Assisi or Monaco?

Assisi has no beach to speak of. The nearest swimming is at the small lidos of Lake Trasimeno, about 45 minutes by car, where the water is warm but shallow and a little murky, so most visitors settle for a hotel or agriturismo pool.

Monaco is a real sea town, even if its beach is short. Larvotto is groomed and sheltered behind breakwaters with clear water, and the rocky platforms, Cap d'Ail's coves and the longer beaches of Menton and Nice add plenty of choice along the coast.

Assisi feeds you well in a simple, rural way: strangozzi with black truffle, Castelluccio lentils, torta al testo, Monte Subasio olive oil and Sagrantino from Montefalco. The range is narrow, though, and the tables nearest the basilicas often cater to tour groups, so the good meals are in side-lane trattorias and country agriturismi.

Monaco offers more scope, mostly at the top end, with an unusual number of grand hotel dining rooms cooking Riviera and Ligurian food. Its own barbagiuan, socca and fougasse at the Condamine market give it a local flavour, but cheap, casual eating is scarce.

Assisi has the greater sight by far. The two stacked churches of the Basilica of San Francesco hold frescoes by Cimabue, Simone Martini and the Giotto cycle, and the town around them adds the Roman Temple of Minerva, Santa Chiara and the Porziuncola below the walls.

Monaco's sights are polished rather than profound: the Prince's Palace and its guard ceremony on the Rock, Grace Kelly's tomb in the cathedral, the Belle Époque Oceanographic Museum and the Casino. Both towns take a day or two, but Assisi gives that time far more weight.

Assisi falls silent after dinner, its floodlit lanes empty by eleven, and anyone wanting a late drink heads to Perugia. Monaco at least has a scene, though a narrow one: hotel bars around the Casino square and glossy clubs at Larvotto and the port, liveliest in summer and on Grand Prix weekend, with nothing casual or underground.

Monaco gets the edge because it puts sea and mountains together. Limestone cliffs rise straight behind the town, the old mule path climbs from Èze-sur-Mer to Èze, coastal footpaths circle Cap d'Ail and Cap Martin, and the clear water suits snorkelling, diving and paddleboarding.

Assisi's outdoors are gentler and greener. Monte Subasio's park leads through holm-oak woods to the Eremo delle Carceri and open summit meadows, and the flat valley floor is good cycling country among olive groves and vineyards, with the Sibillini further off by car.

Both are excellent bases, but for very different journeys. From Assisi the outings are to hill towns and art: Spello, Perugia, Spoleto, Gubbio, Todi and Orvieto's cathedral, with trains along the valley but a car needed for the smaller places.

Monaco's trips run along the coast instead, to Villefranche, Nice, Menton, Antibes and over the border to Sanremo and Dolceacqua, and nearly all of it is reachable without a car.

Monaco is the easier place with children. The aquarium with its sharks and turtles, the gentle water at Larvotto, the palace guards and free lifts that spare little legs give it a couple of good days, even if the formal restaurants wear thin.

Assisi is safe and welcoming but made for adults, with frescoed churches that need silence and stepped streets that defeat pushchairs. Older children enjoy the Rocca Maggiore and Monte Subasio, but families do best staying at a valley agriturismo with a pool.

Monaco is easier to move around. Its 3km length is linked by free public lifts, escalators, local buses and a little harbour ferry, and the station puts the whole Riviera within reach by train.

Assisi's walled centre is compact but climbs steeply from the basilica to Piazza del Comune, and the station sits 4km below in Santa Maria degli Angeli, reached by bus or taxi. Beyond the valley rail line, exploring Umbria really means hiring a car.

Neither is a broad shopping destination, but Monaco gives more reason to browse. The Carré d'Or around the Casino gardens packs fashion houses, jewellers and watchmakers into a short walk, though there is little beyond luxury.

Assisi's streets are lined with rosaries and Franciscan souvenirs. The things worth taking home are local: embroidered Umbrian linens, Deruta ceramics, olive oil, truffles and Sagrantino.

Assisi is the far kinder choice for the wallet. The basilicas are free to enter, convent guesthouses offer simple rooms at low cost, and eating a lane or two away from the main streets keeps meals reasonable.

Monaco is among the most expensive places anyone can visit, from hotel rooms to a café coffee. The free lifts and walks round the Rock cost nothing, but many visitors stay in Beausoleil, Menton or Nice and come in for the day.

Monaco has a proper stage for a town its size: the Monte-Carlo Opera in the gilded Salle Garnier, an internationally known philharmonic and ballet company, and the Printemps des Arts festival from winter into spring.

Assisi's music is sacred and occasional, with organ recitals and choral concerts in the basilicas and the medieval song and costume of Calendimaggio in spring. For opera or jazz, visitors go to Perugia.

For treatments, Monaco is better equipped, with a large thalassotherapy centre beside the Casino, heated seawater pools and sizeable spas in the grand hotels.

Assisi offers a different kind of rest: convent retreats, silent walks to the Eremo delle Carceri and evenings of deep stillness once the tour groups leave, with only a few spas in valley hotels.