Arles or Zermatt?

Neither town is on the sea, but Arles at least has the Mediterranean within a drive. The Camargue shore at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is about 40km south, and the wide, wild strands of Piémanson and Beauduc beyond Salin-de-Giraud leave plenty of room even in high summer. The water there is shallow and warm, though the mistral and the mosquitoes can spoil a day.

Zermatt has no shore and no bathing lake at all. Its mountain tarns are for photographing the Matterhorn, not for swimming in, so a swim means a hotel pool.

Arles eats better day to day. The Saturday market along the Boulevard des Lices is a proper event, and the cooking draws on its own country: bull stew in red wine, Camargue rice, tiny clams from the delta beaches, all eaten at long lunches on the Place du Forum with local rosé.

Zermatt's best meals are up the mountain, in chalet restaurants around Findeln, Furi and Zum See where you arrive on skis or on foot. The fare is raclette, fondue and air-dried beef with good Valais whites. Cheap eating is hard to find, and both places shut many kitchens out of season.

This is where the two places are furthest apart. Arles holds a UNESCO-listed group of Roman and Romanesque monuments: an arena still in use, the antique theatre, the Alyscamps that Van Gogh painted and the carved portal of Saint-Trophime. The museums add a Roman barge raised from the Rhône and the Gehry tower at Luma, and photography gives the town a modern side.

Zermatt's history is all about climbing. The Matterhorn Museum tells the story of the 1865 first ascent, the mountaineers' cemetery lies beside the church, and old larch barns stand in the Hinterdorf. It is moving, but a morning covers it.

Zermatt has the livelier evenings, but only in winter. Après-ski fills the slope-side bars from late afternoon, and a few bars and small clubs on the main street stay open past midnight at weekends. In summer the hikers go to bed early.

Arles is the opposite. A late dinner on a square and a drink at the café tables are about as far as most nights go. The exception is the Easter and September ferias, when bodegas take over the streets for a few days.

Zermatt is in a different league. The Matterhorn stands over the village, and around it rise dozens of four-thousand-metre peaks and the Gorner Glacier. Lifts reach the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, ski runs cross into Italy and summer trails lead past the Five Lakes to marmots and ibex.

Arles offers flatter, softer country. In the Camargue delta you can watch flamingos and white horses from a saddle or a bike, and the Alpilles ridges have good walking among olives and pines, best in spring and autumn.

Arles makes an excellent base for day trips. 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 walled Aigues-Mortes are all short drives. You could fill a week without repeating yourself.

From Zermatt, every outing starts with more than an hour on the valley train. Sion with its castle hills and Brig with the Stockalper Palace are the best of it, and Saas-Fee is a bus ride away. Most visitors sensibly spend their spare days on the mountain instead.

Zermatt is a little easier with children, mainly because the streets are car-free and everything is a short walk away. Ski schools and nursery slopes at Sunnegga fill the winter, and in summer there are marmots, lakeside paths and the fun of riding cog trains. The thin air at the highest viewpoints can be hard on small children, though.

Arles appeals more to older children who like Roman towers, dark underground galleries, pony rides and flamingos. Summer heat, mosquitoes, cobbles and the need for a car make it harder work with toddlers.

Zermatt is the simpler place to get around. Ordinary cars are banned, so you arrive by train and then walk, with electric taxis and ski buses for the outer lift stations, and the cog railway, funicular and gondolas all start near the centre. The catch is that leaving the valley takes over an hour.

The old centre of Arles is just as walkable, with a free shuttle and a station close by. The Camargue ranches, reserves and beaches, however, really need a car or a bike, because the regional buses are infrequent.

Arles is the better place to browse, though neither town is a shopping destination. The Saturday market sells olive oil, Camargue salt and linens, and the old streets have Provençal printed cottons, santons, gardian shirts and good bookshops full of photography titles.

Zermatt's single main street is mostly Swiss watches, jewellery and souvenirs. Its real strength is ski and mountaineering gear, which is worth knowing if you arrive under-equipped.

Arles costs what a French provincial town costs. Market food, set lunches and mid-range hotels are all reasonable, and one pass covers most of the sights. Car hire and the festival weeks push the bill up.

Zermatt is expensive even by Alpine standards. Rooms, terrace meals and the lifts every visitor uses all cost far more than in most of Europe. Self-catering, supermarket picnics and sleeping down the valley in Täsch soften the blow, but only partly.

Arles has more to offer, especially in summer. Concerts and shows fill the Roman theatre and the arena, the Les Suds festival brings world music to the squares and courtyards for a week in July, and through the warm months the arena also stages the course camarguaise, where the bull is not killed. The town theatre runs a modest season of drama and dance for the rest of the year. For anything more serious, Avignon, Nîmes and Marseille are within reach by train.

Zermatt has no theatre or concert hall, so its calendar rests on two festivals. Zermatt Unplugged brings acoustic sets to tents and mountain stages in spring, and a chamber music festival fills the village church in late summer. Outside those weeks, an après-ski band is about all there is.

Zermatt is better for pampering, with many fine hotel spas that have pools, saunas and mountain views, some of them open to day visitors. The quiet, car-free air adds to the rest, though the mood in peak weeks is more energetic than slow.

Arles relaxes you through its pace rather than its treatments: shaded squares, long lunches, siestas and evenings by the Rhône. A few converted farmhouses in the Camargue and the Alpilles are run as retreats with pools.