-ins: sand laid on the riverbanks in summer, swimming spots in the Bassin de la Villette and the Seine, and some handsome Art Deco pools. The nearest real coast is the cool Channel at Deauville, two hours away, so anyone who wants beach days is far better off on the Riviera.

Antibes eats well in the Niçoise style: socca, pissaladière, stuffed vegetables, grilled fish and a glass of rosé outdoors, with the covered market on Cours Masséna as the morning ritual. The choice is that of a seaside town, though, and the streets near the port lean on tourist menus.

Paris is one of the world's great food cities, and the gap shows at every level. There is a boulangerie and cheese shop in every neighbourhood, zinc-counter bistros, small inventive neo-bistros in the east of the city and the haute cuisine tradition at the top. Couscous in Belleville and pho in the 13th add more. Food lovers can plan a whole trip around eating in Paris, while in Antibes a good meal is a pleasant part of a beach day.

Antibes has one first-rate sight, the Picasso Museum in the Château Grimaldi on the sea wall. Around it are the old town lanes, the ramparts and Fort Carré above Port Vauban, and two days is enough to see them.

Paris is in another league. The Louvre, Orsay, the Pompidou, the Orangerie and the Sainte-Chapelle could each anchor a trip, and the Haussmann boulevards and the Marais make the walks between them part of the sightseeing. Picasso admirers will find a museum in both, but only Paris can fill a week of museum days.

Nights out in Antibes depend on the season. In July and August there are beach bars and a few late clubs in Juan-les-Pins, and all year there are yacht-crew pubs and wine bars near Port Vauban. Much of it closes out of season, and locals go to Nice for a bigger night.

Paris has a scene all year round, from the crowded bars of Oberkampf, Belleville and the Canal Saint-Martin to the cocktail bars of South Pigalle and clubs playing house and techno until dawn. If evenings out matter to your trip, Paris offers far more.

Antibes has the better outdoors. There is the coastal path around Cap d'Antibes, clear water for snorkelling and diving, and sailing in the bay. The red cliffs of the Esterel and the hiking country above Grasse are both within an hour.

Paris has parks and woods rather than scenery: the Buttes-Chaumont, the Bois de Boulogne and the Bois de Vincennes, and flat cycling routes along the canals. The forest of Fontainebleau, with its climbing boulders, is forty minutes out. It is country for gentle walks and bike rides, with no sea or mountains.

Both cities make excellent bases, and the difference is in the kind of day out. From Antibes the coastal railway links Nice, Cannes, Monaco and Menton, boats cross to the Lérins Islands, and inland are hill villages such as Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Eze and Grasse. These are sea towns and hilltop villages, many of them only a short hop away.

From Paris the trips are to châteaux and cathedrals: Versailles, Fontainebleau, Chartres and Giverny, and by fast train Reims, Rouen and the Loire valley via Tours. These are fuller days of history and art, while the Riviera trips offer sea views and village lanes.

Antibes works for young children mainly because of the sand. Its gently shelving beaches suit them better than the pebble beaches elsewhere on the coast, and the small town is easy to manage. Away from the beach, watching boats in the port and the walk to Fort Carré are about all there is.

Paris has far more to keep children busy. Disneyland and Parc Astérix are close by, and in the city there are the Cité des Sciences, the Jardin d'Acclimatation, the galleries of the Jardin des Plantes and the carousels and toy boats of the Luxembourg. The downsides are metro stairs, crowded trains with a pushchair and small hotel rooms.

In Antibes the old town, the market and the port are easy on foot, and the town's two stations on the coastal line make the other Riviera towns simple to reach. The cape, the hill villages and the Esterel are slow by bus, and summer traffic is heavy.

Paris is easier to get around. Its centre is a walk along the Seine, a metro station is rarely more than a few minutes away, and RER lines reach the airports and Versailles. The difficulties are stairs, rush-hour crowds and pickpockets rather than distance. A car is a burden in Paris but useful for the inland trips from Antibes.

Shopping in Antibes is for small things: olive oil, herbs and soaps from the covered market, Provençal linens and ceramics in the old town lanes, and glass or pottery from nearby Biot and Vallauris. For fashion, people go to Cannes or Nice.

Paris is one of the world's great shopping cities. It has the couture flagships on Avenue Montaigne, Galeries Lafayette and Le Bon Marché, independent designers in the Marais, the covered passages and the huge Saint-Ouen flea market. Of these two, only Paris is worth a trip for shopping.

Antibes costs most in July and August, when rooms near the beaches of Juan-les-Pins and on the cape are priced like a luxury resort and beach-club loungers add more. In spring and autumn hotel rates drop sharply, so going outside high summer and self-catering from the market are the main ways to save.

Paris stays expensive through the year, with small, costly hotel rooms and full-price tickets for the major museums. It does offer more everyday ways to save: free permanent collections in the city's own museums, bakeries and lunchtime set menus, a riverside picnic, and a centre you can mostly walk.

Antibes has one major event, Jazz à Juan, held under the pines at Juan-les-Pins each July since 1960. The rest of the year there is a regional programme at the Anthéa theatre, and for opera people go to Nice.

Paris has the full range all year: the Palais Garnier and the Opéra Bastille, the Philharmonie, church concerts in the Sainte-Chapelle, jazz cellars around the rue des Lombards and cabaret in Pigalle. A jazz fan travelling in July has a reason to choose Antibes. Everyone else will find much more in Paris.

Wellness in Antibes comes from the sea: a thalassotherapy centre near the coast and the spas of the grand hotels on Cap d'Antibes, which non-guests can often book. Its real restfulness is in the pace of May, June and September, with long market mornings and lunches in the shade, while the crowds and traffic of July and August make it far less calm.

Paris offers steam instead, in the tiled rooms and mint tea of the Grande Mosquée hammam and smaller neighbourhood hammams. The city is loud and fast, though, and rest comes in short breaks: an hour on a café terrace or a chair in the Luxembourg gardens.