Girona or Monaco?

Monaco has the sea at its doorstep. Larvotto is a short, groomed beach behind breakwaters, with calm, clear water, and the rocky platforms and Cap d'Ail coves are a short walk away. It is small, and serious beach days mean a train to Menton or Nice, but you can swim before lunch without travelling.

Girona has no beach at all. The Costa Brava is about 40 minutes away, and the coves around Begur and L'Escala are lovely, but the sea is always a day out, and a car makes it far easier.

Girona eats better and more broadly. You can go from botifarra with white beans in a neighbourhood tavern to a serious tasting menu, buy xuixos from a pastry shop, and drink Empordà wine with nearly every meal.

Monaco's eating sits almost entirely at the top end. Grand hotel dining rooms and polished Italian terraces serve Riviera and Ligurian cooking, and barbagiuan from the Condamine market is the local snack. Casual meals are hard to find, so your choices narrow unless you dress for dinner or eat in Menton.

Girona has more history to explore. The walled Barri Vell climbs to a cathedral with one of the widest Gothic naves anywhere, and the Call, the Arab Baths and the walk along the medieval walls give it real depth for a small city.

Monaco's sights are grand but few: the Prince's Palace and its guard ceremony, the cathedral where Grace Kelly lies, the Belle Époque Oceanographic Museum and the Casino. Both take a day or two to see. Monaco impresses more with its setting than with what there is to see.

Girona's evenings are slow rather than late. They centre on terraces and long dinners, and in term time on the student bars around Plaça de la Independència and the old quarter. At weekends a few music bars and small clubs on the edge of the centre stay open late, but for a big night out people take the train to Barcelona.

Monaco is the better place for a proper night out, as long as you like it glossy. The hotel bars around the Casino square and the lounge clubs along the Larvotto seafront and the port fill up in summer, and Grand Prix weekend turns the harbour into one long party. There is no casual side, though: no pubs or dive bars, and out of season the town goes to bed early.

Girona is the better base for getting outdoors. Cyclists ride from town onto quiet lanes and old railway greenways, the Gavarres hills begin at the edge of the city, and the Garrotxa's beech forests and cinder cones are about an hour away, with the Pyrenees not much further.

Monaco itself is built up, but the limestone cliffs behind it are dramatic. The view from Tête de Chien, the old mule path up to Èze and the headland paths at Cap Martin make good half-day walks. Its strength is the clear water for diving and paddleboarding.

Both are excellent bases, and the difference is how you travel. From Girona, the high-speed train puts Barcelona and Perpignan within easy reach and Figueres's Dalí Theatre-Museum is close. Besalú, Peratallada and the Empúries ruins, though, are much easier with a car.

Monaco's coastal train and buses reach almost everything without a car: Villefranche, Nice, Menton, Èze, and across the Italian border to Dolceacqua. It is a string of Riviera towns rather than a rural hinterland.

Monaco works better with children. The Oceanographic Museum's aquarium is a real draw, Larvotto's water is gentle, and lifts and escalators save small legs on the slopes. Formal restaurants and limited activities mean families often add a few days elsewhere on the coast.

Girona is calm and welcoming, and children enjoy walking the walls and playing in the Devesa park. Beyond that there is no zoo or aquarium, and the stairs of the old town are hard work with a pushchair.

Monaco is easier to get around. It is about 3km end to end, free public lifts take care of the climbs, a small ferry crosses the harbour, and the station links you to the whole Riviera, so a car is unnecessary.

Girona's centre is just as walkable but steep. Once you leave town, sparse buses mean many visitors rent a car for the coves, villages and wineries.

Monaco has more to buy, though almost all of it is luxury. The Carré d'Or packs fashion houses, jewellers and watchmakers into a few streets around the Casino gardens.

Girona's shops are small and independent: shoe and fashion boutiques around the Rambla, bookshops, the Mercat del Lleó for Empordà cheese and oil, and plenty of cycling shops. For variety, both send shoppers elsewhere, to Barcelona or Nice.

This is the widest gap between the two. Girona costs about what you would expect in Western Europe, with good set lunches and sensibly priced taverns, and old-town rooms in summer and a hire car are the main expenses.

Monaco is among the most expensive places in the world, from hotel rooms to café coffee. The free lifts and walks around the Rock are the only real savings, and many visitors sleep in Beausoleil or Nice to keep it affordable.

Monaco is far stronger on stage. The Monte-Carlo Opera performs in the gilded Salle Garnier, and the Philharmonic and Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo are known internationally, with the main season running from winter into spring.

Girona's highlight is Temporada Alta, its autumn festival of theatre and dance, along with touring concerts at the Auditori. Outside those times there is little on, and many plays are in Catalan.

In Girona, bathing means a short trip out of town. The thermal-spring hotels of Caldes de Malavella, about 20 minutes south, have pools and treatments and a spa history going back to the Romans. In the city the Arab Baths are only a monument, so relaxing there is about the pace: long lunches and evening walks by the Onyar.

Monaco uses seawater, and you will find it right in the centre. A large thalassotherapy centre beside the Casino has heated seawater pools and treatments, and the grand hotels have big spas of their own. The Japanese Garden is good for a quiet morning, which makes Monaco the easier choice for a pampering day without leaving town.