Arles or Portofino?

Portofino is better for swimming, though neither place is a beach resort. What it offers is the sea itself: deep, very clear water off the rock platforms towards the lighthouse, the small sheltered bay at Paraggi, and the pebble cove below the abbey at San Fruttuoso, which you reach on foot or by boat. The catch is that every spot is small, and most of the sand at Paraggi is taken by paid loungers.

Arles sits inland on the Rhône, so the sea means a drive of about 40km across the Camargue to Saintes-Maries or the huge wild strands of Piémanson and Beauduc. There is far more sand and space, but little shade, plus wind and mosquitoes. It makes a day out rather than the centre of a stay.

Arles is the better place to eat, mainly thanks to the long Saturday market on the Boulevard des Lices and its own local ingredients. Look for gardiane bull stew, Camargue rice, tellines and Alpilles olive oil, eaten over long lunches on the old-town squares. The choice of restaurants is narrow and shrinks in winter, but the produce is the point.

Portofino serves Ligurian classics such as trofie with pesto and the cheese focaccia from Recco, on harbour terraces where much of the bill pays for the yachts in view. There is no market and no everyday eating scene, so keen eaters head to Camogli, Santa Margherita or the trattorie in the hills.

This is the widest gap between the two. Arles packs a UNESCO-listed Roman town into a short walk: the arena, the antique theatre, the cryptoporticus, the Alyscamps and the carved portal of Saint-Trophime. On top of that come the Museum of Ancient Arles with its Roman barge, the Van Gogh connections and Gehry's tower at Luma.

In Portofino the sight is the village itself: the painted houses round the harbour, San Giorgio, Castello Brown and the walk out to the lighthouse, with the abbey of San Fruttuoso around the point. It is a place for atmosphere, seen in a day, with no museum of any size.

Neither is a town for nights out, but Arles has a little more going on. A few bars and the odd music night follow dinner on the Place du Forum, and during the Easter and September ferias, bodegas fill the streets for several late nights.

Portofino's evening is a dressed-up aperitivo facing the yachts and then dinner on the harbour, after which the village goes quiet, especially outside July and August. For anything livelier, people in Arles go to Montpellier or Marseille, and people in Portofino go to Rapallo or Genoa.

Portofino comes out ahead, because steep hiking and a rich sea share one protected headland. Trails climb through holm oak and pine to Monte di Portofino and drop to San Fruttuoso and Punta Chiappa, with chains on some exposed sections. Offshore, the marine reserve gives divers walls of red coral, seagrass meadows and the Christ of the Abyss.

The outdoors around Arles is flat and wide instead: the Camargue's lagoons, salt flats and reed beds, explored on horseback, by bike along the dykes or on foot, with flamingos and migrating birds. The Alpilles add proper walking among olive groves and pines. In both places, spring and autumn are better than the summer heat.

Arles is the stronger base by a clear margin. Avignon and Nîmes are short train rides away, and the Pont du Gard, Les Baux, Saint-Rémy, Aigues-Mortes and Aix are all within easy reach. You could spend a week on Roman ruins, the Papal Palace and hill villages, ideally with a car.

Portofino's outings run along a single coast: Camogli, Santa Margherita and Rapallo by bus or boat, Genoa in under an hour, and the Cinque Terre by summer ferry or by train. Arriving by sea is a real pleasure, but the choice is narrower and takes more planning outside the ferry season.

Arles gives children animals and ruins to clamber over: the arena towers and the dark cryptoporticus in town, then pony rides at a Camargue ranch, flamingos near Saintes-Maries and shallow, gentle sea on the delta beaches. It suits older children best, since most outings need a car, the cobbles are hard on buggies and summer brings heat and mosquitoes.

Portofino is calm and safe, but it is made for adults. Children enjoy the boats, the climb to Castello Brown and swimming off the rocks, though the deep water suits confident swimmers rather than toddlers. Steep steps rule out pushchairs and the sand at Paraggi is mostly paid, so families often stay in Santa Margherita or Rapallo and add a day at Genoa's aquarium.

Both are easy on foot and awkward beyond, but in different ways. Arles is flat, with a free shuttle round the centre and a station close to the old town that has trains to Avignon, Nîmes, Marseille and Montpellier, but the Camargue and the villages really need a car.

Walking in Portofino means steep paths, and the real problem is getting in and out: a single narrow road of about 5km from Santa Margherita, with very little parking. A car is more of a burden than a help there, so the bus and the ferries, which run from spring to autumn, do the work.

Arles sells local crafts and produce, Portofino sells luxury labels, and Arles has rather more to browse. The Saturday market on the Boulevard des Lices brings olive oil, Camargue salt and bric-a-brac. The old town adds printed Provençal cottons, santons, gardian shirts and bookshops well stocked with photography, all on a modest scale.

Portofino fits big fashion and jewellery houses and resort wear into a few lanes behind the harbour, with some Ligurian lace and jars of pesto alongside, and you can see it all in under an hour. For a market or a longer browse, people go to the arcades of Chiavari or into Genoa.

The gap here is huge. Arles costs about what any French provincial town does, and less than the smart villages of the Luberon or the Alpilles. Market food, set lunch menus and a combined pass for the sights help, and the main extras are a hire car and dearer rooms during the festivals.

Portofino is one of the most expensive places to stay in Italy, with few hotels, most of them luxury, and high charges for terraces, loungers, boats and parking. Walking and the local buses are the cheap part, and many people sleep in Camogli or Rapallo and come over for the day.

Arles has a real summer season. There are concerts in the Roman theatre and the arena, the Les Suds world music festival in July, brass bands and bulls at the ferias, and the course camarguaise, where the bull is not killed, plus a modest programme at the town theatre all year.

Portofino has only the occasional summer concert in the piazzetta or at the castle, so anything serious means an evening at Genoa's Teatro Carlo Felice. Outside summer, Arles also sends you elsewhere, to Avignon, Nîmes or Marseille.

Portofino is the more restful stay, as long as you choose your hours and months. The hillside luxury hotels have proper spas and pools, and the shaded coastal paths and quiet mornings over the water are calming. In high summer, though, the midday crowds from the tour boats break the spell.

Arles offers slowness rather than spa treatments: siestas, long lunches, evenings by the Rhône, and a few farmhouses in the Camargue and the Alpilles run as retreats with pools. It has only a handful of spas, and in summer the heat makes resting more about keeping cool than about pampering.