Siena or Saint-Tropez?

Siena has no sea. The Maremma beaches around Castiglione della Pescaia and Follonica are well over an hour's drive away, so a day at the coast takes the whole day. In and around Siena itself, a swim means the pool at your agriturismo or hotel.

Saint-Tropez is the clear beach choice. Pampelonne has about 5km of fine pale sand, with beach clubs and public stretches between them, and quieter coves at Escalet, Cap Taillat and Gigaro lie further south. Near the old town, Les Graniers and La Ponche are handy for a quick swim.

Siena eats better day to day. Pici with duck ragù, cinta senese pork, ribollita and the old bakeries selling panforte and ricciarelli make a strong regional table, and Chianti Classico, Brunello and Vino Nobile are poured by the glass in the enoteche. What it lacks is variety beyond Tuscan cooking.

Saint-Tropez is stronger at the top end, with polished hotel dining rooms, grilled fish and bouillabaisse, and rosé lunches on the sand. Simple, good-value meals are harder to find, and much of the town closes in winter.

Siena is one of Europe's great medieval cities, and the gap here is wide. The Palazzo Pubblico, the Duomo with its Piccolomini Library, the Museo dell'Opera and Santa Maria della Scala need two or three days, and the seventeen contrade give each quarter its own identity.

Saint-Tropez has one real treasure, the Musée de l'Annonciade with the paintings of Signac and his circle, plus the citadel and the lanes of La Ponche. It is all seen in a day, and people come for the setting rather than the heritage.

Saint-Tropez has the bigger night out, but only in summer. Afternoon parties at the Pampelonne beach clubs lead to champagne in the harbour and a few famous clubs open until dawn, with dress codes and table service rather than casual bar-hopping. By October it has gone quiet.

Siena's evenings are a long dinner, wine on the Campo and a stroll, with some student pubs and almost no clubs. The Palio nights are the lively exception.

Saint-Tropez has the edge, mainly thanks to the sea. The Sentier du Littoral runs past coves and headlands to the wild capes of Camarat and Taillat, and the gulf offers sailing, diving and snorkelling. The Port-Cros and Porquerolles national park is within reach, and the Massif des Maures has cork-oak forests for hiking. Summer fire risk can close some trails.

Siena's countryside is gentler and inland: the clay hills of the Crete Senesi, the Val d'Orcia, and strade bianche gravel roads that draw cyclists from the edge of town. There is no coastline and no high mountains.

Siena is one of the best bases in Europe for day trips. Florence, San Gimignano, Volterra, the Chianti villages, Montalcino, Pienza and Montepulciano are all close, along with abbeys such as Sant'Antimo and San Galgano. A car makes the hill towns far easier.

Saint-Tropez's outings are pleasant but smaller in scale: Ramatuelle, Gassin, Grimaud, the canals of Port Grimaud by boat, and a full day on Porquerolles. Summer traffic on the gulf road slows every trip.

Neither town is built for children, and they suit different ages. Siena works for older children who enjoy climbing the Torre del Mangia and watching the contrada drummers, but the steep streets are hard with a pushchair. Families often base themselves at a farmhouse with a pool.

Saint-Tropez is better for small children who just want sand, as Pampelonne and Gigaro shelve gently. The adult-focused harbour scene, high prices and summer traffic count against it, and many families stay across the gulf.

Both centres are compact and walkable, but the difference lies in getting out. Siena's car-free core is steep, yet escalators link it to the station and buses run to Florence and nearby towns.

Saint-Tropez has no railway at all, slow buses and one road along the gulf that jams for hours in July and August. The passenger boats from Sainte-Maxime and Port Grimaud are often the best way in.

Saint-Tropez is far better for shopping. Big fashion houses keep summer shops behind the port, and resort wear, jewellery and hand-stitched Tropézienne sandals fill the old town. The Place des Lices market adds linen, baskets and vintage finds.

Siena's shopping is modest: Italian clothes and leather on Banchi di Sopra, majolica, contrada scarves and panforte to take home, with no luxury streets.

Siena is the cheaper of the two, though it is not a bargain. Rooms inside the walls are scarce and their prices jump around the Palio and through the summer, and separate tickets for the cathedral complex and the civic museums add up. A farmhouse stay or a room in a nearby town usually costs less than the centre.

Saint-Tropez is in another bracket. Even a lounger at Pampelonne or a coffee on the port costs far more than elsewhere in Provence. Late spring and autumn bring prices down, and a picnic from the Place des Lices market on a public stretch of beach helps, but the town is never cheap.

Siena offers more for music lovers. The Accademia Chigiana holds summer concerts in palaces and churches, Siena Jazz adds its own programme, and two historic theatres stage drama through the winter, though opera means Florence.

Saint-Tropez has open-air summer concerts on the citadel and little else. Its most memorable event is the Bravade procession each May.

Siena is the better place to unwind, mainly because of the thermal water around it. Rapolano Terme, the steaming medieval pool at Bagno Vignoni, the free limestone pools of Bagni San Filippo and the Petriolo river are all within reach, and farmhouse spa stays are common.

Saint-Tropez has no bathing tradition beyond its luxury hotel spas. It is loud in high summer and only becomes calm in May, June and September.