Lucca or Saint-Tropez?

Lucca has no sea of its own, so a swim means a half day on the Versilia coast, about 25 minutes away by train. The sand there is broad and shelves gently. Most of it is in neat rows of beach-club umbrellas, but the Lecciona dunes have wilder sand backed by pine woods.

Saint-Tropez is the stronger choice, and in summer a stay there revolves around the sand. Pampelonne lies several kilometres out on the Ramatuelle side, with about 5km of pale sand, clear water and public stretches between the clubs. The quieter coves at Escalet, Cap Taillat and Gigaro are further south, reached by car or along the coast path, and Les Graniers below the citadel is there for a quick swim without leaving town.

Lucca eats better day to day. Look for spelt soup, tordelli in ragù, chestnut dishes in the colder months and cecina from bakery counters, served in family osterie at fair prices. The range is narrow, though, and the menus start to look alike after a few days.

Saint-Tropez cooks Provençal food, such as grilled fish, bouillabaisse and aïoli, and its hotel dining rooms do the top end well. Good everyday meals are harder to find, quayside tables trade on the view, and much of the town shuts in winter. The Place des Lices market and the tarte tropézienne are the simpler pleasures.

Lucca has far more to explore. Its intact Renaissance walls, the tiers of arcades on San Michele in Foro, San Frediano's golden mosaic, Ilaria del Carretto's tomb in the cathedral and the oval Piazza dell'Anfiteatro fill two unhurried days.

Saint-Tropez's heritage takes about a day. The main sights are the pointillist and Fauvist paintings at the Musée de l'Annonciade, the maritime museum in the citadel and the ochre lanes of La Ponche. People come for the setting more than the sights.

Lucca's evenings are quiet all year. There is aperitivo in Piazza San Michele, a long dinner and a stroll on the walls, and the centre is calm by midnight. Anyone who wants to dance heads to the Versilia clubs and gets a lift back late.

Saint-Tropez is far livelier after dark, at least in summer. Afternoon beach-club parties at Pampelonne lead to champagne on the harbour terraces and then to a few famous clubs that stay open until dawn. It is a dressy scene with table service, not a town for bar-hopping, and it fades by October.

The two are fairly level here, but the landscapes are very different. Lucca looks to the mountains. The marble peaks of the Apuan Alps, about an hour away, offer serious hiking, and the Garfagnana's chestnut and beech woods have gentler trails. Closer in, the 4km ring of the walls gives you a daily run or bike ride without leaving town.

Saint-Tropez's outdoors is coastal. The Sentier du Littoral passes coves on its way to Cap Camarat, the gulf is classic sailing water, and the rocky points are good for snorkelling and diving. The protected islands of Port-Cros and Porquerolles are within reach for a day.

Lucca is much the stronger base. Pisa is about half an hour away by train and Florence a little over an hour. Pistoia, the gardens at Villa Reale di Marlia, Collodi and the sculptors' town of Pietrasanta are all close, and with an early start even the Cinque Terre is possible.

Saint-Tropez's outings are pleasant but smaller in scale. You can visit the hill villages of Ramatuelle, Gassin and Grimaud and the wine estates, take the boat to Port Grimaud, or spend a longer day on Porquerolles. The gulf road jams in summer, so most trips take patience.

Lucca is easier with children. Riding the walls on a family quadricycle, climbing the Torre Guinigi to the trees on top and a trip to the Pinocchio Park at Collodi fill the days, and sandy beaches are under half an hour away. Most of the sights are still churches and palaces, though.

Saint-Tropez works for families mainly on the sand, where Pampelonne and Gigaro shelve gently. The harbour scene and the clubs are aimed at adults, and the cost and summer traffic wear families down. That is why many stay in Sainte-Maxime and come over by boat.

Both centres are easy on foot, but the difference shows as soon as you leave. Lucca's station sits just outside the walls, with regular trains to Pisa, Viareggio and Florence. Inside the walls you can cycle everywhere, and you only need a car for the villas and the Garfagnana.

Saint-Tropez has no railway, its buses are slow and its main beaches are several kilometres out. Most visitors rely on cars, scooters or taxis, and the single gulf road jams for hours in July and August. The passenger boats from Sainte-Maxime and Port Grimaud are the pleasant way around the traffic.

Lucca's Via Fillungo has fashion and jewellery shops behind old Liberty-style shopfronts, and the side lanes have delicatessens selling olive oil and buccellato. It is pleasant but small-town shopping. The monthly antiques market around the cathedral is the real draw.

Saint-Tropez offers much more for its size. The big fashion houses, resort-wear labels and jewellers fill the lanes behind the port, and the leather Tropézienne sandals are still made by hand in old-town workshops. Much of it closes for the winter.

Lucca is the cheaper stay by a wide margin. Trattoria meals and regional trains are fairly priced and the walls and many churches are free. Rooms are the main expense, especially in summer and during festivals, and staying just outside the walls helps.

Saint-Tropez is among the most expensive places on the Mediterranean. Rooms, beach loungers and even a coffee on the port cost far more than elsewhere in Provence, and taxis or parking come on top. Budget travellers stay inland or across the gulf and picnic from the market.

Lucca, Puccini's birthplace, holds recitals of his arias in a central church for most of the year. The Teatro del Giglio has an opera season, and the summer adds big concerts in Piazza Napoleone and open-air opera beside the lake at Torre del Lago.

Saint-Tropez has open-air concerts on the citadel in summer and the costumed Bravade procession in May, but almost nothing for the rest of the year. For serious opera or theatre you have to drive to Toulon or Nice.

Neither town has a bathing tradition of its own, but Lucca has spa towns within easy reach. There are Montecatini's belle époque baths by train, the warm cave pools at Monsummano and the steam grottoes of Bagni di Lucca. Back in town, the traffic-free streets and shaded walls keep the pace slow.

Saint-Tropez relies on luxury hotel spas that are mostly meant for their own guests. How restful it feels depends on the season: loud and crowded in high summer, but genuinely calm in May, June and September.