Antibes or Zermatt?

Antibes is a true beach town, with long, gently shelving sand at Juan-les-Pins and La Salis and rocky coves such as La Garoupe around the cape. The catch is that private beach clubs take much of the sand and the free stretches fill early in high summer.

Zermatt has no sea and no lake to swim in, and its mountain tarns stay icy even in August. If a swim matters, take a hotel with a pool, or spend some of the trip by a lake or the sea.

Antibes eats better, and more simply. Mornings revolve around the covered market on Cours Masséna, and the town eats Niçoise food: socca, pissaladière, stuffed vegetables, grilled fish and rosé. You do need to avoid the tourist menus near the port.

Zermatt's best meals are up the mountain, in chalets at Findeln, Furi and Zum See. You walk or ski there for raclette, air-dried beef and Valais wines with the Matterhorn in view. The village has a few ambitious kitchens, but the choice is narrower, cheap meals are scarce, and many places close between seasons.

Antibes has more to see. The highlight is the Picasso Museum on the sea wall, which holds the work he made there in 1946. Around it are the lanes and ramparts of the old town, the star-shaped Fort Carré across the harbour and the Villa Eilenroc on the cape, enough for about two days.

Zermatt's history is about mountaineering. The underground Matterhorn Museum tells the story of the first ascent in 1865, the climbers' cemetery lies beside the church, and old larch barns stand on stone slabs in the Hinterdorf. A morning covers it all, and the Gornergrat cog railway, which has been running for well over a century, is the most memorable historic sight.

Antibes is livelier, but only in summer. In July and August, Juan-les-Pins has beach bars and clubs open into the early hours, and the yacht crews fill the pubs by Port Vauban. Nice is close for a bigger night out.

Zermatt's night out is winter après-ski. It starts with ski boots and loud music in the slope-side bars and moves to a few late bars on the main street. In summer the hikers go to bed early.

Zermatt is the outstanding choice for scenery and outdoor sport. The Matterhorn, a ring of four-thousand-metre peaks and the Gorner Glacier are all reached by lift. You can ski into Italy, ski the glacier in summer, walk the Five Lakes trail or the Europaweg, and climb with a guide.

Antibes has gentler outdoor pleasures: the limestone coastal path round the cape, snorkelling and paddleboarding in clear water, and the botanical garden at Villa Thuret. Serious hiking means a drive to the Esterel's red cliffs or the Gorges du Loup.

Antibes is one of the best bases on the Riviera for day trips. Nice and Cannes are minutes away by train, with Monaco and Menton further along the same line. Boats cross to the Lérins Islands, and the hill villages of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Eze and Grasse are close by.

From Zermatt, every outing starts with a long train ride down the valley. Sion, with its castle hills and vineyards, is the best of them, but most visitors spend their spare days higher in the mountains rather than in other towns.

Both work for families, but for different trips. Antibes is a beach vacation: shallow sand that suits small children, plus boats in the port and ice cream on the ramparts. Expect August heat and crowded beaches.

Zermatt suits families who ski or hike. There are no cars, ski schools and nursery slopes at Sunnegga, and marmots to spot on summer walks. Rainy days are hard to fill, though, and the highest viewpoints can be too cold and thin-aired for small children.

Zermatt is the easier place to get around once you arrive. Cars are banned, the village is a compact strip you walk end to end, and the cog railway, the funicular and the gondolas all start in the centre. The drawback is the hour-plus train ride in and out of the valley.

In Antibes, the old town, the market and the port are easy on foot, and the coastal railway is excellent for other towns. Buses to the cape and the hill villages are slow, though, and summer traffic and parking make driving hard work.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Antibes has a little more to browse. It has the covered market for olive oil, herbs and soap, independent shops selling Provençal linen and ceramics, and Biot glass and Vallauris pottery close by.

Zermatt's one main street sells Swiss watches, jewellery and souvenirs. Its real strength is its well-stocked ski and mountaineering shops, which are worth knowing about if you need gear.

Both are costly, but Antibes is far easier on the wallet. In spring and autumn hotel rates fall sharply, the regional trains are good value, and the old town has cheaper places to eat.

Zermatt is expensive at every step: plain hotels, mountain-terrace lunches and the lift passes and train fares that every visitor needs. Self-catering and staying down the valley in Täsch help, but it remains a splurge.

Antibes has the bigger name in live music: Jazz à Juan, held each July since 1960 under the pines by the sea. The Anthéa theatre runs a regional programme the rest of the year.

Zermatt has no stage of its own, but it has two good festivals: Zermatt Unplugged's acoustic sets in spring and chamber music in the church in late summer. Outside those weeks, live music means an après-ski band.

Zermatt is the more restful choice. It has many excellent hotel spas with pools and mountain views, and the car-free streets and clean air make quiet evenings after a day outdoors easy to come by.

In Antibes, wellness means a seawater thalassotherapy centre and the grand hotel spas on the cape. The town is most relaxing in May, June and September, when market mornings and evening walks on the ramparts set the pace, before the July crowds arrive.