French Riviera or Tuscany?

The Riviera has the stronger beach offer, because the sea is never far from wherever you stay. Sand at Cannes, Juan-les-Pins and Pampelonne, pebbles at Nice and Menton, and the red-rock coves of the Esterel give you plenty of choice along one coast.

Tuscany's good beaches are real but scattered: Elba's clear bays, the pine-backed Maremma and the long, ordered lidos of Versilia. From Florence or Chianti, a day at the sea means a long drive. In both regions, much of the sand is taken up by private beach clubs.

Tuscany has the edge, mainly because of its wine country. You can taste Chianti, Brunello and Vino Nobile at the cellars where they are made, and eat simple, ingredient-led dishes such as ribollita, wild boar pappardelle and the Florentine T-bone.

The Riviera's food is more Mediterranean and lighter, centred on Nice's socca, pissaladière and stuffed vegetables. It also has more top-end restaurants between Monaco and Cannes. Its weak spot is the tourist set menus along the seafront.

Tuscany is far ahead here. It is the birthplace of the Renaissance, with the Uffizi, the Accademia, Siena's Campo and Pisa's cathedral square, and smaller towns like Pienza, Arezzo and Volterra would be highlights anywhere else.

The Riviera's strength is narrower but distinctive: twentieth-century art made on this coast, seen in the Matisse and Chagall museums in Nice, Picasso in Antibes and the Fondation Maeght. You can add Monaco's palace and Belle Epoque Nice, but it does not have the same depth.

The Riviera is the place for a night out. In summer, Saint-Tropez and Monaco have glamorous beach clubs and table-service clubs, Juan-les-Pins has a late strip of bars, and Nice's old town keeps its bars going all year.

In Tuscany, an evening usually means a long dinner and then a drink in the piazza. Florence's Santo Spirito steps and Versilia's summer dance halls are the exceptions, and the hill towns are quiet by late evening.

The two are about equal for the outdoors, but the landscapes are very different. On the Riviera, the mountains drop straight into the sea: you can walk the cape paths, kayak along the Esterel, or head up to the Mercantour's high trails about one and a half hours inland.

Tuscany's countryside is mostly farmland: cypress lanes, vineyards and the rolling Val d'Orcia, ideal for slow cycling between towns. For wilder scenery, go to the marble ridges of the Apuan Alps and the coastal Maremma park.

Tuscany has far more to offer here, with famous towns in every direction: Siena, Lucca, Pisa, San Gimignano and the Montalcino to Pienza wine loop. Bologna, Umbria and the Cinque Terre are also within reach.

The Riviera's outings are shorter and easier, with Monaco, Menton and Eze all a quick train or bus ride from Nice. After a few days, though, many of them start to feel like another pretty village. The Italian Riviera across the border adds some variety.

For families the two come out about even, but the trips take a different shape. On the Riviera one seaside base can carry the whole stay. A sandy resort such as Juan-les-Pins or Cannes keeps the swimming easy, and the days away from the water are short trips along the same coast: Monaco's aquarium, Parc Phoenix in Nice, or a boat out to the Lérins islands. The catch is that everyone is packed into the same few towns, so summer brings crowded sand, slow roads and expensive family rooms.

Tuscany works better as two bases, a farmhouse in the hills where children have room to roam and a pool, then a spell by the sea in Versilia, the Maremma or on Elba. That gives more variety, from the Pinocchio park at Collodi to bikes on Lucca's walls, but it also means more time in the car. The galleries and churches the region is famous for are the part young children enjoy least.

The Riviera is a bit easier without a car. One coastal railway runs through Cannes, Antibes, Nice, Monaco and Menton, so you can see much of the region from a single base.

Tuscany's railway also serves Florence, Pisa and Lucca well, but Chianti, the Val d'Orcia and the Maremma really need a car. Old town centres are closed to visitors' cars, so expect to park outside the walls and walk in.

Shopping on the Riviera is mostly resort luxury, in the boutiques along the Croisette and Rue d'Antibes in Cannes, around the Monte-Carlo casino and behind the port in Saint-Tropez. Its crafts are Provençal: perfume from Grasse, bubbled glass from Biot, pottery from Vallauris, and soap, lavender and printed fabric at the markets. On Mondays the Cours Saleya in Nice turns into a flea market.

Tuscany sells what its workshops make. Florence has leather around Santa Croce, goldsmiths on the Ponte Vecchio and marbled paper in Oltrarno, and other towns have their own speciality, such as alabaster in Volterra and marble in Pietrasanta. For designer labels, there is Via de' Tornabuoni and the outlets in the Arno valley.

Neither region is cheap in season, but Tuscany costs a little less. Trattoria meals, wine bought at the cellar and cheaper bases such as Lucca, Arezzo or the Maremma help keep costs down. Hiring a car, though, adds a real extra cost.

On the Riviera, rooms in Monaco, Cannes and Saint-Tropez are expensive, and so are private beach sunbeds. Nice is the cheaper base. Trains are the one real bargain, and the coastal paths are free.

On the stage the two are broadly even, but they peak at different times of year. On the Riviera, classical music mostly happens in winter. Monaco's small, gilded opera house hosts the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic and the Ballets de Monte-Carlo, and Nice adds its own opera house in the old town and a symphony orchestra. In summer, jazz takes over, in the pine grove at Juan-les-Pins and on Place Masséna.

Tuscany's strength is opera and chamber music, much of it at festivals. Florence has the Maggio Musicale with its own opera house and the Teatro della Pergola. Puccini's operas are staged outdoors by the lake at Torre del Lago, the Accademia Chigiana holds concerts in Siena's palaces, and Lucca's squares host big summer pop concerts. Away from these seasons, both regions are short of small live venues.

Tuscany is much the better choice for rest. Its hot springs are a natural feature, and some, such as Saturnia's falls and Bagni San Filippo's pools in the woods, are open to everyone. Bagno Vignoni and Montecatini add spa towns with long histories.

On the Riviera, wellness means thalassotherapy centres and hotel spas on the capes and in Monaco. In midsummer the resorts are loud and busy, so the quieter side of the coast is easiest to enjoy in spring or autumn.