Antibes or Venice?

Antibes is a beach town in its own right. The sandy, gently shelving shore at Juan-les-Pins and La Salis is close to the old town, and the rocks and coves of Cap d'Antibes give swimming in very clear water.

Venice has sand too, on the Lido, a short boat ride from San Marco, and its shallow sea suits waders. But the water is greenish, getting there takes up part of the day, and most visitors manage one afternoon at most. In both places private beach clubs take much of the sand, with free public stretches between them or at the ends.

Venice is the better place to eat, mainly because of its bacari. They serve cicchetti such as creamed salt cod and sarde in saor at the counter, alongside lagoon cooking from the Rialto market, including cuttlefish risotto made black with its ink. In both towns you need to choose carefully near the obvious spots, San Marco in one and the port in the other.

Antibes eats well in a simpler way. There is the Provençal market on Cours Masséna, Niçoise dishes such as socca and pissaladière, and rosé taken outdoors. It is pleasant, but not a reason to travel.

This is where the gap is widest. In Venice the city itself is the sight: palaces and churches built on water. On top of that come the Doge's Palace, the Basilica of San Marco, Titian in the Frari, the Accademia and the Biennale, and a week does not exhaust it.

Antibes has one strong museum, the Picasso collection in the Château Grimaldi, plus Fort Carré and an attractive old town behind its ramparts. That makes a fine couple of days, and the art villages inland add more, but it is on a different scale.

Neither is a place for nightlife, but Antibes stays up later, at least in summer. In July and August, Juan-les-Pins has beach bars, lounges and a few clubs open into the small hours, and yacht crews fill the pubs and wine bars near Port Vauban.

Venice is liveliest at aperitivo time, with spritzes along the Fondamenta della Misericordia and students in Campo Santa Margherita. After that it goes quiet around midnight. What it offers instead is a silent walk beside the canals.

Antibes has far more of the outdoors on hand. The path round Cap d'Antibes, clear water for snorkelling and diving, sailing in the bay and the red porphyry trails of the Esterel under an hour away make an active trip easy. The pre-Alps above Grasse add proper hikes.

In Venice, nature means the lagoon: marshes around Torcello with herons and flamingos, kayaking, and lessons in Venetian rowing. Everything else nearby is flat, and the mountains are a long trip away.

Both are excellent bases, and the difference is in where you go. From Antibes the coastal railway links Nice, Cannes, Monaco and Menton. Boats cross to the Lérins Islands, and hill villages such as Saint-Paul-de-Vence and Eze lie inland, so your days are spent by the sea or in villages on the hills.

From Venice, fast trains reach art cities: Padua with its Scrovegni Chapel, Verona with its arena, Palladio's Vicenza, and Bologna further off. The lagoon islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello make a day out by boat.

Antibes is easier with young children. Sandy, shelving beaches, a small and safe centre and flat walks round the port and Fort Carré make for simple days, though there is little built for children and August needs early starts.

Children love the boats and car-free alleys of Venice, and Murano's glass furnaces and the Lido go down well. But the stepped bridges are hard work with a pushchair, summer crowds are heavy and playgrounds are scarce. It works best as a short stay with older children.

Once you are there, Venice is the easier place to get about. It is a car-free city where almost everything lies within a forty-minute walk, and water buses run along the Grand Canal and out to the islands. The alleys are confusing, though, and the bridges are hard on wheeled luggage.

Antibes is compact too, with the old town, market and port close together, and its coastal stations put the Riviera within easy reach without a car. Further out it gets harder: buses to the cape and hill villages are slow, and summer traffic and parking make driving a chore.

Venice has far more to shop for. Murano glass, Burano lace, papier-mâché masks, marbled paper and furlane slippers come from workshops still working in Dorsoduro, Castello and on Murano. The big fashion names line Calle Larga XXII Marzo, though imported copies crowd the main routes.

Shopping in Antibes is small-scale: olive oil, herbs and soap at the covered market, and Provençal linens and ceramics in the old town lanes. For fashion, people go to Cannes or Nice, and Biot glass and Vallauris pottery are best bought in their own villages.

Neither is a cheap vacation, but Venice costs more. Rooms in the historic centre, water transport priced for visitors and entry charges at most sights and churches add up quickly. Saving money means eating cicchetti at the counter or staying in Mestre.

Antibes is expensive too, with luxury-resort room rates in July and August and costly beach-club loungers. Still, cheap regional trains, free stretches of beach and market food for self-catering help more, and hotel rates drop sharply in spring and autumn.

Venice has a proper year-round programme. La Fenice runs a full season of opera, ballet and concerts, the Teatro Goldoni stages drama, and the Biennale adds festivals of contemporary work. Vivaldi is played most evenings in churches and scuole grandi, some of it excellent.

Antibes has one great event, Jazz à Juan, held each July under the pines of the Pinède Gould since 1960. Otherwise the Anthéa theatre offers a regional programme, and opera means a trip to Nice.

Neither has a bathing tradition, and in both, a spa day usually means a hotel spa. Antibes adds seawater thalassotherapy, while Venice is about an hour from the thermal pools and hot mud of Abano and Montegrotto.

The calm comes in different forms. Antibes is restful in May, June and September, with market mornings and walks along the ramparts. Venice's quiet comes from having no traffic, and you find it early or late in the day, in Castello, Cannaregio or on Giudecca.