Aix-en-Provence or Bordeaux?

Neither city is on the sea, but Bordeaux gives the better beach days. The Atlantic is about an hour west, with long sandy beaches backed by dunes and pine forest at Lacanau, strong surf and lifeguarded zones. The train runs to Arcachon, whose sheltered basin suits small children.

From Aix the Mediterranean is warmer, but the shore is mostly small pebbly or rocky coves around the Cote Bleue, Cassis and the calanques. These are crowded in August and hard to reach without a car, which is why many visitors simply use their hotel pool.

Bordeaux is the stronger food destination, mainly because of the wine. You can taste Médoc, Saint-Émilion and Sauternes in a single week, eat oysters from the Arcachon basin and order duck from the Landes. Serious bistros cluster in Chartrons and Saint-Michel.

Aix eats well in a smaller, sunnier key. Its markets on Place Richelme are lovely, its long lunches of daube and tians come with Coteaux d'Aix rosé, and calissons are the local sweet. Even so, it has fewer serious kitchens, and the terraces on the Cours Mirabeau often trade on the view.

The two are close, but Bordeaux has slightly more to see. Its UNESCO riverfront of pale limestone, the Place de la Bourse, the Grand Théâtre and the Gothic churches give three or four days of sightseeing. Its museums also cover more ground, from regional history to contemporary art at the CAPC.

Aix is smaller and more intimate. Its fountains, its Mazarin mansions and the Merovingian baptistery at Saint-Sauveur fill two or three gentle days. Its trump card is Cezanne: you can visit his studio at Les Lauves, the Jas de Bouffan and the Bibemus quarries in the town where he worked.

Bordeaux has more to offer after dark. After the wine bars of Saint-Pierre and the student crowd at Place de la Victoire, there is a real club strip on the Quai de Paludate that runs until morning, plus a few bars on boats along the Garonne.

Aix has students too, but evenings mean drinks outside around the Forum des Cardeurs and a handful of small clubs that close early. Anyone wanting a proper night out goes to Marseille.

Aix wins easily on landscape. Montagne Sainte-Victoire rises at the edge of town, the Calanques offer some of the best coastal walking in the Mediterranean, and the Luberon, the Alpilles and the Gorges du Verdon are all within reach. Spring and autumn are the seasons for it, since summer fire closures can shut the massifs.

The country around Bordeaux is flat vineyard and pine forest. Its outdoor highlights are the Dune du Pilat, birdwatching and kayaking on the Arcachon basin, surfing in the Médoc and long cycle greenways through Entre-Deux-Mers.

Both are excellent bases, but Aix has the denser choice. Marseille is half an hour away, Avignon is twenty minutes by TGV, and Arles, Nîmes and the Pont du Gard add Roman heritage. The hill villages of the Luberon and the Alpilles, Gordes, Roussillon and Les Baux, need a car but reward it.

Bordeaux's excursions are mostly about wine. Saint-Émilion is a short train ride away, the châteaux of Margaux and Pauillac sit along the estuary, and Sauternes lies to the south. Arcachon, Blaye and Cognac add variety.

Bordeaux is the easier city with children. Flat car-free streets and trams make pushchairs simple. The Miroir d'eau doubles as a paddling pool, the Jardin Public has a carousel and puppets, and Cap Sciences has hands-on exhibits. Climbing the Dune du Pilat makes a memorable day out.

Aix is safe and pedestrian, with fountains and ice cream, but its sights are mansions and museums and summer afternoons are very hot. Families tend to stay in a villa with a pool and drive out to La Barben zoo or the coast.

Bordeaux is easier to get around. Its flat centre and clear tram lines reach the Cité du Vin and the station, it has plenty of bike lanes, and trains go to Saint-Émilion and Arcachon, so you only need a car for the Médoc châteaux.

Aix's compact old town is lovely on foot, but beyond it things get harder. The TGV station sits out on the plateau and needs a shuttle bus, and the Provençal villages barely have public transport, so most visitors end up hiring a car.

There is little to choose between them overall, but the shopping differs in character. Bordeaux has city-scale shopping: the long Rue Sainte-Catherine with a department store, luxury labels in the Triangle d'Or, the antique dealers of Rue Notre-Dame, and wine cellars that will ship your bottles home.

Aix is boutique and market shopping. You browse fashion and delicatessens around Rue d'Italie and the flower and textile stalls on market days, then take home santons, olive wood, Marseille soap and Provençal fabrics. There is nothing in the luxury league.

Neither is cheap, but Bordeaux is the easier on the budget. As a larger city it has a wider range of rooms, the trams cost little, and set lunches are good value. The real cost comes from château tastings and wine tours.

Aix has few central hotels, mostly boutique places and country houses, and rates peak during the July opera festival. A hire car for the countryside adds to the bill, though market picnics and back-street lunch menus help.

The two are roughly level, but their peaks come at different times of year. Aix has one great moment: the July opera festival, which fills the courtyard of the Archbishop's Palace and draws the opera world. The rest of the year brings Ballet Preljocaj at the Pavillon Noir and touring orchestras at the Grand Théâtre de Provence.

Bordeaux's strength is a regular season at its gilded 1780 Grand Théâtre, home to the city's opera and ballet, with the national orchestra close by and a hall for jazz and world music. It goes quiet in high summer, exactly when Aix is busiest.

Aix has the better claim here. Warm springs still feed the mossy Fontaine d'Eau Chaude, the Thermes Sextius offers thermal pools on the site of the Roman baths, and the town's slow market-and-lunch rhythm outside July is restful in itself.

Bordeaux has no thermal tradition of its own. What it offers instead is vinotherapy, grape-based treatments at spa hotels among the vineyards, along with evening strolls on the quays. For real thermal water you have to travel to Dax.