Annecy or Toulouse?

Neither city has a sea, but Annecy has the next best thing: a clear, clean lake that is warm enough to swim in by July. In town there are grassy beaches at Albigny and the Marquisats, and the shore villages have small beaches of their own. The season is short, roughly late June to early September.

Toulouse has only the leisure lakes of Sesquières and La Ramée on the edge of the city, and the Mediterranean near Gruissan is about two hours away. A hotel pool is the realistic plan there, so Annecy is the better choice if swimming is part of a summer trip.

Both cities cook hearty regional food, but Toulouse eats better. Cassoulet, duck confit, foie gras and the Victor Hugo market, with its lunch counters upstairs, add up to a richer food culture, and the everyday set lunch puts a good meal within easy reach.

Annecy's fondue, raclette and tartiflette are made for winter, and the canal-side terraces in the old town serve a repetitive menu of uneven quality. Its best food is at the market mornings, in lake fish such as féra, and at the gastronomic tables in Talloires and Veyrier.

Toulouse has far more heritage to see. Saint-Sernin is one of Europe's great Romanesque churches, the Jacobins and the Augustins add Gothic architecture and fine art, and the aerospace museums are something few cities can match. Two full days cover the essentials.

Annecy is more about the setting than the collections: canals, arcades, the Palais de l'Isle and the château museum above it. It is lovely, but a single relaxed day covers it.

Toulouse is the place to go out. Its large student population fills the terraces and cheap bars of Place Saint-Pierre, wine and cocktail bars line the streets around Carmes and the Daurade, and the electronic club scene is solid, though things thin out in July and August.

In Annecy, an evening means a drink by the canal or the lake, a few wine bars and pubs, and hardly any clubs. In summer the lakefront stays busy late, but for most of the year the town is quiet by midnight.

Annecy is in a different league here. Because the mountains rise straight from the water, you can walk up Mont Veyrier, Mont Baron and the Semnoz from town. The Col de la Forclaz is one of Europe's great paragliding launch sites, the lake suits sailing and kayaking, and the Aravis ski resorts are under an hour away in winter.

Toulouse sits on a flat plain, with the Canal du Midi towpaths and the Garonne for gentle cycling. For serious outdoors, in the Pyrenees or the Aveyron gorges, you need a drive of one to two hours.

Both cities are excellent bases, but the outings are of a different kind. From Annecy you head for lakes and mountains: Geneva is under an hour away, Chamonix sits beneath Mont Blanc, and there are the spa towns of Aix-les-Bains and Évian and the flower village of Yvoire.

From Toulouse the trips are into history. Carcassonne's ramparts and the brick town of Albi are each an hour away by train, and with a car you can reach the cloister at Moissac and the hilltop village of Cordes-sur-Ciel.

Both are safe and flat enough for a pushchair, but children are kept busy in different ways. Annecy is about summer outdoors: lake beaches, pedal boats, the shore cycle path and toboggan runs in the mountains. It has no zoo or theme park, and there is little for children once the lake cools.

Toulouse has the attractions built for children. The Cité de l'espace has its Ariane rocket and Mir module, the aircraft museum has a Concorde to walk through, and there is a drive-through safari park. These work in any season, though midsummer is very hot.

Toulouse is the easier city to get around. Its compact centre inside the boulevards is pleasant on foot, and two metro lines plus trams and buses on the same tickets cover the city, with a bus ride out to the space centre. You only really need a car for the Pyrenees and rural day trips.

You can walk across Annecy in minutes, and the shore cycle path and summer lake boats are a pleasure. But the mountains most visitors come for are far easier with a hire car, and summer traffic around the lake is heavy.

Toulouse is the better place to shop. Rue d'Alsace-Lorraine has the chains and a large department store, Saint-Étienne has independent and designer boutiques, and there is a big Sunday market around Saint-Sernin. Violet sweets, Armagnac and jars of cassoulet make good things to take home.

Shopping in Annecy is small-scale: market cheeses, génépi and honey, kitchenware and outdoor gear around Rue Sainte-Claire, and a lot of souvenir shops. Serious shoppers go to Geneva.

Neither city is cheap, but Toulouse is easier on the budget. Hotels cost far less than in Paris, the set lunch is a good-value way to eat well, and the student quarters and public transport keep daily costs down.

Annecy charges resort prices, especially in summer, and being close to Geneva keeps them high all year. You save there on the free things, the lake, the trails and the cycle path, and by self-catering or coming outside summer.

Toulouse has a proper classical scene. The Théâtre du Capitole runs a full season of opera and ballet, the Orchestre National du Capitole plays in the round Halle aux Grains, and there is a piano festival in the Jacobins cloister. Jazz bars, small theatres and the Rio Loco festival widen the range.

Annecy relies on Bonlieu, its stage by the lake, for theatre, dance and circus, plus summer concerts and the Fête du Lac fireworks. For opera or a major orchestra, you travel to Geneva or Lyon.

Annecy is the more restful stay. The lake sets a slow pace, several hotel spas sit in quiet spots around Talloires and Veyrier, and the thermal baths at Aix-les-Bains and Saint-Gervais are an easy trip away. The July and August crowds do break the calm.

Toulouse offers long lunches, shaded squares and walks along the canal, but beyond that only hotel spas and hammams. Its thermal towns, Luchon and Ax-les-Thermes, are up to two hours away and work best as an overnight trip.