Cannes or Saint-Malo?

Cannes is the better swimming destination. The Croisette curves along fine sand above calm, warm Mediterranean water, the long Plage du Midi offers free space beyond the private concessions, and the Lérins islands and the red Esterel coves add clearer water close by. The price is crowding near the centre in July and August.

Saint-Malo's beaches have more drama than comfort. The Grand Plage du Sillon is long and the low tide doubles the sand, and the tidal pool at Bon-Secours is a local institution, but the Channel stays cold even in late summer. Here you spend a beach day on the sand and walking out to the forts more than in the water.

Cannes has the edge, mainly because of the Forville market and the Provençal produce behind it: goat cheeses, olives, socca, bouillabaisse and rosé on a terrace, plus real fine dining in the palace hotels and up towards Mougins. Much of the seafront food is still overpriced and ordinary.

Saint-Malo's cooking is more homely and more distinctly regional. Buckwheat galettes with cider, kouign-amann and Cancale oysters eaten by the harbour wall are the highlights, and the better tables are in Saint-Servan and towards Cancale rather than inside the walls, where crêperies for day visitors are uneven.

Neither town is a museum destination, and both reward a morning or a day rather than a week. In Cannes the interest is in the setting: the climb up Le Suquet to the castle museum and its church views, the Belle Époque palace hotels and the film-star handprints at the Palais des Festivals.

Saint-Malo has more to walk through. The complete ring of ramparts, the rebuilt granite town, the cathedral and the corsair history, and the tidal walk out to Chateaubriand's grave on the Grand Bé give it a stronger sense of place, even though its museums are thin too.

Cannes has the livelier summer nights. From June to September the Croisette beach clubs turn into party venues, a few clubs go on until dawn and the streets behind the old port fill with cocktail bars, though the mood is dressy and costly, and the town quietens out of season.

Saint-Malo's evenings are mainly a drink after dinner, in the pubs and wine bars inside the walls, with sailors and young visitors filling the streets in July and August. There are no real clubs, so anyone after a late night has to go to Rennes.

Both have fine coastal landscapes, but they are very different. Near Cannes there is the volcanic red rock of the Esterel dropping into blue water, pine paths on Sainte-Marguerite and the wild shore of Cap d'Antibes, with the pre-Alps and winter skiing behind. Summer fire risk can close the forest trails.

Saint-Malo is a coast of tides and open sky. The GR34 runs to Pointe du Grouin and the Emerald Coast cliffs, the Rance suits kayaking and cycling, the wind brings kitesurfers, and seals and seabirds share the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel. Inland it is flat farmland.

Cannes sits on the best stretch of coast for day trips, and you don't need a car for many of them. Antibes, Nice, Villefranche, Monaco and Menton are all on the coastal railway, and Grasse, Mougins, Saint-Paul-de-Vence and Èze lie just inland.

Saint-Malo has one great excursion in Mont-Saint-Michel, plus half-timbered Dinan, Dinard across the estuary and Rennes by train. The list is shorter and more of it needs a car, though summer ferries to Jersey and the Chausey islands add something the Riviera can't.

Saint-Malo gives children more to do. Ramparts and pirate stories, wide beaches for sandcastles, jumping into the Bon-Secours sea pool and walking out to island forts make the town itself the adventure, and the Grand Aquarium covers rainy days. Parents need to watch the fast-moving tides and accept cold water.

Cannes is gentler for toddlers, with shallow sandy beaches, warm calm sea and a flat Croisette for pushchairs, but beyond the beach and the Lérins boat little in town is aimed at children, and the midsummer heat shapes the day.

Cannes is a little easier, mainly because its central station sits on a busy coastal line that reaches neighbouring towns without a car. The centre is flat and walkable apart from the climb up Le Suquet, but the hill villages and the Esterel corniche need a car and summer coastal traffic is heavy.

Saint-Malo is just as walkable, with a promenade linking the walls to Paramé and a boat to Dinard, and it has direct fast trains to Paris. Rural buses are thin, though, so the wider area is mostly for drivers or tours.

Cannes is much the stronger shopping town for its size. The great Paris houses line the seafront, Rue d'Antibes covers everyday French fashion and Rue Meynadier and the Forville market cover food, with Grasse nearby for perfume.

Saint-Malo's shops mostly sell Breton things, such as striped sailor tops, salted-butter caramels, cider and faience, with a few galleries. It is good for edible gifts but little else.

Neither is cheap, but Cannes is the more expensive by some way. Seafront hotels, cocktails and private-beach loungers are priced for a wealthy crowd, and rates climb further during the film festival and trade fairs. Market picnics, public beaches and staying in a neighbouring town help.

Saint-Malo is priced like a popular French resort, with dear rooms in July and August, but everyday eating is kinder. A galette and cider or a set lunch costs little, and spring and autumn bring real savings.

Cannes offers more for an evening out. The Palais des Festivals hosts concerts and touring shows, the regional philharmonic plays through the season, there is a respected dance festival, and summer brings concerts in the castle courtyard on Le Suquet, with the Juan-les-Pins jazz festival close by.

Saint-Malo's cultural life comes in bursts. La Route du Rock, Étonnants Voyageurs and Quai des Bulles bring indie music, books and comics, but between festivals the theatre and the occasional cathedral concert are about all there is.

Saint-Malo is the better place to slow down. It is one of the classic homes of French thalassotherapy, with a large seawater centre on the Sillon beach, and quiet low-tide walks on empty sand outside the summer suit a restful weekend.

Cannes offers polished palace-hotel spas with sea-mineral and Provençal treatments, but there is no bathing tradition behind them. Its calm comes from slow terrace mornings in spring and autumn, and festival weeks and August are too crowded to unwind.