Cannes or Marbella?

These are two well-matched beach towns with different kinds of shore. At Cannes the sand forms one tidy curve along the Croisette, much of it given over to private concessions, with the free Plage du Midi to the west. The sea is a little warmer and swimming spots are easy to vary: rocky swimming spots on the Lérins islands, red-rock coves in the Esterel and the sandy bays at Juan-les-Pins.

Marbella spreads its two dozen beaches over some 27km, so you can choose between the town beaches and the dunes at Cabopino. The sand is greyish rather than golden, and the chiringuitos grilling sardines on the shore give it a more Spanish beach-day rhythm. Its water runs cooler, and a westerly can chill it for a day or two.

Neither town is a great food destination, and both share the same trap of overpriced seafront menus. Cannes cooks Provençal: the Forville market, bouillabaisse and socca in Le Suquet, and rosé on the terraces. Its range is narrow, and the best tables are in the palace hotels or up in Mougins.

Marbella's range is a little wider. Old-town tapas bars and fish skewered over beach fires sit at one end, and acclaimed tasting-menu kitchens on the Golden Mile at the other. The rewarding meals are a few streets inland, away from the port.

Sightseeing is thin in both, though Cannes has slightly more to hold your interest. The climb up Le Suquet ends at a castle museum of world ethnography and a church with views over the bay, and the Belle Époque palace hotels and the Palais des Festivals add a sense of the town's story.

Marbella's heritage fits into the whitewashed lanes around the Plaza de los Naranjos, a museum of Spanish prints and the Dalí bronzes on the Avenida del Mar, plus a Roman villa outside town. In both cases the serious art and monuments lie elsewhere, along the Riviera or in Andalusia.

Marbella is clearly the place for a night out. It keeps Spanish hours, with dinner late and clubs until dawn, and Puerto Banús, the Golden Mile and the beach clubs towards Elviria give a summer evening plenty of options, with old-town terraces for a calmer drink.

Cannes has the same champagne-and-dress-code style but on a smaller scale. Many of its famous parties are private, and outside summer and the festivals it turns into an aperitif-and-dinner town. Both scenes shrink sharply in winter.

The outdoors is strong in both, though the landscapes differ. From Cannes you reach the volcanic red rock of the Esterel, the pine paths of Sainte-Marguerite and the Cap d'Antibes shore path, with the pre-Alps and winter skiing further inland. In high summer fire risk can close the forest trails.

Marbella has mountains rising straight behind the town: the hike up La Concha, the fir forests and ibex of Sierra de las Nieves, and the Caminito del Rey within reach. Its mild winters make it a better year-round walking base, though its own coastal strip is heavily built up.

Cannes makes the better base for excursions. A single coastal railway strings together Antibes, Nice, Villefranche, Monaco and Menton, each a short ride away, and Grasse, Mougins and Saint-Paul-de-Vence are close behind the town.

Marbella's day trips are excellent too, with Ronda's gorge, Málaga's Alcazaba, Gibraltar and even the Alhambra in Granada within reach. With no train and slow buses, though, most of them depend on a hire car and longer drives.

Marbella is the more natural family choice. The lifeguarded town beaches and long promenade are easy with young children, resorts are built around pools, and Spanish restaurants welcome children late in the evening. Animal parks, water parks and a cable car lie along the coast, though you will want a car to reach them.

Cannes manages well enough with calm, shelving sand, carousels on the Croisette and the boat to the Lérins pine woods. Beyond that, the town is aimed mostly at adults.

Cannes is much easier without a car. The Croisette, the port, the market and the shops are all a short walk apart, the station sits in the centre, and trains and island ferries cover most outings. A car only becomes useful for the hill villages and the Esterel corniche.

Marbella stretches along the motorway from San Pedro to Cabopino. Only the old town and central seafront are walkable, there is no train, and most visitors end up hiring a car or relying on taxis.

Both towns are strongest at the luxury end, and neither has much independent design. Cannes puts the Paris fashion and jewellery houses right on the seafront, with the long Rue d'Antibes behind for mid-range French labels and Rue Meynadier for olive oil, cheese and Provençal fabrics.

Marbella gathers its boutiques at Puerto Banús beside the yachts, backed by a department store and malls. Its old-town lanes sell linen, leather and ceramics, and weekly street markets are aimed at residents.

Both are expensive resorts, but Marbella is a little gentler on the budget. Its old-town and inland tapas bars charge ordinary Andalusian prices, buses are cheap, and rates fall sharply outside summer.

Cannes is the costlier of the two, especially during the film festival and trade fairs, when rooms climb far beyond summer levels. In both places you save by eating in the backstreets, using the public beaches and staying in a neighbouring town.

Cannes has the more serious stage of the two, even if the film festival that made its name is largely closed to the public. A regional philharmonic plays through the season, the town runs a respected dance festival, and on summer evenings classical concerts fill the castle courtyard on Le Suquet.

Marbella's live music leans towards big pop and rock nights in a summer quarry amphitheatre and DJs at the beach clubs, and its flamenco is staged for visitors. For an orchestra, opera or flamenco done properly, you drive to Málaga.

Marbella is the better choice for a restful stay. Spa resorts, yoga retreats and detox clinics fill the Golden Mile and the hills, a few Arab-style bathhouses offer hot and cold pools, and the mild, sunny months from October to May suit golf and slow lunches.

Cannes offers polished palace-hotel spas and seawater thalassotherapy along the coast, but its calm is mostly a spring and autumn quality. Festival weeks and August are noisy in both towns.