Biarritz or Colmar?

There is no real contest here. Biarritz has the Grande Plage, the Côte des Basques under its cliffs, the sheltered Port Vieux cove and kilometres of sand towards Anglet. The Atlantic is cool for much of the year, though, and the surf means swimming between the lifeguard flags.

Colmar lies inland on the Alsace plain, so a swim means a municipal pool or a small lake up in the Vosges. Anyone who wants the sea should pick Biarritz.

The two are evenly matched at the table, but they eat very differently. Biarritz is Basque and coastal: fish from the Bay of Biscay, chipirons, piperade and pintxos at the bars around Les Halles, with Irouléguy or Txakoli to drink.

Colmar's cooking is heavier and built around wine. There is choucroute, baeckeoffe and tarte flambée in wood-panelled winstubs, and you can taste Riesling and Gewurztraminer at the cellars in nearby villages. Both towns have a few ambitious tables, little beyond their regional cuisine and tired menus on their busiest streets.

Colmar is much the stronger choice for sightseeing. Its old town holds together as one late-medieval and Renaissance whole, from the Maison Pfister to the canals of Petite Venise, and the Isenheim Altarpiece at the Unterlinden Museum is reason enough to make the trip.

Biarritz's heritage is the resort itself: the imperial villa, the Art Deco casino, the headland villas and the Rocher de la Vierge. It is pleasant to wander, but its museums are the aquarium and the ocean centre, so for serious art or an old town you need a day in Bayonne or San Sebastián.

Neither is a place for a big night out, but Biarritz has more going on in summer. There are wine and pintxos at the bars around Les Halles until late, sundowners above the Côte des Basques, a few clubs and the casino.

Colmar's evenings end with dinner and perhaps a glass in a wine bar near Petite Venise, and the streets go quiet early. For anything livelier, from Biarritz you drive to the bar streets of San Sebastián, while from Colmar you take the train to Strasbourg.

Both have plenty of outdoors within easy reach, but of opposite kinds. Biarritz is about the ocean: surf schools on the Côte des Basques and at Anglet, paddleboarding and kayaking on calmer days, the clifftop path towards Spain and La Rhune in the Pyrenean foothills.

Colmar looks to the hills instead, with vineyard paths between wine villages, the Route des Crêtes over the forested Vosges, glacial lakes and easy cycling along the wine route. Choose Biarritz for water sports and Colmar for walking and cycling. In both places a car opens up much more.

Both are excellent bases, and from both you can cross into another country. From Biarritz, San Sebastián is under an hour away, Bayonne is next door and Saint-Jean-de-Luz is a short train ride. Inland lie Basque villages such as Espelette and Ainhoa, and Bilbao makes a long day by car.

Colmar's choices sit closer together. Eguisheim, Riquewihr and Kaysersberg are a few kilometres apart, Strasbourg is half an hour by train, and Basel and Freiburg are about an hour away. Here the days out are wine villages and Rhine cities rather than coast and mountains.

Families are equally well served, in different ways. Biarritz is a summer beach town where children learn to surf and toddlers paddle in the Port Vieux cove, with the aquarium for wet days. The big waves and steep streets need care.

Colmar is flat and easy with a pushchair, with boat rides through Petite Venise and storks on the roofs. Its real draws are outside town: the stork park at Hunawihr, the macaques at Kintzheim and Europa-Park across the Rhine. You need a car for most of them.

Biarritz is the harder town to cover on foot. The centre, Les Halles, the main beaches and the lighthouse are close together, but steep streets and steps connect the cliffs to the seafront. Buses run to Anglet and Bayonne, coastal trains go to Saint-Jean-de-Luz and the Spanish border, and the airport is on the edge of town.

Colmar's old town is flat and compact. Petite Venise and the museums are a few minutes apart, and the station is a short walk from the centre. Trains reach Strasbourg and Mulhouse quickly and continue to Basel. Buses to the villages and hills are sparse around both towns, but near Colmar a bicycle on the vineyard roads is a good alternative to hiring a car.

Biarritz has the slight edge for browsing, mainly because it has clothes to buy. Between the Place Clemenceau and Les Halles, fashion boutiques sit next to surf shops, so you can leave with a wetsuit or a summer outfit as well as striped Basque linen, a pair of espadrilles and a box from one of the chocolatiers.

Colmar is better for presents you eat, drink or keep in the kitchen. You can buy a case of Riesling straight from the grower, glazed Soufflenheim pottery or a kougelhopf mould, and gingerbread from the covered market. In December the Christmas markets turn the old town into one long shopping trip. Neither town has department stores or much luxury, so in both you browse rather than shop seriously.

Colmar is easier on a budget. Set lunches, regional wine and village tastings keep daily costs moderate, though rooms are expensive in summer and in the Christmas market weeks.

Biarritz charges like the fashionable resort it is, with expensive rooms and seafront restaurants in July and August. Eating pintxos at the market counters, staying in Anglet or Bayonne and coming outside summer all bring the bill down.

Biarritz has more to offer on stage. Its national choreographic centre has its own ballet company, which performs at the Gare du Midi, and an autumn dance festival fills the town's stages.

Colmar has a small municipal theatre where the Opéra national du Rhin performs on tour, plus a classical music festival in early July and a jazz festival in autumn. Outside those weeks, serious opera or orchestral concerts mean a trip to Strasbourg or Basel.

Wellness is one of Biarritz's clear advantages. Its thalassotherapy centres on the seafront, with heated seawater pools, hydrotherapy and multi-day cures, are a reason to come in their own right, and the town is calmest outside July and August.

Colmar has no bathing tradition and only hotel spas. Instead it offers a slow rhythm: evenings by the canals and unhurried walks through the vines once the day-trippers have gone.