Avignon or Cannes?

On beaches the two are barely comparable. Avignon sits inland on a Rhône that is too fast to swim in. A summer swim means half an hour's drive to the green pools of the Gardon below the Pont du Gard, or well over an hour to the Camargue sands at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. That makes a day out, not a daily habit.

In Cannes the beach is the heart of a summer stay. There is fine sand along the Croisette and the wider, mostly free Plage du Midi, plus a short boat ride to rocky swimming spots on the Lérins islands. The red coves of the Esterel are just to the west.

Both towns eat Provençal food at much the same standard, but from different sides of Provence. Avignon cooks from the land, with daube, lamb with herbs and tians, and wine is its strength: Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Côtes du Rhône are poured by the glass, and Les Halles on Place Pie cooks lunch at its counters.

Cannes cooks from the sea, with bouillabaisse, grilled fish and socca around the Forville market, and pink rosé on every terrace. It also has a fine-dining tier in the palace hotels and up towards Mougins. In both towns, the best tables are away from the main squares and the waterfront.

Avignon is far richer in sights. The Palais des Papes is the largest Gothic palace in Europe and the centre of a UNESCO-listed group with the cathedral and the broken Pont Saint-Bénezet. Almost 4km of ramparts enclose cardinals' mansions and museums ranging from the Italian primitives of the Petit Palais to contemporary art at the Collection Lambert.

Cannes has the castle museum and church on Le Suquet, the Belle Époque hotels of the Croisette and the red-carpet steps of the Palais des Festivals. You can see it all in a morning.

Cannes is the better place for a night out, though both towns depend on the season. From June to September, its beach clubs turn into party venues, a handful of clubs stay open until dawn and the lanes behind the old port fill with cocktail bars. The mood is champagne and dressing up.

Avignon goes out more gently, with an aperitif on Place Pie and a few student bars. The streets go quiet by midnight, except in July, when the festival keeps the terraces full until the small hours.

Both have fine country close by, but of different kinds. Around Avignon it is land: the bare summit of Mont Ventoux at 1,910m, the Luberon's ochre trails, the Dentelles and Alpilles, canoeing down the Gardon, and the flamingos and white horses of the Camargue.

Around Cannes it is the coast: the red volcanic rock of the Esterel, pine paths on Sainte-Marguerite, the shore path round Cap d'Antibes, and sailing and diving around the islands, with skiing inland in winter. Each has its own hazard: the mistral in Avignon, and summer fire closures on Cannes's forest trails.

Both make superb bases, and Avignon has the edge in depth. Within half an hour are the arenas of Nîmes and Arles, the theatre at Orange and the Pont du Gard, which together make up some of the finest Roman heritage outside Italy. Further out are the wine villages around Châteauneuf-du-Pape and the Luberon hill villages, though these need a car.

From Cannes, the coastal train runs to Antibes's Picasso museum, Nice, Monaco and Menton. Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Grasse and the Lérins monastery are all close too. The trips are easier without a car, but they are mostly Riviera towns rather than ancient sites.

Cannes is the easier family choice. Its sandy beaches slope gently into calm water, the flat Croisette suits pushchairs and scooters, and there are carousels along the way. The boat to the pine woods of the Lérins islands makes a good outing.

Avignon has a few treats for children: the augmented-reality tour of the Palais, dancing on the bridge from the song, and the playground on the Rocher des Doms. But the cobbled lanes are hard work with a pushchair, and the real family days out, such as swimming at the Pont du Gard, need a car.

Both centres are walkable in about twenty minutes. Cannes has a slight edge because its station is right in town and the coastal train covers most of its day trips. The steep climb up Le Suquet and the summer traffic are its drawbacks.

Avignon's walled centre is just as easy on foot, but the TGV station is outside the walls and reached by a shuttle train. Regional trains serve Arles, Nîmes and Orange well, but the vineyards and Mont Ventoux really need a hire car.

Avignon is the place to shop for Provence rather than for clothes. Its main street from the station is mostly chain stores, so the real browsing is in the lanes around Rue Joseph Vernet and Rue des Marchands, among printed cottons, lavender, soap and olive-wood. Many visitors bring home more from the market stalls and the wine cellars than from the shops. Serious antiques hunters drive out to L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.

Cannes gives a shopper far more to do. The Paris fashion and jewellery houses line the seafront in numbers you would not expect in a town this size. One street back, Rue d'Antibes covers the middle range with French labels, shoes and chocolatiers. Rue Meynadier sells olive oil, cheese and Provençal fabrics as well, so you still get a taste of Provence here.

Avignon is noticeably cheaper. Outside July it costs what a provincial French town does, with fair set lunches in the side streets and good wine bought direct from producers. The main extra cost is a hire car for the countryside. The festival is the exception, when rooms inside the walls are booked far ahead at steep rates.

Cannes is expensive almost all year, and dearer still during the film festival and trade fairs. Public beaches, picnics from Forville and staying in a neighbouring town help, but the seafront is priced for a wealthy crowd.

Avignon is far ahead. The Festival d'Avignon, founded in 1947, stages major productions in the Cour d'honneur of the Palais des Papes. Alongside it, the Off fills every cellar and courtyard with well over a thousand shows a day. The rest of the year, the opera house on Place de l'Horloge, a dozen small theatres and a jazz club keep a steady programme.

Cannes's famous festival is a closed industry event, though the public can watch free open-air screenings on the beach. Beyond that, it has concerts at the Palais, a dance festival, summer concerts in the castle courtyard and the jazz festival at nearby Juan-les-Pins.

Neither has a bathing tradition, but Cannes offers a little more. There are polished spas in the Croisette palace hotels, thalassotherapy centres along the coast and calm evening walks by the bay in spring and autumn.

In Avignon, relaxing usually means leaving the walls for a farmhouse guesthouse with a pool among the vineyards. When the mistral blows for days, it can wear on the nerves. Both towns are poor choices for rest during their festival weeks.