Chamonix or Nantes?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Nantes at least has the sea within reach. Trains take about an hour to the wide sandy bay at La Baule and the coves around Pornic, where the beaches are calm and suit families, even if the Atlantic stays cool.

From Chamonix, swimming means Lac de Passy down the valley, with Mont Blanc behind it, or a drive of just over an hour to Lake Annecy. In town there is the municipal pool. Either way it's an afternoon off from the mountains, not a beach day.

Nantes eats better and more widely. There is pike-perch with beurre blanc, a sauce invented in the city, plus oysters from the coast, galettes and Muscadet from vineyards just outside town. The Talensac market and the bistros of Bouffay and Graslin give real choice at fair prices.

Chamonix serves Savoyard comfort food: fondue, raclette and tartiflette made with Reblochon and Beaufort, often eaten on a slope-side terrace facing the glaciers. It tastes right after a day in the cold, but resort menus repeat themselves and many kitchens close between seasons.

Here Nantes is far ahead. The Château des Ducs de Bretagne and its frank museum of the city's slave-trade past, the cathedral with the tomb of Francis II, the 18th-century façades of the Ile Feydeau and the Jules Verne museum make a proper sightseeing city.

Chamonix's heritage is the story of alpinism, from the first ascent of Mont Blanc to the first Winter Olympics. The Musée Alpin and the climbers' cemetery tell it well, but half a day covers the town. The mountains are the real sight.

Nantes has the fuller night out, thanks to its students. The evening starts in the bars and terraces of the medieval Bouffay lanes and moves on to clubs in the old warehouses on the Ile de Nantes. Graslin is the place for a quieter glass of wine.

Chamonix's scene is seasonal and compact. Winter après-ski runs into a single lane of pubs full of guides, seasonal workers and English-speaking visitors, with a couple of small clubs for late nights. It's noisy and fun in February and much quieter in summer.

This is Chamonix's strength, and one of the best in Europe. Glaciers and granite needles rise almost 4km above the town, and lifts reach the Aiguille du Midi and the Mer de Glace. The Tour du Mont Blanc starts from the valley, and there is skiing, mountaineering, via ferrata and paragliding.

Nantes has gentler pleasures. You can paddle or follow the towpath along the wooded Erdre, cycle the Loire à Vélo route, watch birds in the Brière marshes and walk the Côte Sauvage cliffs. It's lovely countryside, but flat, and there's nothing to climb.

Nantes has more places to choose from. Walled Guérande and its salt marshes, Angers and the Apocalypse Tapestry, Vannes on the Gulf of Morbihan, Clisson in the Muscadet vineyards and the châteaux of the Loire Valley are all within an hour or two, many of them by train.

Chamonix's day trips cross borders instead. You can go through the tunnel to Courmayeur and Roman Aosta, take the Mont Blanc Express to Martigny in Switzerland, or drive to Annecy and Geneva. After those, mostly other resorts lie within reach, along slow mountain roads.

Both work for families, and Nantes edges ahead because it is easier on all ages. Children can ride the mechanical elephant at the Machines de l'Ile, a buggy is simple on the trams, and the safari park, Puy du Fou and calm sandy beaches are all within reach.

Chamonix rewards active families more. There are nursery slopes and sledging in winter, and in summer the summer luge, the Merlet park's ibex and marmots, and the little red train to the glacier. High altitude and wet days are harder on toddlers than on teenagers.

Both are easy to get around without a car, but in different ways. Chamonix is a walkable village centre with free valley buses and the Mont Blanc Express, which get crowded with skiers in winter. Nantes has a proper city network of trams, a busway and river shuttles, and its central station puts Paris about two hours away.

Nantes is the better place for general shopping. It has the three-level Passage Pommeraye, a department store and chain fashion around Rue Crébillon, and independent designers and vintage shops near Bouffay and Decré.

Chamonix is narrow but excellent at what it does. Its long-established outdoor shops sell technical climbing and ski gear with expert advice. Beyond that it's cheese, génépi and rock crystals, and for anything else you go to Geneva or Annecy.

Nantes is clearly cheaper. It costs what a French regional city costs, rooms are easy to find, and transport costs little. Dinners and drinks are the main expense, and set lunches soften even that.

Chamonix is a famous resort and charges accordingly. Peak-week rooms, lift passes, the big cable cars and guided outings all add up. Self-catering, picnics, free valley buses and trails that start from the valley floor help, as does going between seasons.

Nantes has a real stage year-round. There is regional opera at the Théâtre Graslin, the national orchestra in its concert hall, contemporary work at the Lieu Unique, and La Folle Journée filling the city with short classical concerts each winter. The city is also known for giant street puppetry.

Chamonix offers a summer jazz festival with some sets played up in the mountains, plus the odd church concert or mountain film night. For opera or a symphony you'd have to drive to Geneva.

Chamonix is the better place to unwind, as long as you've earned it on the slopes. Its large thermal-style day spa has hot outdoor pools facing the glaciers, many chalets have saunas, and Saint-Gervais has old warm springs in a wooded gorge.

Nantes has no bathing tradition of its own. Its version of rest is a slow afternoon by the Erdre or in the Jardin des Plantes. The serious option is a thalassotherapy seawater cure at La Baule or Pornic, about an hour away.