Bergamo or Cannes?

The beach is Cannes's clearest advantage. Its town beach is a curve of fine sand on calm Mediterranean water, and with the largely free Plage du Midi, the islands and the Esterel coves all within reach, a summer stay can be built around swimming.

Bergamo has no sea at all. In July and August the lidos on Lake Iseo around Sarnico and Lovere make a cooling day out, but the shores are pebble, grass or concrete platforms, and swimming there is an extra rather than a reason to go.

The two are about level at the table, but the food comes from very different landscapes. Bergamo cooks mountain food: casoncelli with butter and sage, polenta, game and valley cheeses such as Taleggio and Strachitunt, with Valcalepio and Franciacorta to drink.

Cannes cooks from the sea and Provence, with bouillabaisse, grilled fish and socca around Le Suquet and the Forville market, and rosé on every terrace. Both have a fine-dining tier. In Cannes, though, much of the waterfront serves predictable food to passing crowds, so it pays to eat in the backstreets.

Bergamo has far more to see. The Città Alta is a nearly complete hilltop town inside UNESCO-listed Venetian walls. Santa Maria Maggiore and the marble front of the Cappella Colleoni stand around Piazza Vecchia, and below the hill the Accademia Carrara holds works by Raphael, Bellini and Mantegna.

Cannes fills a pleasant morning instead: the castle museum and church on Le Suquet, the Belle Époque palace hotels along the Croisette and the red-carpet steps of the Palais des Festivals. For serious art you need to go to Antibes and the villages inland.

Neither town is known for big nights out, but Cannes has more going on in season. From June to September its beach clubs turn into party venues and a few clubs stay open until dawn. The mood is champagne and dressing up. Out of season the town goes to bed early.

Bergamo's evenings are gentler and much the same all year: a long aperitivo around Via XX Settembre or Borgo Santa Caterina, then wine bars, with drinks on the walls in summer, and most people are home by midnight. If you want to go clubbing, take the train to Milan.

Both have fine scenery close by, but of opposite kinds. In Bergamo the Colli park climbs straight up from the upper town, and Val Brembana and Val Seriana lead into the Orobie Alps for rifugi, high lakes and serious summer hiking. Iseo and Como add sailing and cycling.

Cannes looks to the sea and the red rock: trails across the Esterel, pine paths on Sainte-Marguerite and the shore path around Cap d'Antibes, with kayaking and diving offshore. The mountains are further away, and in high summer the risk of fire can close forest trails.

Both make excellent bases, so the choice comes down to what you want around you. Bergamo opens up Lombardy: Milan is under an hour by train, Lake Como and Lake Iseo with Monte Isola are closer still, and Crespi d'Adda, Brescia, Cremona and Verona are all within reach.

From Cannes, one coastal railway covers the Riviera, from Antibes and Nice to Villefranche, Monaco and Menton, and Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Èze and Grasse lie inland. From Bergamo you visit historic cities and art. From Cannes it is seaside towns and perched villages.

Families will find the two about equal, for different reasons. In Bergamo, children love the funiculars and the walls, and Leolandia and the Le Cornelle wildlife park are short drives away, though the cobbled upper town is hard going with a buggy.

Cannes has gently sloping sand and the flat Croisette for pushchairs and scooters, plus the boat to the islands. Little in the town itself is aimed at children, though, and the midsummer heat and crowds need planning around.

Both centres are easy without a car, but they are shaped differently. Bergamo is built on two levels joined by funiculars. Buses run to the airport, a light-rail line goes up Val Seriana and direct trains reach Milan, Brescia and Lecco.

Cannes is flat and compact, with almost everything within a twenty-minute walk, the station in the middle of town and ferries leaving from the old port. In both places, the mountains or hill villages are easier to reach by car, and in Cannes that also means heavy summer traffic and scarce parking.

Cannes is the better place for shopping. The Paris fashion and jewellery houses face the sea along the Croisette, Rue d'Antibes adds a long stretch of mid-range French fashion and chocolatiers, and Rue Meynadier sells olive oil, soaps and Provençal fabrics.

Bergamo's lower town has chains and mid-range fashion under the arcades of the Sentierone, but its real pleasure is food: cheese shops, salumi and Valcalepio wine along the main lane of the upper town. For luxury, shoppers go to Milan.

Bergamo is much the cheaper stay. Hotels in the lower town are fairly priced, trattorias and aperitivo bars are reasonable, and the buses and funicular cost little, which is why many people use it as a base. Rooms inside the Città Alta and summer weekends are the main exceptions.

Cannes is expensive near the Croisette, and far more so during the film festival and trade fairs. Backstreet lunch menus, picnics from the market, the public beaches and staying in a neighbouring town all help, but even then it rarely comes close to Bergamo's costs.

Bergamo has the richer stage life, built on opera. Donizetti was born here, and the Teatro Donizetti runs a season of opera, concerts and theatre plus an autumn festival of his works. Bergamo Jazz adds a long-running spring festival, and La Scala is within reach for an evening.

Cannes is famous for a film festival that most visitors cannot attend, apart from the free screenings on the beach. The rest of the year brings touring shows at the Palais, a philharmonic season, a dance festival and summer concerts in the castle courtyard.

Bergamo is better for a restful stay because it has real spa towns nearby: the Belle Époque thermal spa at San Pellegrino Terme up Val Brembana, and the sulphur springs of Trescore Balneario, used since Roman times. The quiet mornings in the Città Alta help as well.

Cannes has no thermal springs, so wellness there means palace-hotel spas and thalassotherapy centres along the coast. The seafront is calm in spring and autumn, but August and festival weeks are the wrong time to go if you want to unwind.