Aix-en-Provence or Lyon?

Neither is a beach destination, but Aix is much closer to one. The Côte Bleue coves, Marseille's city beaches and Cassis are all about an hour away. They are small and pebbly, but this is real Mediterranean swimming, and many visitors simply use a villa pool.

Lyon is three hours from the sea. Its swimming is the supervised lake at Miribel-Jonage on the city's edge, or a day out to the cool Alpine water of Annecy or the Lac du Bourget.

Lyon is the better place to eat, by some distance. Its bouchons serve a cooking all their own, with quenelles, andouillette and praline tart. Its fine-dining line runs from the Mères lyonnaises to its famous chefs, and Beaujolais and northern Rhône wine are close at hand.

Aix eats well in a simpler, sunnier way: morning stalls on Place Richelme, long lunches of daube and tians with Coteaux d'Aix rosé, and calissons from the old confiseries. Its range is narrower, and the Cours Mirabeau terraces sell the view more than the cooking.

Lyon has more to see and needs more days to see it. There are the Roman theatres on Fourvière, the Renaissance lanes and traboules of Vieux Lyon, the Musée des Beaux-Arts and the cinema history of the Institut Lumière.

Aix is smaller and prettier. Its pleasures are the honey-coloured mansions of the Mazarin quarter, the fountains and Cézanne, whose studio, family house and quarries are all open to visit. Two or three unhurried days cover it.

Both have a large student population, but Lyon is where an evening can turn into a night out. The Presqu'île bars, the pubs of Vieux Lyon and especially the péniches moored on the Rhône give real choice. There is also a serious electronic club scene towards Gerland and the Confluence.

In Aix, evenings mean drinks on the terraces around Place des Cardeurs and a few wine and cocktail bars. For clubbing, people go to Marseille.

Aix has the more striking landscape on its doorstep. The limestone ridge of Sainte-Victoire rises just east of town, and the Calanques bring cliff walks and sea kayaking. The Luberon, the Alpilles and the Gorges du Verdon are all within reach, though summer heat and fire closures make spring and autumn the seasons for it.

Lyon's outdoor life is more urban: running and cycling on the Rhône quays, the Parc de la Tête d'Or and walks in the gentle Monts d'Or. For proper mountains in Chartreuse and Vercors, you need an hour or more in the car.

Both are fine bases, but Aix has the richer choice. Marseille is half an hour away and Avignon about twenty minutes by TGV. Arles, Nîmes and the Pont du Gard make a run of Roman sites, and the Luberon villages and Cassis are also close.

Lyon's day trips lean towards wine and old towns: Roman Vienne, medieval Pérouges, the Beaujolais, Cluny and Beaune, with Annecy and the Alps further out. Vienne is an easy train ride from Lyon, while the hill villages around Aix really need a car.

Lyon is easier with children. The Parc de la Tête d'Or has a free zoo, pony rides and pedalos, and the Musée des Confluences has dinosaur skeletons. Guignol puppet shows and the Fourvière funiculars add small treats.

Aix is safe and largely pedestrian, with fountains and ice cream. But its sights are mansions and museums, and summer afternoons are very hot. Families there tend to rely on a pool and drive out to the zoo at La Barben or to the coast.

Inside both towns, walking does most of the work, but Lyon has the transport to take you further. Four metro lines, trams, funiculars and bike-share cover the hills and districts, and the Rhônexpress tram runs to the airport.

Aix's centre is compact and largely pedestrian. But its TGV station sits out on the plateau, the Provençal villages need a hire car, and parking in town is tight.

The two are on a similar level for shopping but different in character. Aix is about markets and small boutiques: produce, flowers and textiles on the squares, and calissons, santons, olive wood and Provençal prints to take home. Lyon offers the scale of a big city, with chains on rue de la République, luxury labels near Place des Jacobins and the Part-Dieu mall, plus silk and Croix-Rousse workshops that Aix cannot match.

Neither is cheap, but Lyon makes a budget go a little further. Its hotels are reasonable for a big city outside trade fairs and the Fête des Lumières, set lunches in bouchons are generous, and the zoo is free.

Aix has few central hotels and leans towards boutique and country-house stays, which are at their most expensive in July during the opera festival. Back-street lunch menus and market picnics help, but a hire car adds to the cost.

Lyon has the fuller programme across the year. It has the Opéra de Lyon with its ballet, the Orchestre National at the Auditorium, the Célestins and the Maison de la Danse, plus summer shows in the Roman theatres of Fourvière.

In Aix, the great season is July, when the opera festival fills the courtyard of the Archbishop's Palace. The rest of the year, the Grand Théâtre de Provence and Ballet Preljocaj at the Pavillon Noir offer a smaller but serious programme, and dance is a strength in both towns.

Aix was founded on its warm springs. The Thermes Sextius spa stands where the Roman baths were, and warm water still runs in fountains on the Cours Mirabeau. Outside July, the town's slow pace is restful in itself.

Lyon has no bathing tradition, only hammams, day and hotel spas and an open-air pool on the Rhône quays. For thermal water, visitors make the trip to the Alpine spa town of Aix-les-Bains, about an hour and a half away.