Black Forest or French Riviera?

On beaches the two are not close. The Black Forest has no coast, so swimming means Titisee, Schluchsee or a heated spa pool. The water only gets to around 20°C in high summer, which is nice after a hike but not a reason to go.

The Riviera is built around the sea. Nice and Menton have long pebble beaches, there is sand at Cannes, Juan-les-Pins and Pampelonne, and the red rocks of the Esterel hide clear coves. The drawbacks are private concessions on much of the best sand and packed public stretches in July and August.

Both regions eat seriously, and each has a cluster of top restaurants: Baiersbronn in the northern forest, and the stretch from Menton to Cannes on the coast. The Black Forest's table is hearty upland cooking with a French accent, such as smoked ham, trout, venison and Flammkuchen, served with Kaiserstuhl Pinot in seasonal farm wine taverns.

The Riviera has the edge because Nice has a whole cuisine of its own, including socca, pissaladière and stuffed vegetables, plus markets full of olives, citrus and herbs. Casual and varied eating is easier there too, while in the forest it thins out beyond Freiburg. The one thing to avoid is the set menus on the seafront.

The Riviera has more to see, mainly thanks to the modern art made on its own shore. There are the Matisse and Chagall museums in Nice, Picasso in the Grimaldi castle at Antibes, Matisse's chapel at Vence and the Fondation Maeght. Monaco's palace and Nice's baroque old town add older layers.

The Black Forest's heritage is scattered in smaller pieces. Its highlights are Freiburg's red sandstone Minster, Baden-Baden's spa quarter, half-timbered towns such as Gengenbach and Schiltach, and the monastery at Maulbronn. It makes a gentle tour by car rather than a run of major museums.

If you want to go out, the Riviera is the place, at least from June to September. Saint-Tropez and Monaco have beach clubs and table-service clubs, Cannes and Juan-les-Pins have late bars, and Nice's old town and port offer pubs and wine bars at a more ordinary level. It is expensive everywhere, and the resorts go quiet out of season.

In the Black Forest most evenings end with dinner at the inn. Freiburg's student pubs and summer beer gardens make for a decent night, and Baden-Baden has its casino, but there is little beyond that.

Both are excellent outdoor destinations, but of different kinds. The Black Forest is rounded, wooded walking country. You can follow the Westweg along the whole range, hike the Wutach Gorge and the Triberg waterfalls, and look out from the Feldberg to the Alps. Mountain biking is strong, and summer is the main hiking season.

On the Riviera, mountains meet the sea. There are coastal paths round the capes, red Esterel rock above deep water, and diving and kayaking. Inland, the high Mercantour has larches and chamois. Spring and autumn are its walking seasons, because summer heat and wildfire closures shut some areas.

The Black Forest is the stronger base for day trips because it sits on two borders. Strasbourg's cathedral, Basel, Colmar and the Alsace wine villages, Heidelberg and Lake Constance are all within easy reach, so a week can cover three countries and some major old towns.

The Riviera's outings are close together but similar. You can reach Monaco, Menton, Villefranche, Eze and Saint-Paul-de-Vence by train or bus, take a boat to the Lérins islands, or cross into Italy at Ventimiglia. They are pleasant, but often variations on a pretty village, with no single excursion as big as Strasbourg.

The Black Forest is the easier choice with children. Europa-Park alone fills several days, and the forest adds toboggan runs, treetop walks, wildlife parks, cable cars and pedal boats on Titisee. Farm stays make a natural base. The main cost is time spent driving between sights.

The Riviera works for families mostly as a beach trip, with gently shelving sand at Juan-les-Pins and Fréjus and the aquarium in Monaco. Against that are summer heat, expensive family rooms and hill villages that are impossible with a pushchair.

The Riviera is simpler without a car. One coastal railway links Cannes, Antibes, Nice, Monaco and Menton, so a base near a station covers most of a stay. The hard parts are the hill villages and Saint-Tropez, which has no railway and jammed roads in summer.

The Black Forest has the fast Rhine valley line, scenic railways up to Triberg and Titisee, and free transport cards from many hosts. Rural buses are sparse, though, so linking waterfalls, lakes and villages in one day really calls for a car on slow, winding roads.

For shopping the Riviera is clearly ahead. It has luxury boutiques on the Croisette and around the Monte-Carlo casino, and Nice's department stores. It also has crafts with real character: perfume in Grasse, bubbled glass in Biot, pottery in Vallauris and the Provençal markets.

The Black Forest's offer is narrower. It has cuckoo clocks and wood carving around Triberg, fruit brandy, Freiburg's independent shops and a small upmarket quarter in Baden-Baden.

The Black Forest is the cheaper trip. Valley guesthouses and inn meals are fairly priced, and free local transport cards save real money. Baden-Baden, the top restaurants and Europa-Park are what push the bill up.

In summer the Riviera is among the most expensive places in Europe, especially Saint-Tropez, Monaco and Cannes. You can soften the cost by basing yourself in Nice, using the cheap regional trains and free beaches, and travelling in May, June or September.

The two are close here, with the Riviera slightly ahead, and the real difference is style and season. The Black Forest's strength is classical music centred on Baden-Baden's huge Festspielhaus and its Easter festival. Freiburg adds its theatre and baroque ensemble, and the villages have brass bands at Fastnacht.

The Riviera's year has two halves. In winter there is opera, ballet and the philharmonic in Monte-Carlo's gilded opera house. In summer there is jazz in the pine grove at Juan-les-Pins and on Place Masséna in Nice, plus open-air concerts in village squares.

Wellness is the Black Forest's outstanding strength. Baden-Baden has the domed Friedrichsbad and the Caracalla baths. Around it are spa towns such as Badenweiler and Bad Wildbad, and the forest adds sauna-equipped guesthouses and quiet walks, so rest becomes the point of the whole trip.

On the Riviera, wellness means thalassotherapy and grand hotel spas on the capes and in Monaco. These are private and costly, and in July and August the resorts around them are anything but restful.