Normandy or Peak District?

Only Normandy offers a real beach trip. The Côte Fleurie resorts of Deauville, Trouville and Cabourg have wide sand, boardwalks and beach cabins, and the west Cotentin is quieter. Even so, the Channel stays cool and the big tides empty the beaches for hours at a time.

The Peak District is landlocked, and its reservoirs are no place to swim. A summer dip there means the heated outdoor pool at Hathersage or a cold river in the dales.

Normandy eats far better. It is the home of Camembert, Livarot and Pont-l'Évêque, of cider and calvados bought at the farm along the Pays d'Auge route, and of oysters and scallops served on the harbour front in Honfleur or Granville. Rouen and Caen add a proper restaurant scene.

The Peak District is about hearty food after a walk: pub meals with local ale, tea rooms, Bakewell pudding and Hartington cheese. It is satisfying but narrow, and in a small village your dinner choice may come down to one pub.

Normandy has sights that people cross continents to see. Mont-Saint-Michel, the D-Day beaches from Utah to Sword, William the Conqueror's Caen and the tapestry in Bayeux could fill a week, with Rouen's cathedral and half-timbered streets on top.

The Peak District's heritage is quieter and more local. Its highlights are Chatsworth and medieval Haddon Hall, Buxton's Georgian Crescent, the plague village of Eyam and Arkwright's mills at Cromford. That makes a rewarding couple of days rather than the centre of the trip.

Neither is a place for late nights, but Normandy at least has its two university cities. There are bars and a few clubs around Rouen's cathedral and pubs in Caen's Vaugueux quarter, and Deauville has its casino in summer. The Peak District goes to bed after the village pub, and a real night out means driving an hour to Sheffield or Manchester.

The Peak District is the stronger choice for landscape. The high gritstone moors of the Dark Peak, with Kinder Scout and the climbing edges at Stanage and Curbar, sit beside the green limestone dales of the White Peak. Add caves for potholing and you have hill country made for long days on foot.

Normandy's best scenery is along its coast: the chalk arches at Étretat, the wild headlands of Cap de la Hague, and walks across the sands of the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel. Inland, the hedged farmland is pleasant for cycling but rarely dramatic, and only the Suisse Normande feels like proper outdoor country.

Both make good bases for outings, but the outings are different. From Normandy they are mostly within the region itself: harbour towns like Honfleur and Barfleur, the cider villages, and Saint-Malo just over the Breton border. Jersey is a summer ferry away and Paris is under two hours by train.

From the Peak District the trips lead out to cities and country houses. Manchester and Sheffield are about an hour away, Hardwick Hall and Kedleston Hall are just outside the park, and York or Chester are possible for a long day.

The Peak District gives children more to do. There are show caves at Castleton, the cable car up to the Heights of Abraham, tram rides at Crich, Chatsworth's farmyard and playground, and car-free rail trails for family cycling. Alton Towers is a short drive away for a big day out.

Normandy is gentler, with sandcastles and rock pools on safe sandy beaches, the submarine at Cherbourg's Cité de la Mer and the Cerza zoo. The cold sea and long drives between sights make it the calmer but less busy choice.

Normandy is somewhat easier. Trains link Paris with Rouen, Caen, Bayeux and Cherbourg, and the main roads are uncrowded. However, the landing beaches, Étretat and Mont-Saint-Michel really need a car or a tour, and the region is large enough that two bases work better than one.

In the Peak District, three railway lines let you start some walks straight from the station, which is a real plus. Away from them, evening buses are sparse and the moorland roads are narrow and steep. On sunny weekends, the car parks at Castleton, Bakewell and Dovedale overflow.

Normandy gives you more to bring home. There are bottles of calvados and pommeau from the farm, lace from Alençon, copper from Villedieu-les-Poêles and faience from Rouen, whose pedestrian streets also have the widest choice of shops. Deauville adds a few fashion boutiques.

Peak District shopping is practical: outdoor gear in Hathersage, Blue John jewellery in Castleton, antiques in Ashbourne and Leek, and treats from the farm shops.

Costs are much the same, rural France against rural England, and in both the expensive part is where you go and when. In Normandy, Deauville, Honfleur and the area around Mont-Saint-Michel cost more in high summer, but many D-Day sites are free. Car hire is a cost you will rarely avoid.

The Peak District's biggest draw, the hills, costs nothing, and hostels, bunkhouses and campsites keep budgets down. Entry fees to the stately homes and caves add up quickly for a family.

Both are thin for an evening out, and each has one main town. In Normandy that is Rouen, whose Théâtre des Arts stages opera, ballet and an orchestral season. The region's standout festival is Jazz sous les Pommiers in Coutances in spring.

The Peak District's equivalent is Buxton. Its Frank Matcham opera house stages shows all year, and the International Festival and fringe bring opera and music in July. Elsewhere you will find folk sessions in pubs and summer concerts at the great houses.

Both have a spa tradition and an unhurried pace, but they use different water. Normandy's spas are seaside thalassotherapy centres at Deauville, Cabourg and Granville, plus the belle-époque spa town of Bagnoles-de-l'Orne in the forests. The Peak District has Buxton's natural thermal water in its Georgian Crescent, plus spas in country-house hotels.

The way to unwind differs too: long lunches and orchard walks in Normandy, moorland walks and a pub fire in the Peak District. Avoid August on the Côte Fleurie and summer weekends in the busiest Peak villages.