Arles or Biarritz?

Biarritz is built on its beaches. The Grande Plage, the Côte des Basques and the sheltered Port Vieux cove are a short walk from your room, and Anglet's sand runs on to the north. It is the open Atlantic, though, with big waves and strong currents, so swimming means staying between the lifeguard flags.

Arles is a river town, and its sea is about 40km away across the Camargue at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, or further on at the wild strands of Piémanson and Beauduc. The water there is shallow and calm when the mistral drops, and there is plenty of space, but you get little shade or service and need a car to reach it. Treat it as a day out, not the reason for the trip.

Biarritz has the stronger table, because Basque cooking is a full cuisine. Les Halles is the centre of it: Biscay fish, sheep's cheese, Bayonne ham and pintxo counters busy from mid-morning, along with modern bistros and dishes such as axoa and chipirons.

Arles eats well but more narrowly. Gardiane bull stew, Camargue rice and tellines are the local specialities, and the long Saturday market on the Boulevard des Lices is the event of the week. Long lunches on the squares are the pleasure here, but there are fewer restaurants to choose from and many close in winter.

Arles is in another league for sightseeing. Within a short walk stand the arena, the Roman theatre, the cryptoporticus galleries, the Alyscamps that Van Gogh painted and the carved portal of Saint-Trophime, all under one UNESCO listing. The Roman barge in the Museum of Ancient Arles and Gehry's tower at Luma add to the old and the new.

In Biarritz, the history is the resort itself: Empress Eugénie's villa, the Art Deco casino, Belle Époque villas and the footbridge to the Rocher de la Vierge. The aquarium and the Cité de l'Océan are the main museums. Anyone looking for older history goes to Bayonne.

Neither town is a party destination, but Biarritz has more going on, at least in summer. The pintxo bars around Les Halles stay busy late, surfers gather on the terraces above the Côte des Basques at sunset, and a few clubs and the casino keep going after that. San Sebastián's bar streets are a short drive away.

In Arles, the evening usually ends with dinner and a drink on the Place du Forum. Things only get lively during the Easter and September ferias, when bodegas set up in the streets.

Both offer fine outdoor days, but they are very different landscapes. The Camargue at Arles is flat delta country of lagoons, salt flats and rice fields, explored on horseback or by bike along the dykes, with flamingos, white horses and migrating birds. The limestone Alpilles add hill walking among the olive groves.

At Biarritz the outdoors means the water: surf breaks for beginners and experts, paddleboards and kayaks. On land there is the cliff path along the Basque Corniche, and the green Pyrenean foothills around La Rhune and Sare are close by. It is greener and wetter than Provence, without the mosquitoes.

Both make excellent bases, and Arles has a slight edge. Avignon's Papal Palace is about twenty minutes away by train and Nîmes about half an hour, and the Pont du Gard, Les Baux, Saint-Rémy and Aigues-Mortes are all close. You can fill a week with Roman and medieval towns without ever going far.

Biarritz's strength is that its days out span two countries. You can eat pintxos in San Sebastián, walk Bayonne's riverside quarter, visit Saint-Jean-de-Luz and the Basque hill villages, or drive the longer way to the Guggenheim in Bilbao.

Biarritz is easier with children. The aquarium's seals and sharks fill a wet afternoon, surf schools take young beginners, and the Port Vieux cove gives small children calm water. The main drawback is the steep streets, which are hard going with a pushchair.

Arles appeals more to older children who like history and animals. They can climb the arena towers, go into the dark cryptoporticus, ride ponies at a Camargue ranch and see flamingos at the bird park. Expect heat, mosquitoes and a lot of driving.

The two are about equal for getting around, but the walking feels very different. Arles is flat and compact, with every main sight within about fifteen minutes, a free shuttle round the centre and a station close to the old town.

In Biarritz, steps and steep slopes link the cliffs to the beaches. Buses run to Anglet and Bayonne, the airport is on the edge of town, and coastal trains go to the Spanish border. In both places a hire car makes the countryside much easier to reach.

Biarritz is a little better for browsing. Fashion boutiques and surf shops line the streets near the Place Clemenceau, and striped Basque linen, espadrilles and chocolate make good things to take home. Arles is more about crafts and books: Provençal printed cottons, santons, gardian shirts, photography books and the Saturday market's olive oil and Camargue salt. Neither has luxury depth.

Arles is the cheaper stay. It is priced like a provincial French town, cheaper than the smart villages nearby, and a combined pass covers most of its sights. The main extra cost is hiring a car.

Biarritz charges resort prices, especially for summer rooms and seafront meals. You can bring the cost down by eating pintxos at the market counters, coming outside July and August, or staying in Anglet or Bayonne.

Both have small programmes, and each has its own speciality. Biarritz's is dance: a resident ballet company performs at the Gare du Midi, a former station, and an autumn festival fills the town's stages.

In Arles, the shows are outdoors and happen in summer. There are concerts in the Roman theatre and the arena, a week of world music at Les Suds in July, and the course camarguaise and feria brass bands in the streets. Off season, there is little on in either town.

Biarritz is a real wellness destination. Sea bathing has been treated as a cure here since the nineteenth century, and the large thalassotherapy centres on the seafront offer heated seawater pools, algae wraps and cures lasting several days. Outside high summer, the town settles into a calm pace.

Arles has no spa tradition. What it offers is a slow pace: shaded squares, siestas in the heat, evenings by the Rhône, and a few converted farmhouses with pools in the Camargue and the Alpilles.