Cannes or Florence?

This is where Cannes clearly wins. The Croisette curves along fine sand above calm Mediterranean water. The private concessions are broken up by public stretches, and the wider Plage du Midi is mostly free. For clearer water there are rocky spots on the Lérins islands, the red-rock coves of the Esterel and the sandy bays at Juan-les-Pins, all close by.

Florence sits inland in the Arno valley, and swimming is not part of a normal stay. The Versilia beaches near Viareggio are about an hour and a half away by train, which takes a whole day. In the heat, most visitors cool off in a hotel pool or one of the city's public pools.

Florence is the better place to eat. Its cooking is earthy and distinctive: thick bistecca, ribollita, chicken-liver crostini and lampredotto sold from street carts. The Mercato Centrale and Sant'Ambrogio show what locals buy, Chianti is poured by the glass, and the family trattorie in the Oltrarno reward a little searching.

Cannes has good Provençal produce at the Forville market and bouillabaisse and socca in the bistros of Le Suquet. Beyond that the range is narrow, and much of the seafront serves tired food at high prices. Its best cooking is in the palace hotels and up in Mougins.

The gap here is wide. Florence is where the Renaissance took shape, and its compact centre is packed with the results: the Duomo and Baptistery, the Uffizi's Botticellis and Leonardos, the Bargello's sculpture, the Pitti Palace and the Medici Chapels. The big museums need booking ahead.

Cannes is pleasant to look at rather than full of sights. There is the castle museum and church at the top of Le Suquet, the Belle Époque villas along the Croisette and the famous red-carpet steps. Serious art lovers based in Cannes end up taking the train to Antibes or Nice.

Neither city is a place for big nights out, but the style is different. Cannes is glamorous and seasonal. From June to September the beach clubs on the Croisette turn into party venues, a few clubs stay open until dawn and champagne is the drink. Off-season the town goes to bed early.

Florence is steadier and more relaxed. Evenings start with aperitivo and end in a wine bar, with crowds drinking outside on Piazza Santo Spirito and a more local crowd around Sant'Ambrogio. The clubs are few, so it suits long dinners better than dancing.

Cannes has the wilder scenery. The volcanic red rock of the Esterel drops into a deep blue sea, the Lérins islands have pine paths, and the coastal footpath runs around Cap d'Antibes. There is also sailing, kayaking and diving, and in winter the Alpes-Maritimes ski slopes are within reach.

Florence's countryside is gentler and more cultivated. There are olive terraces at Fiesole, cypress-lined cycling lanes through Chianti and, further out, the beech forests of the Casentino and the marble peaks of the Apuan Alps. Both cities are best for walking in spring and autumn, since summer heat closes Esterel trails and wears out walkers in Tuscany.

Both are excellent bases, but Florence has more truly great places close by. Siena, Pisa and walled Lucca are about an hour away, San Gimignano and Volterra are easy by car, and Bologna is under forty minutes by fast train. You could spend a week on day trips without running out of historic towns.

From Cannes the trips follow the coast: Antibes and its Picasso museum, Nice's old town, Monaco and Menton by train, plus the perched villages of Saint-Paul-de-Vence and Èze. They are lovely, but more alike in character than Tuscany's mix of cities, hill towns and wine country.

Cannes is the easier of the two with children, mainly because of the beach. Shallow sandy water, the flat promenade for pushchairs and scooters, and picnics in the Lérins pine woods fill the days without much planning.

Florence takes more effort. Children usually enjoy climbing Giotto's bell tower, the secret passages of Palazzo Vecchio, the globes at the Museo Galileo and the Boboli lawns, and the Pinocchio park at Collodi is about an hour away. Narrow pavements, summer crowds and July heat wear young legs down quickly.

Florence is simpler on foot. The Duomo, Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio, Accademia and Pitti Palace are all within about twenty minutes of each other, so many visitors hardly use transport, apart from trams to the airport and small buses up to Fiesole. Do not bring a car into the restricted historic centre.

Central Cannes is also compact and flat, apart from the climb up Le Suquet. However, much of a stay there happens elsewhere. Regional trains along the coast and the island ferries work well, but Grasse, the perched villages and the Esterel corniche are easier by car, and summer traffic and parking are a struggle.

Florence is the better shopping trip, because so much of what it sells is made there. There are leather workshops and the San Lorenzo stalls, marbled paper, goldsmiths on the Ponte Vecchio, and gilders and framers in the Oltrarno, with Via de' Tornabuoni for Italian fashion houses. Look closely at the leather, as quality varies.

Cannes is about polish rather than craft. The big Paris fashion and jewellery houses face the sea along the Croisette, and Rue d'Antibes has mid-range French fashion and chocolatiers. Rue Meynadier is good for olive oil and Provençal soaps, and for perfume you go up to Grasse.

Neither is cheap, but Florence is easier on the budget. Museum and Duomo tickets add up, but lampredotto stalls, market lunches, cheap house wine and a centre you can walk keep daily costs down. Staying across the river or visiting in winter helps most.

Cannes is priced for a wealthy crowd, especially in summer and during the film festival and trade fairs, when rooms cost far more. Public beaches, Forville picnics and the cheap coastal trains help. Many visitors save by staying in a neighbouring town.

Florence has the stronger and more reliable programme. Opera more or less began here, the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino stages opera, concerts and ballet through the season, and the spring Maggio Musicale is one of Europe's oldest music festivals. Many visitors settle for church concerts aimed at tourists.

Cannes's famous festival is closed to most people, though the free beach screenings let you share a little of it. The rest of the year there are touring shows at the Palais, the regional orchestra, a respected dance festival and summer concerts in the Le Suquet castle courtyard. Jazz fans have the long-running festival at nearby Juan-les-Pins.

Rest in Cannes comes from the sea and the palace hotels, while in Florence it means leaving town. On the Croisette the grand hotels have polished spas with sea-mineral and Provençal plant treatments, and thalassotherapy centres line the coast. The pace does the rest: slow coffee on a terrace and an evening walk along the bay in spring or autumn, away from festival weeks and the August crowds.

Within its walls Florence offers only hotel and day spas, and the centre is seldom calm in high season, though the Boboli and Bardini gardens help early in the day. Its real bathing culture lies outside. The old thermal halls of Montecatini Terme are under an hour away by train, and the open-air sulphur pools of Bagno Vignoni and Saturnia suit a longer trip with a night or two on a hill farm.