Lake Como or Provence?

Provence is the clear choice for beaches. It has long sand at Pampelonne, pale shallow water at Hyères and Porquerolles, and turquoise calanques near Cassis, and you can swim from June into early October.

Swimming on Lake Como is a different, gentler thing. You get lidos at Bellagio, Lenno and Menaggio, pebble shores on the upper lake and jetties to dive off between ferries. It adds pleasure to a summer stay but is no reason to choose the lake, and the season is shorter, from late June to early September.

Provence eats far better and with more variety. There is bouillabaisse in Marseille, daube and aïoli inland, truffles around Carpentras in winter and the weekly markets of Aix, Apt and Saint-Rémy, which are a large part of any visit. To drink there are rosé, Bandol reds and Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Lake Como's cooking is narrower and more local: perch fried with sage on risotto, missoltini, polenta and Valtellina cheese. It is at its best in the trattorias and crotti of the hill villages, not on the lakefront terraces. Neither place offers much beyond its own cooking, though Marseille's North African quarters widen the choice in Provence.

Provence has the weightier history: the papal palace and walls of Avignon, the Roman theatres of Arles and Orange, Cézanne's Aix, three Cistercian abbeys and MuCEM in Marseille. It is spread across several towns, so seeing it means moving around.

Lake Como's culture is compact and of one kind: aristocratic villas and their gardens, such as Villa Carlotta and Balbianello, mostly reached by boat. Add Como's marble cathedral and its unusual 1930s rationalist buildings. There are no major museums, but garden lovers will find a great deal in a small area.

Neither is a nightlife destination, but Provence has two real options. Marseille has late bars and clubs around Cours Julien and La Plaine, and Saint-Tropez has its summer beach clubs. Around Lake Como the evening ends with dinner and a drink on a terrace, the villages go quiet once the ferries stop, and a proper night out means the train to Milan.

Both are superb for the outdoors, but in different ways. Lake Como is one concentrated landscape of deep water and mountains rising above 2,000m. It has the Sentiero del Viandante and the Greenway for walkers, the Grigna summits above Lecco, and a steady afternoon wind that makes Domaso and Colico good for windsurfing and kitesurfing.

Provence spreads its landscapes far apart: the Verdon gorge, the calanques, Mont Ventoux for cyclists, the flamingos and white horses of the Camargue and the lavender of Valensole. There is more variety, but you need to drive, and in high summer some massifs close on days of high fire risk.

Both make good bases for outings, and Provence has the longer list. From Avignon or the Luberon, Gordes, Roussillon, Les Baux, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Nîmes and the Pont du Gard are all within an hour, though most of them need a car.

Lake Como's best outings go further by train: Milan for the Last Supper and La Scala, Bergamo's upper town, and Lugano across the Swiss border. On quieter days you can hop between the lake villages by ferry. The choice is narrower, but more of it works without a car.

Provence is the better choice with children. It has shallow sandy beaches around Hyères and the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, canoeing on the Sorgue, horse riding in the Camargue and rented houses with pools. The drawbacks are the July heat and long drives.

Lake Como is calm and safe but has little made for children beyond boat rides, the funicular to Brunate and summer lidos. Its stepped villages and narrow roads without pavements are hard going with a pushchair. The flatter upper lake around Domaso is the easier family base.

Lake Como is a little easier without a car. Ferries link Bellagio, Varenna and Menaggio in minutes, and trains run from Milan to Varenna, so a stay in the central villages needs no driving at all. Driving is the weak point, on narrow shore roads that clog in summer.

In Provence, trains link Marseille, Aix, Avignon and Arles well. But the villages, abbeys and gorges that make the trip worthwhile mostly need a car, because the regional buses are sparse. Parking in hill villages and summer traffic into Saint-Tropez both take patience.

Provence gives shoppers much more to do. There are market stalls of printed fabrics, olive wood and lavender, the antiques dealers of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Moustiers faience, clay santons and the old-town shops of Aix.

Lake Como has one real speciality, silk, sold in Como town and at mill outlets, and the Silk Museum explains the trade. For serious fashion shopping, visitors take the train to Milan.

Both are expensive in summer, and Lake Como is the harder on a budget. The villa hotels of the central lake, restaurants that charge for the view and boat taxis push costs up. To spend less you stay in Como town, Lecco or at a campsite on the upper lake.

Provence leaves more room to save. Marseille, Avignon, Arles and the quieter villages of the Var are reasonable, and market food and set lunches keep daily costs down, even though the Luberon and Saint-Tropez are very dear. Both are cheaper in spring and autumn.

Provence is far stronger in summer. The Avignon theatre festival, the Aix opera festival and opera in Orange's Roman theatre draw audiences from around the world, and the rest of the year has a solid regional programme and Marseille's rap and world music.

Lake Como has the Teatro Sociale in Como town and summer concerts in villas and churches. For serious opera, people go to La Scala in Milan.

Both are restful because of their pace rather than any bathing culture, and the difference lies in the setting. On Lake Como, rest means quiet villages once the day-trippers leave and the spas of the villa hotels at Cernobbio and Tremezzo, some with pools on or above the water.

Provence offers market mornings and afternoons by the pool in the Luberon, and lavender and olive-oil treatments in country hotels. It also has real thermal spas at Aix, Gréoux-les-Bains and Digne, which the lake does not.