Assisi or Saint-Tropez?

This is no contest. Assisi sits in the hills of Umbria, a couple of hours from either coast. Swimming there means the shallow, rather murky lido beaches of Lake Trasimeno or a pool at an agriturismo.

Saint-Tropez has Pampelonne, some 5km of fine pale sand with clear water and public stretches between the beach clubs. Wilder coves lie further south at Escalet, Cap Taillat and Gigaro. From June to September it is a real beach destination.

Assisi feeds you well but plainly: strangozzi with black truffle, Castelluccio lentils, wild boar, torta al testo, Monte Subasio olive oil and Sagrantino from Montefalco. The range is narrow, though. Set menus cluster near the basilica, and the best meals are in side-lane trattorias or agriturismi.

Saint-Tropez gives you more choice and a stronger top end. You get Provençal grilled fish, bouillabaisse and aïoli, the Place des Lices market, the tarte tropézienne and serious hotel dining rooms, all with local rosé. Simple, fairly priced meals are the hard part there.

Assisi has one of Europe's great monuments, the Basilica of San Francesco. Its Lower Church holds frescoes by Cimabue and Simone Martini, and the Upper Church has the Saint Francis cycle given to Giotto. Add the Temple of Minerva, Santa Chiara and the Porziuncola below the walls, and the whole UNESCO-listed town rewards two unhurried days.

Saint-Tropez's highlight is the Annonciade, with its pointillist and Fauvist paintings from the Signac years. The citadel's maritime museum and the ochre lanes of La Ponche complete the picture. It makes a pleasant day, not a reason to travel.

Assisi goes to sleep after dinner. A glass of Sagrantino and a walk through empty floodlit lanes is the evening, and Perugia, half an hour away, is the place for anything livelier.

Saint-Tropez in July and August runs from afternoon beach-club parties at Pampelonne to champagne on the harbour and clubs open until dawn. The scene is moneyed and dress-coded rather than relaxed bar-hopping, and it has faded by October.

Assisi has one fine mountain on its doorstep. The path up Monte Subasio climbs through holm oaks past the Eremo delle Carceri to summit meadows at about 1,290m, and the valley below is gentle cycling country among olive groves. The Valnerina and the Sibillini make bigger days out by car.

Saint-Tropez has more to offer because it adds the sea to the land. The Sentier du Littoral circles the peninsula's capes, the gulf is good for sailing and snorkelling, and the Massif des Maures has cork-oak forest. Port-Cros and Porquerolles form a protected island national park. Summer fire risk can close some trails.

Assisi is one of the best bases in central Italy. Spello is ten minutes away, and Perugia, Spoleto, Gubbio and Todi are all easy to reach, several of them by train. Orvieto's cathedral and the Tuscan towns of Cortona and Montepulciano make longer days.

Saint-Tropez's outings are pleasant but smaller in scale: the hill villages of Ramatuelle, Gassin and Grimaud, the canals of Port Grimaud, wine estates and a boat across the gulf. None of them matches the Umbrian towns in historic weight, and summer traffic makes every trip slower.

Assisi is safe and welcoming, but its frescoed churches call for silence and its stepped streets are hard going with a pushchair. Older children enjoy the Rocca Maggiore and the climb up Monte Subasio. A valley agriturismo with a pool usually keeps a family trip happy.

Saint-Tropez does better because it has what young children want most: sandy, gently shelving beaches at Pampelonne and Gigaro. The adult-focused harbour, high prices and summer traffic count against it, so many families stay in Sainte-Maxime and come over by boat.

Both centres are small enough to walk, though Assisi's means plenty of stairs and slopes. The real difference is getting further afield. Assisi's station in Santa Maria degli Angeli, 4km below the town, has regional trains to Perugia, Spello, Foligno and Spoleto.

Saint-Tropez has no railway, its buses are slow, and its main beaches are several kilometres out of town. In July and August the single road along the gulf jams for hours, so the passenger boats from Sainte-Maxime and Port Grimaud are often the best way in.

Assisi's lanes are full of rosaries and Tau crosses. The worthwhile buys are linens with Assisi embroidery, Deruta ceramics, olive oil and truffle products.

Saint-Tropez offers far more than you would expect from a town its size. The big fashion houses keep summer shops behind the port, alongside resort wear and jewellery, and the leather Tropézienne sandals are still hand-stitched in the old town. The Place des Lices market adds linen, baskets and vintage finds, although much of the town's shopping closes in winter.

The gap is wide, and the money goes in different places. In Assisi the extra costs are few and easy to avoid: a room inside the walls at Easter or on a feast day, or dinner at the tables nearest the basilicas. Sightseeing adds little to the bill, so a modest budget lasts comfortably over several days.

In Saint-Tropez the cost comes with simply being there in summer. A lounger at a beach club, a drink on the harbour and the taxi or parking for every trip out to Pampelonne all add up. Late spring and autumn soften the bill without making it cheap, so money that pays for an easy week in Umbria buys a short and careful stay on the gulf.

Neither town has much of a concert calendar, and in both the serious stage is elsewhere: Perugia for Assisi, Toulon or Nice for Saint-Tropez. What differs is the flavour.

Assisi's music is sacred: organ and choral concerts in its basilicas, plus the medieval song and costume of Calendimaggio in spring. Saint-Tropez has open-air classical and jazz on the citadel in summer, and each May the Bravade procession fills the streets with costumed townspeople carrying muskets.

Neither town has a bathing tradition, and the calm you find in each depends on timing. Assisi's restfulness is spiritual: convent retreats, silent walks to the Eremo delle Carceri and empty lanes once the tour groups leave, with only a few country spas.

Saint-Tropez has polished hotel spas, but high summer there is crowded and loud. Its peace comes in May, June and September, with long lunches and pétanque under the plane trees.