Aix-en-Provence or Avignon?

Neither is a beach town, but Aix is closer to the sea. Marseille's city beaches, the coves of the Côte Bleue and Cassis are all within an hour. The shore there is mostly small pebbly or rocky inlets, and they crowd up in August.

From Avignon the Mediterranean means a longer drive to the wide sands of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer or Le Grau-du-Roi. Most summer swimming happens instead in the clear green pools of the Gardon below the Pont du Gard. In both towns, the hotel pool is where the daily swim happens.

The two eat much alike: Provençal cooking built on daube, tians, tapenade and goat's cheese, with little choice beyond it. Aix revolves around its daily open-air market on Place Richelme, long terrace lunches with Coteaux d'Aix rosé, and the calisson as its sweet.

Avignon's food centres on the covered market of Les Halles, where small counters cook lunch from the stalls, and above all on wine. Châteauneuf-du-Pape and the Côtes du Rhône villages are poured by the glass in many bistros. In both towns the better meals are in the side streets, not on the main squares.

Avignon has the more important history. The Palais des Papes, the largest Gothic palace in Europe, stands with the broken bridge and almost 4km of ramparts in a UNESCO-listed ensemble. The Petit Palais, the Musée Calvet and the Collection Lambert add serious collections.

Aix is more about the pleasure of looking: the Cours Mirabeau, the honey-coloured mansions of the Mazarin quarter and a fountain on almost every square. Its great name is Cézanne, followed from his studio at Les Lauves to the Bibémus quarries. No one in Avignon matches him.

Aix has the livelier evenings for most of the year, thanks to its large student population. The bars around Place des Cardeurs fill on warm nights, and there are a few cocktail bars and small clubs. Avignon is mostly quiet by midnight after an aperitif on Place Pie, except in July, when festival crowds keep its squares busy into the small hours.

Aix has the finer outdoors on its doorstep. Montagne Sainte-Victoire rises just east of town. The Calanques offer some of the best coastal walking and sea kayaking in the Mediterranean, and the Gorges du Verdon is within reach for a day.

Avignon's countryside covers more ground but less of it is close: Mont Ventoux for road cyclists and hikers, the Dentelles de Montmirail, canoeing on the Gardon, and the flamingos and white horses of the Camargue. In both, spring and autumn are the seasons for it, and summer heat and fire closures limit what you can do.

Both are excellent bases, but Avignon is better placed. Orange's Roman theatre, Nîmes, Arles and the Pont du Gard all lie within about half an hour, and Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Vaison-la-Romaine and L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue are close to the north and east.

Aix gets to Marseille and Avignon quickly and has the Luberon, Cassis and the Bandol vineyards nearby. The Roman towns west of the Rhône are a longer journey from Aix, though. From either town, the hill villages really need a car.

Neither town is built for children, but both are calm and small enough to walk with a family. Aix suits younger ones with its pedestrian centre, fountains and ice cream, and it is a reasonable drive from the zoo at La Barben and the coast.

In Avignon the sights themselves do the work: the tablet tour of the Palais des Papes, the bridge from the song and the playground in the Rocher des Doms. The cobbles are hard going with a pushchair, though, and the best family days there are canoeing at the Pont du Gard and visiting the Camargue.

You walk everywhere in both centres. The difference is in getting out of town. Avignon's central station sits right by the walls, with regional trains to Arles, Nîmes, Orange and Marseille and a short shuttle train to the TGV.

Aix's high-speed station is out on the plateau and needs a shuttle bus, and most onward travel is by regional bus or the local line to Marseille. Inside the old town, small electric shuttles run through the lanes. For the villages, you will want a hire car from either.

Aix is the better place to shop. The lanes around Rue d'Italie and Rue Fabrot hold French fashion and shoe boutiques and delicatessens, and the Allées Provençales add the chains. On market days the squares fill with textile, bric-a-brac and flower stalls.

Avignon is more modest. It has chains along Rue de la République and Provençal cottons and soap near Rue des Marchands, and its best souvenirs are the food and wine from Les Halles. Serious antique hunters drive out to L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.

Avignon is the cheaper of the two. Fair set lunches in the back-street bistros, a walled centre that costs nothing to explore and good-value wine from local producers keep costs reasonable, and rooms get much cheaper in spring and autumn.

Aix costs more. There are few hotels near the old town and many of them are boutique or country-house stays, while the terraces on the Cours Mirabeau charge for the view. In both towns July festival rates are steep, and a hire car adds to the bill.

For sheer volume of performance, Avignon is ahead. Its July theatre festival uses the Cour d'honneur of the Palais des Papes, and the Off fringe puts on well over a thousand shows a day in every cellar and courtyard. Outside summer, the Opéra Grand Avignon, a dozen small theatres and a jazz club keep a programme going.

Aix's July festival is opera, staged in the courtyard of the Archbishop's Palace, and it is more select than overwhelming. The rest of the year brings Ballet Preljocaj at the Pavillon Noir and touring orchestras at the Grand Théâtre de Provence.

Aix has a real thermal tradition. The Romans founded it as Aquae Sextiae for its warm springs, the Thermes Sextius spa stands on the site of their baths, and warm water still runs from the mossy fountain on the Cours Mirabeau.

Avignon has no bathing culture beyond hotel spas and a few day spas. Rest there means the Rocher des Doms in the late afternoon or a farmhouse guesthouse among the vineyards. In July the town is far from restful, and a long mistral can wear you down.