Avignon or Saint-Malo?

Saint-Malo is the place for beaches. The long Sillon sands and small coves lie right under the ramparts, and there is a tidal sea pool at Bon-Secours. The catch is the Channel, which stays cool even in high summer, so a beach day here is more about the sand and watching the tide than long swims.

Avignon has no beach at all. A swim there means the river pools of the Gardon below the Pont du Gard, or a day trip to the Camargue sands. The Mediterranean is warmer, but the drive takes over an hour each way.

Avignon eats better, mostly thanks to its wine. Châteauneuf-du-Pape and the Côtes du Rhône are on the doorstep, Les Halles shows off Provençal produce, and the better bistros are in the side streets around Rue des Teinturiers.

Saint-Malo's table is narrower but has its own pleasures: galettes with cider, salted-butter sweets and oysters eaten by the harbour wall at Cancale. Many of the crêperies inside the walls cater to day-trippers, so the better meals are in Saint-Servan or along the bay.

Avignon has far more to see. The Palais des Papes, the cathedral, the broken bridge and the ramparts form a UNESCO-listed ensemble. The Petit Palais, the Musée Calvet and the Collection Lambert add proper museums, and Villeneuve-lès-Avignon is just across the river.

In Saint-Malo the walled town itself is the attraction, rebuilt after 1944, with a full circuit of ramparts and its history of corsairs. At low tide you can walk out to Chateaubriand's grave on the Grand Bé. That fills a pleasant day, but anyone who wants museums will soon run out.

Neither town is for a big night out, and in both the clubbers head for a larger city: Marseille or Montpellier from Avignon, Rennes from Saint-Malo.

The difference is in style. Avignon's evenings mean wine on café terraces, except in July, when the festival keeps the squares full into the small hours. Saint-Malo leans towards pubs and Irish-style bars inside the walls, which sailors and young visitors keep lively through the summer.

Both have fine country close by, but of opposite kinds. Avignon looks to hills and heat: Mont Ventoux, the ochre trails of the Luberon, the Alpilles, canoeing in the Gardon gorges and the flamingo lagoons of the Camargue.

Saint-Malo is all coast. The GR34 path runs to Pointe du Grouin and the cliffs of Cap Fréhel, and the tides are among the largest in Europe. The Rance and the bay suit kayaking, sailing and kitesurfing, but inland the country is flat farmland.

Avignon is one of the best bases in France for day trips. Nîmes, Arles, Orange and the Pont du Gard bring Roman heritage within half an hour, and the wine villages, the Luberon hilltops and L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue fill several more days.

Saint-Malo has a good list too, led by Mont-Saint-Michel, with Dinan, Dinard by boat and Rennes by train. It has fewer standout destinations, though, and from both towns the villages are easiest to reach by car.

Saint-Malo is the easier choice for families. In the town itself, children get sandcastles, the sea pool, the ramparts with their pirate stories and the Grand Aquarium for wet days. Parents need to watch the fast tides, and the water is cold for small swimmers.

Avignon has a few things children enjoy: the tablet tour of the palace, the broken bridge and the playground on the Rocher des Doms. Most family days out, though, mean driving to the Pont du Gard or the Camargue, and the July heat is hard on young children.

Inside their walls both are walking towns, and in both it gets harder once you leave.

Avignon's lanes are cobbled and its squares windy, but regional trains to Arles, Nîmes and Marseille make car-free trips realistic. Saint-Malo has a seafront promenade to the beaches, local buses and a boat to Dinard, but its trains lead mainly to Rennes and Paris, so Mont-Saint-Michel and the coast need a car or a tour.

Neither town is a shopping destination, and both send serious shoppers elsewhere. The difference is what you take home. In Avignon it is Provençal cottons, lavender, olive-wood and wine, with antiques out at L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. In Saint-Malo it is striped sailor tops, faience, salted butter and caramels, with Rennes for fashion.

Both are popular French stops priced to match, and both are kinder out of season. In Avignon prices peak in July, when the festival sends room rates up, and a hire car adds to the cost of seeing the countryside.

Saint-Malo's expensive months are July and August, when the beachfront rooms sell out. Galettes and cider keep meals modest, and walking and buses keep transport costs low. The bill climbs with seafood platters.

Avignon is in a different league. In July the Festival d'Avignon fills the Cour d'honneur of the Palais des Papes, and the Off packs every cellar and courtyard with shows. All year round, the Opéra Grand Avignon, small theatres and a jazz club keep the stages busy.

Saint-Malo's cultural calendar rests on a few festivals: La Route du Rock for indie music, Étonnants Voyageurs for books and Quai des Bulles for comics. Beyond these and a modest theatre season, there is little on most nights.

Saint-Malo has a real wellness tradition in thalassotherapy. There is a thalasso centre with heated seawater pools on the Sillon seafront, and out of season the empty sands at low tide make for slow walks.

Avignon has no bathing culture, only hotel spas and a few day spas. Rest there means long lunches under the plane trees or a farmhouse with a pool outside town, and July or a long mistral can break the calm.