French Riviera or Normandy?

Swimming is the clearest gap between the two. The Riviera sea reaches the mid-twenties in summer, and the shore offers everything from the pebbles of Nice to the sand of Cannes and Pampelonne and the red-rock coves of the Esterel. The catch is private concessions and packed public stretches in high season.

Normandy has a real seaside culture, with the boardwalks and striped cabins of Deauville and Cabourg, but the Channel stays cool and the tide retreats a long way. The beaches suit walks, kites and digging more than long swims, and the shingle under Étretat's cliffs is for looking at.

Both regions have a strong local kitchen, but the Riviera offers more depth. Nice's own cooking of socca, pissaladière and stuffed vegetables, the Cours Saleya market, and a dense run of serious restaurants from Menton to Cannes give it the wider range, as long as you avoid the seafront set menus.

Normandy's table is richer and simpler: butter and cream, Camembert and Livarot, oysters from Isigny, and cider and calvados bought straight from Pays d'Auge farms. The best meals are in harbour towns such as Honfleur and Granville, with Rouen the only place offering much variety.

The two are equally rich, but in very different eras. The Riviera is the coast of modern art, with Matisse and Chagall in Nice, Picasso in the Antibes castle, Matisse's chapel at Vence and the Fondation Maeght, plus Belle Epoque Nice and the palace and casino of Monaco.

Normandy is about the Middle Ages and the twentieth century. Mont-Saint-Michel, the Bayeux Tapestry, Rouen's cathedral and William the Conqueror's Caen sit alongside the D-Day beaches and the Caen Memorial. Monet's Giverny and Le Havre's Impressionists add art, but this is history you travel across the region to see.

For going out, the Riviera is far ahead. In summer Saint-Tropez and Monaco run glamorous beach clubs and table-service clubs, Juan-les-Pins has a late strip, and Nice's old town and port fill with wine bars and pubs even off season, though none of it is cheap.

In Normandy an evening usually means a long dinner. Rouen and Caen, both university cities, have bars around the cathedral and the Vaugueux quarter, and Deauville has its casino, but the countryside goes quiet after dark.

The Riviera's landscape is more dramatic. Mountains fall straight into the sea, cape paths circle Cap Ferrat and Cap d'Antibes, the Esterel offers red-rock walking and kayaking, and the high trails of the Mercantour are within easy reach of Nice. Summer heat and fire closures make spring and autumn the seasons for it.

Normandy is gentler and greener. Its highlights are coastal: the chalk arches of Étretat, the granite headlands of Cap de la Hague and guided walks across the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel. Inland, the hedged bocage is for cycling greenways, and the Suisse Normande adds some climbing, but there are no mountains.

Both make excellent bases for outings, but the distances differ. On the Riviera everything is close: the coastal train reaches Villefranche, Monaco and Menton quickly, and hill villages such as Eze and Saint-Paul-de-Vence are short hops, though many days feel like variations on the same pretty village.

Normandy's outings are longer but more varied. Honfleur, the cider villages and the Cotentin fishing ports sit within reach of Caen or Bayeux, Saint-Malo is easy to add across the Breton border, ferries cross to Jersey in summer, and Paris is under two hours by train from Rouen.

For children, the Riviera means swimming and Normandy means exploring. On the Riviera, small children can paddle in calm, warm water off the gently shelving sand at Juan-les-Pins and Fréjus, and the Monaco aquarium and the boat trips to the Lérins islands fill the other days. High season brings heat, crowds and costly family rooms, and the hill villages are no place for a pushchair.

Normandy gives you rock pools at low tide, kites on wide beaches, the walk-through submarine at Cherbourg's Cité de la Mer and the Cerza safari park. Self-catering cottages make it a calm and practical base. The trade-off is a cold sea, changeable weather and longer drives between sights.

The Riviera is easier without a car. One railway runs along the shore from Cannes through Nice and Monaco to Menton, and Nice has a tram to the airport, so a station-side base covers most of the trip. Inland villages and Saint-Tropez are the hard parts.

In Normandy, trains reach the main towns from Paris, but the landing beaches, Étretat, the cider villages and Mont-Saint-Michel are poorly served. You will need a car or organised tours, and the region is wide enough that two bases work better than one.

The Riviera is far more of a shopping destination. Luxury boutiques line the Croisette, the streets around the Monte-Carlo casino and Saint-Tropez's port, and the crafts are distinctive: perfume in Grasse, bubbled glass in Biot, pottery in Vallauris.

Normandy's best buys go in the suitcase as food and drink: calvados, pommeau, cheese and salted-butter caramels. Bayeux and Alençon lace and Villedieu copper pans add some craft, and Rouen has the most shops, but the choice is narrow.

Normandy is the more affordable of the two, though it is not cheap. Cottages, chambres d'hôtes and market-town lunches are fairly priced, and the D-Day sites and beaches are mostly free. Deauville, Honfleur and the Mont-Saint-Michel area cost more in summer, and car hire adds to the budget.

The Riviera is among the dearest places in Europe in summer, especially Saint-Tropez, Monaco and Cannes. Basing yourself in Nice, using the cheap trains and travelling in May, June or September keeps costs down.

The Riviera has more on stage. Monaco's gilded opera house hosts the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic and the Ballets de Monte-Carlo through the winter, Nice has its own opera and orchestra, and in summer the jazz festival in the pines at Juan-les-Pins and the Nice Jazz Festival draw crowds.

Normandy's offer is thinner and more scattered. Rouen's Théâtre des Arts stages opera and ballet, Caen and Le Havre have modern venues, and Jazz sous les Pommiers brings spring jazz to Coutances, but on most evenings there is little to see.

Normandy is the better place for rest. Seawater cures line its coast at Deauville, Cabourg and Granville, Bagnoles-de-l'Orne is a belle-époque spa town in the Orne forests, and orchards and quiet harbour towns set an unhurried pace.

The Riviera's wellness is concentrated in thalassotherapy centres in Monaco and grand-hotel spas on the capes. Spring and autumn lunches in the hill villages are restful, but in high summer the resorts are too loud for a calm stay.