Aix-en-Provence or Geneva?

Neither is a beach destination, and the difference is in how you get to the water. From Aix, swimming means a trip of around an hour to the Mediterranean: the small coves of the Côte Bleue, the city beaches of Marseille or the calanques near Cassis. They are mostly pebbly or rocky inlets that fill up in August.

Geneva has its water right in the city. People swim in the lake off the jetty at the Bains des Pâquis, or on the lawns and pools of Genève-Plage, with the Jet d'Eau in view. It is a lido rather than a beach, though, and the season is shorter.

Aix has the stronger food culture, built on the daily produce markets on Place Richelme and long terrace lunches of daube, tians and Coteaux d'Aix rosé, with calissons for afterwards. Its range rarely goes beyond French and Mediterranean cooking.

Geneva has more variety, with a wide spread of international kitchens and polished fine dining in Carouge and the Old Town, plus lake perch and fondue as local dishes. It has nothing like Aix's market mornings, though, and no cheap, casual eating.

The two are about even, and a visit to either takes two or three days, but they appeal for different reasons. Aix is about beauty and painting: the plane trees and fountains of the Cours Mirabeau, the honey-coloured mansions of the Mazarin quarter, and Cézanne's studio, family house and quarries.

Geneva's sights are about ideas and institutions. You can climb the towers of St Pierre, where Calvin preached, see the Reformation Wall, visit the Palais des Nations and the Red Cross museum, and see the science at CERN.

Both are quiet places at night, and the difference is in the setting. In Aix the evenings are spent outside at the student bars around the Forum des Cardeurs, and the town goes noticeably quiet in the university breaks. Anyone wanting a club goes to Marseille.

Geneva keeps its late nights within the city: bars in the rougher Pâquis district, wine bars in Carouge, and club nights at the alternative cultural centres of Jonction. In summer people drink by the lake.

Both are excellent bases for the outdoors, set in very different landscapes. Around Aix the country is Mediterranean limestone: trails up Sainte-Victoire, the white cliffs and turquoise inlets of the Calanques, and canyon kayaking in the Gorges du Verdon. It is best in spring and autumn, since the massifs often close on high fire-risk days in summer.

Geneva looks to the Alps. The cable car climbs the Salève, there are forest hikes on the Jura, and Chamonix is about an hour away. Winter brings skiing, which Aix cannot offer, and the lake adds sailing and paddleboarding.

Aix has the edge here, with a rare density of famous places: Marseille half an hour away, the Palais des Papes in Avignon a short TGV ride off, Arles and the Pont du Gard for Roman Provence, and the perched villages of the Luberon. Those villages really need a car.

Geneva's outings are almost as varied and easier without one. Lake steamers run to Lausanne and to Montreux for the Château de Chillon, past the Lavaux vineyard terraces. Annecy and the medieval village of Yvoire lie on the French side.

Geneva gives children more to do without leaving the city. The Natural History Museum's dioramas can fill a morning, the lakeside parks have playgrounds, the yellow harbour boats are a treat, and CERN suits curious older children.

Aix is safe and largely pedestrian, and the fountains and ice cream help, but its sights are mansions and museums. Families there usually rely on a pool and drive out to the zoo at La Barben or the coast.

Geneva is far easier to get around. Frequent trams and buses, the harbour boats on the same network and a train that reaches the airport in minutes mean a car is rarely needed, even for a day in the mountains.

Within Aix you can walk everywhere, since the old town and Mazarin quarter fit in a small pedestrian core. Beyond it, things get harder: the TGV station needs a shuttle bus, the Provençal villages are poorly served, and parking near the centre is tight.

Geneva is the stronger shopping city, mainly because of the Rue du Rhône, lined with the flagship boutiques of the great Swiss watch houses and luxury brands. Carouge's craft workshops and the Plainpalais flea market add a less polished side.

Aix has nothing at that level, and no department store. What it does well is small things: browsing the boutiques on Rue d'Italie, market stalls, and souvenirs such as calissons, santons, olive wood and Provençal fabrics.

Aix is much the cheaper of the two, though it is still one of the dearer towns in the south of France. Hotel rates rise during the July opera festival and a hire car adds to the bill, but market picnics and back-street lunch menus keep daily costs reasonable.

Geneva is expensive at every level, from rooms to a single glass of wine. Free city museums, free local transport for hotel guests and cheap lake lidos help, and many visitors sleep or eat across the border in France.

The two are evenly matched on stage, but over the year the pattern differs. Aix peaks in July, when its opera festival stages productions in the courtyard of the Archbishop's Palace and draws the opera world. Ballet Preljocaj at the Pavillon Noir carries on through the year.

Geneva is steadier from season to season. The Grand Théâtre runs a full programme of opera and ballet, and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande plays in the gilded Victoria Hall, with concerts and dance at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices on the Rhône.

Both are restful rather than true spa destinations, and their bathing traditions are opposites. Aix grew up around Roman warm springs, and you can still see them in the mossy Fontaine d'Eau Chaude and the Thermes Sextius spa on the site of the Roman baths.

Geneva's habit is the cold plunge. In winter the Bains des Pâquis runs a sauna and hammam, and regulars plunge from them into the lake. Lakefront hotel spas and the spa town of Évian over the border add more.