Barcelona or Cannes?

There is little between them on the beach, but the experience differs. Barcelona's beaches are man-made and run for several kilometres from Barceloneta to Mar Bella, an urban seafront with volleyball nets, after-work swimmers and summer crowds. For quieter sand you take the train out to Sitges, Castelldefels or the Maresme.

In Cannes the beach is the reason for the stay. The Croisette curves along fine sand and calm water, though much of it belongs to private concessions, and the free Plage du Midi lies west of the port. The extra appeal is the rocky swimming on the Lérins islands and the Esterel coves close by.

Barcelona is the far stronger place to eat. Catalan cooking is a cuisine in its own right, and markets such as Santa Caterina and Sant Antoni, tapas bars, vermouth at noon and serious tasting menus give you a different meal every day.

Cannes has good Provençal produce at the Forville market and bouillabaisse in Le Suquet, with pink rosé on every terrace. Beyond the few fine-dining tables, though, the range is narrow and much of the seafront food is predictable.

The gap here is wide. Barcelona has the Sagrada Família, La Pedrera and Park Güell, a Gothic Quarter with Roman walls, Santa Maria del Mar, and museums from the Picasso to the MNAC's Romanesque frescoes, enough for a week.

Cannes offers the castle museum and church at the top of Le Suquet, the Belle Époque palace hotels and the red carpet steps of the Palais des Festivals. It is a pleasant morning, and serious art lovers head along the coast to Antibes or Saint-Paul-de-Vence.

Barcelona's nights run all year and come in many kinds: cocktail cellars in the Born, scruffy Raval bars, outdoor drinking in Gràcia's squares, pintxos on Blai and deep electronic club nights until dawn.

Cannes is a summer and festival town after dark, with beach clubs, champagne and dressing up, and many of the best-known parties are private. Out of season it settles into aperitifs and dinner.

Both have fine landscapes within reach, but of different kinds. Barcelona's outdoors starts at the city edge, with the wooded Collserola hills and the flat Carretera de les Aigües above the rooftops, then Montserrat's pinnacles and the Costa Brava's coastal paths further out.

Cannes looks west to the Esterel, where volcanic red rock drops into deep blue sea, and offshore to the pine paths of Sainte-Marguerite. It also has diving around the islands and winter skiing in the Alpes-Maritimes, which Barcelona can only offer at the far edge of a day trip.

Both are excellent bases, and Cannes is slightly better. Barcelona's fast trains reach Girona's walled town, Figueres's Dalí museum and Roman Tarragona, with Montserrat and Sitges nearer to home.

Cannes has the whole Riviera strung along one coastal railway: Antibes in about fifteen minutes, Nice in half an hour, then Villefranche, Monaco and Menton. Perched villages such as Èze and Saint-Paul-de-Vence, perfume-making Grasse and the Lérins monastery make it easy to see somewhere different every day.

Barcelona keeps children busier. The aquarium, the CosmoCaixa science museum, the zoo, the Tibidabo funfair by funicular and PortAventura an hour away fill a week, and children are welcome in restaurants late into the evening.

Cannes is easy rather than exciting: gentle sandy beaches, a flat Croisette for pushchairs and a boat trip to picnic under the island pines. Little in town is made for children, so families end up travelling to places like Monaco's aquarium.

Barcelona is the easier city to cover at length. A flat centre, wide Eixample streets, a simple metro, trams and bike lanes link everything, and only Park Güell, Montjuïc and Tibidabo involve a climb.

Cannes is small enough to walk end to end in twenty minutes, and the central station makes coastal trains simple. Inland villages, Grasse and the Esterel corniche really need a car, and summer traffic and scarce parking make that tiresome.

Barcelona has the wider shopping. The Passeig de Gràcia gives you the grand avenue, but the interest lies in Born designers, Gràcia's small fashion and craft shops, Raval vintage and record stores, and the Els Encants flea market.

Cannes concentrates its strength in one place: the Paris fashion and jewellery houses facing the sea on the Croisette, with Rue d'Antibes behind for mid-range French fashion. Independent shopping is thin, but Rue Meynadier is good for olive oil, soaps and Provençal fabrics.

Neither is cheap, but Barcelona is noticeably easier on the budget. Hotels and Gaudí entry fees add up, yet set lunches, market counters and good transport passes keep daily costs reasonable.

Cannes is priced for a wealthy crowd near the Croisette, and rooms climb further during the film festival and trade fairs. Picnics from the Forville market, public beaches, spring or autumn visits and staying in a neighbouring town help a lot.

Barcelona has a real stage culture. Opera and ballet at the Liceu, concerts under the stained glass of the Palau de la Música, the symphony at L'Auditori, jazz cellars, flamenco, and Sónar and Primavera Sound in early summer give you something on most nights.

In Cannes the famous festival is closed to most visitors apart from free beach screenings. Outside it there are shows at the Palais, a dance festival and summer concerts in the Le Suquet castle courtyard, and jazz fans go to Juan-les-Pins.

Neither has a bathing tradition, so both offer hotel spas, but the settings differ. Barcelona adds a few Arab-style bath houses in the old town, and calm comes from long lunches, Gràcia terraces and evening walks in Collserola or on Montjuïc, away from a noisy centre.

Cannes has palace hotel spas and seawater thalassotherapy along the coast, and in spring and autumn its calm seafront and slow mornings make it the more restful of the two. In August and festival weeks that calm is gone.