Monaco or Portofino?

Neither is a beach town, but Monaco gives you more to work with. Larvotto is a real, groomed city beach with calm water inside its breakwaters. There are coves at Cap d'Ail on foot, and the long beaches of Menton and Nice are a short train ride away.

Portofino's swimming is wilder and smaller: ladders off the rocks on the lighthouse path, into deep, very clear water. The nearest sand is at Paraggi, mostly given over to paid clubs, and the pebble cove at San Fruttuoso is reached by boat or on foot. It is lovely, but space is short in summer.

Monaco has much more range at the top end. It has a striking number of starred and grand hotel dining rooms, and the Condamine market is the place to find barbagiuan and socca. Eating casually is hard there too.

Portofino's harbour terraces serve good Ligurian food, such as trofie with pesto, fritto misto and Recco's cheese focaccia. You pay mostly for the view, though, and there is no market or street food. Keen eaters head to Camogli or the trattorie in the hills.

Monaco has a real sightseeing list. On the Rock are the Prince's Palace and its guard ceremony, the cathedral with Grace Kelly's tomb and the Oceanographic Museum of 1910. Across the harbour are the Casino, the contemporary art villas of the national museum and the princely car collection.

In Portofino the village is the sight: the painted horseshoe of houses, San Giorgio above the bay and the views from Castello Brown. The medieval abbey at San Fruttuoso is a fine excursion, but there are no museums of any size, so the setting does all the work.

Monaco offers an actual night out, if a glossy one. You can drink in the hotel bars around the Casino square and finish in the clubs and lounges on the Larvotto seafront and at the port. Summer and Grand Prix weekend turn the harbour into a party.

Portofino stops at aperitivo and dinner facing the yachts. There are no clubs and few late bars, and anyone wanting more goes on to Santa Margherita, Rapallo or Genoa.

Portofino has the edge because the wild country starts at the edge of the village. The whole headland is a regional park, with trails through holm oak and pine to the Semaforo Nuovo viewpoint and on to San Fruttuoso and Punta Chiappa, some with chains on exposed cliffs. Offshore, the marine reserve has red coral, seagrass and the sunken Christ of the Abyss.

Monaco itself is built up, but the limestone mountains behind it are dramatic. You can climb the old mule path from Èze-sur-Mer, look down from Tête de Chien or walk the shore around Cap Martin, and the Mercantour is within a drive.

Both are good bases, but Monaco's position on the coastal railway makes it easier. Nice is under half an hour away, Menton and Èze are closer still, and Antibes, Grasse and Saint-Paul-de-Vence are all within reach. So are Sanremo and Dolceacqua over the Italian border, all without a car.

Portofino's best outings are on the Riviera di Levante. Camogli and Santa Margherita are close by boat or bus, Genoa's palaces and medieval centre take less than an hour, and in summer ferries run to the Cinque Terre and Portovenere. Out of season it takes more planning.

Monaco is much easier with children. The aquarium in the Oceanographic Museum, with its sharks and turtles, is a proper half-day. Larvotto's water is gentle for small swimmers, and the public lifts take care of most of the climbing.

Portofino has boats, a castle walk and rocks to swim from, but nothing built for children. Its few patches of sand are mostly paid clubs and its steep steps rule out pushchairs. Families usually stay in Santa Margherita or Rapallo and visit Genoa's aquarium.

Monaco is easy to get around once you know its free lifts and escalators. Buses cover the main routes, a little solar ferry crosses the harbour, and the station puts the coast within easy reach by train.

Portofino is just as walkable inside, but getting there and away is the problem. A single narrow road of about 5km runs from Santa Margherita, the buses on it fill up in summer, and parking is scarce. The seasonal ferries are often the pleasanter way in.

Both are mainly for looking at luxury, but Monaco has more of it. The Carré d'Or packs fashion houses, jewellers and watchmakers around the Casino gardens, and a covered mall adds some mainstream labels.

Portofino's few lanes behind the harbour hold a surprising number of big-name boutiques, along with resort linen, Ligurian lace and jars of pesto. You can see it all in under an hour. For a real browse you go to Chiavari's arcades or Genoa.

Both are at the very top of the Mediterranean price range, and neither has a meaningfully cheaper side. Monaco's costs show up everywhere, down to the café coffee. In Portofino the few hotels are luxury properties, and even the loungers at Paraggi, boat hire and parking cost a lot.

The way to save is the same in both: sleep next door. From Monaco that means Nice, Menton or Beausoleil, joined by a fast train or a short walk. From Portofino it means Santa Margherita, Rapallo or Camogli, with a bus or boat ride in.

This is Monaco's clearest advantage. The Monte-Carlo Opera performs in the Salle Garnier, built into the Casino in 1879. The Philharmonic and Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo are internationally known, and the winter and spring season, the Printemps des Arts and summer concerts by the sea fill the calendar.

Portofino has only the occasional summer concert in the piazzetta or at the castle. For opera or theatre you spend an evening at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa.

Monaco offers more structured pampering. The large thalassotherapy centre beside the Casino continues an old sea-bathing tradition with heated seawater pools, and the grand hotels have big spas. The Japanese Garden makes for a quiet morning.

Portofino has only its hillside hotel spas, and its calm depends on timing. Early mornings, evenings and the months either side of summer bring long lunches and shaded paths with birdsong. In midsummer, the middle of the day belongs to the tour boats.