Arles or Carcassonne?

Neither is a beach base, but Arles gets you to the sea more readily. The Camargue shore at Saintes-Maries lies about 40km south, and the wild, open strands of Piémanson and Beauduc give space even in August, though you get little shade and plenty of mosquitoes.

Carcassonne's sea at Gruissan and Narbonne-Plage is about an hour's drive. Its strength is closer to home: the Lac de la Cavayère, a sandy, supervised reservoir a few minutes from the Cité, which makes an easy swimming afternoon with young children.

Arles has the slight edge, largely thanks to its Saturday market along the Boulevard des Lices, which runs for well over a kilometre, and Camargue specialities such as gardiane, red rice and tellines. Long lunches on the Place du Forum are the local pleasure.

Carcassonne answers with cassoulet and some of the best-value wine in the south: Corbières, Minervois and sparkling blanquette from Limoux. Eat in the Bastide around Place Carnot rather than inside the Cité walls, where set menus are uneven. Both have only a handful of ambitious kitchens.

Arles holds more. Its UNESCO group packs the arena, the antique theatre, the cryptoporticus, the Alyscamps and the carved portal of Saint-Trophime into a short walk, and the Museum of Ancient Arles, the Fondation Vincent van Gogh and the Gehry tower at Luma add depth. The summer photography festival gives it a living arts identity as well.

Carcassonne's draw is a single great spectacle: the double-walled Cité with its fifty-two towers, the Château Comtal and the stained glass of Saint-Nazaire, with the Bastide and the Canal du Midi below. Museums are few, so once you have walked the walls, there is less to fill a third day.

Both towns go quiet after dinner, and serious nights out mean Montpellier from either. The difference lies in when they come alive. Arles has its ferias at Easter and in September, when bodegas fill the streets for a few late nights. In Carcassonne, the bars around Place Carnot fill up on summer weekends, and a stroll on the floodlit walls after the day visitors leave is the evening's highlight.

Arles has the more distinctive landscape on its doorstep. The Camargue delta starts at the edge of town, with lagoons, salt flats and rice fields where flamingos, black bulls and white horses are part of the scenery, explored on horseback, by bike or on foot through the bird reserve. The Alpilles add limestone ridges for hiking.

Carcassonne's countryside is more varied in relief but further away: beech forests in the Montagne Noire, garrigue and Cathar ruins in the Corbières, and summer rafting in the upper Aude gorges. The plane-shaded Canal du Midi towpath is the one outing that needs no car.

Arles is the stronger base, mostly because so much is close and reachable by rail. Avignon is about 20 minutes by train and Nîmes about half an hour, while Les Baux, Saint-Rémy, Montmajour and the Pont du Gard are all short drives. Marseille and Aix are about an hour away.

Carcassonne's outings are dramatic but more spread out. The ridge-top castles of Peyrepertuse and Quéribus need well over an hour by car, and Albi and Collioure nearly two. Toulouse and Narbonne are easy by train, and villages such as Lagrasse and Minerve pair well with wine-estate tastings.

Carcassonne is the more natural choice with children. The Cité feels like a storybook castle, with ramparts to walk and jousting in summer. The lake with its water park and an animal park on the edge of town fill the rest of the stay, though the steep cobbles and July crowds test pushchairs.

Arles works best with older children who like history and animals. The arena towers and dark cryptoporticus galleries delight them in town, and pony rides and flamingos await in the Camargue. There is little organised fun, however, and most outings mean a car, heat and mosquitoes.

Arles is the easier town to get about. The arena, theatre, museums and river quays all lie within about fifteen minutes' walk of one another, a free shuttle loops the centre, and the station is a short stroll from the old town, with trains to Avignon, Nîmes, Marseille and Montpellier.

Carcassonne comes in two halves: the flat Bastide beside the station, and the Cité at the top of a steady climb about twenty-five minutes away, with a shuttle in season. Its rail links to Toulouse and Narbonne are good. The real gap is in the countryside. Arles at least has occasional buses to Saintes-Maries and Les Baux, while Carcassonne's castles and vineyards are barely served, so a hire car or an organised tour is the usual answer.

Arles has more worth browsing. The Saturday market sells olive oil, Camargue salt and linens, and the old town has shops for Provençal cottons, santons and gardian shirts, plus fine bookshops and photography prints in this publishing town.

Carcassonne's Cité lanes lean heavily to plastic swords and souvenirs, and the Bastide high street is modest. The best things to buy are edible: tinned cassoulet, Limoux blanquette and Corbières wine.

Carcassonne is the easier of the two on the budget. Arles is reasonable for Provence, well below the smart villages of the Alpilles and the Luberon, and a combined pass covers most sights, but its dear spells come round several times a year: rooms grow scarce and pricier in July with the photography festival, and again for the ferias at Easter and in September.

Carcassonne costs what an ordinary southern provincial town costs, and its expensive side is confined to one place and one season. Hotels and restaurants inside the Cité walls charge a premium, and prices climb sharply in July and August. Stay in the Bastide in spring or autumn, drink the cheap local wine and take the lunchtime set menus, and your money goes noticeably further. In both towns, car hire is the main extra cost.

Both towns put on their best shows outdoors in summer, in very different settings. Arles uses its Roman theatre and arena for concerts, brings world music to its courtyards with Les Suds in July, and during the ferias fills the arena with brass bands, bullfights and the bloodless course camarguaise.

Carcassonne's July festival puts headline acts on the open-air stage inside the Cité walls, and its Bastille Day fireworks over the ramparts are famous. Out of season, both have only a modest town theatre. From Arles you can reach the bigger programmes in Avignon and Nîmes, while from Carcassonne opera means going to Toulouse.

Neither is a spa destination, and calm in both comes from pace rather than treatments. Carcassonne at least has thermal water within an hour, in the small old spa villages of Rennes-les-Bains and Alet-les-Bains, plus gentle walks along the Canal du Midi. Arles offers converted farmhouses with pools in the Camargue and the Alpilles, and summer siestas on shaded squares by the Rhône.