Avignon or Bordeaux?

Neither city is on the coast, but Bordeaux makes a beach day much easier. Trains run to Arcachon in about an hour, and its sheltered basin is calm enough for small children. The long surf beaches of Lacanau and the Médoc, and the sands below the Dune du Pilat, are close by.

From Avignon the Mediterranean is a longer drive, to the wild Camargue sands or the resorts around Le Grau-du-Roi. The sea there is a little warmer. The swim most visitors actually take is in the river pools of the Gardon below the Pont du Gard, or in their own pool.

Bordeaux is the better city for eating and drinking. Wine runs through the whole place: bars pour Médoc, Saint-Émilion and Sauternes by the glass, and the Cité du Vin is on the riverfront. There are also oysters from Arcachon, entrecôte grilled over vine cuttings and canelés in every bakery, and good brasseries and modern bistros in several districts.

Avignon's cooking is Provençal and built on its produce: daube, tians, tapenade and fruit from the plain, best seen at Les Halles. Châteauneuf-du-Pape is close by, but the main squares cater mostly to visitors. The good tables are fewer and tucked into side streets like Rue des Teinturiers.

The two are broadly level here, but they offer different kinds of past. Avignon is a medieval set piece: the vast Gothic Palais des Papes, the broken bridge and nearly 4km of ramparts. The Petit Palais's Italian primitives and the charterhouse across the river round it off, and two days covers it.

Bordeaux's sight is a whole 18th-century city of pale limestone, from the Place de la Bourse and its water mirror to street after street of carved façades. It needs three or four days of slow walking. Its museums, such as the Musée d'Aquitaine and the CAPC, are wider in scope than they are famous.

Bordeaux has much more to offer after dinner. Saint-Pierre's squares fill with wine-bar crowds, Place de la Victoire is the cheap student end, and the clubs on the Quai de Paludate run until morning, especially on term-time weekends.

Avignon is an aperitif town. Evenings are spent on Place Pie or Place des Corps Saints, and the streets are mostly quiet by midnight. The great exception is July, when the festival keeps the old town awake into the small hours.

Avignon has far more dramatic country around it. Mont Ventoux rises to 1,910m to the north-east, and the ochre trails of the Luberon, the Dentelles de Montmirail and the Alpilles give real hiking and climbing. The Camargue's flamingos and white horses lie to the south.

Bordeaux's surroundings are gentle and flat, with vineyards and the Landes pine forest. Its outdoor highlights are on the coast: the Dune du Pilat, kayaking and birdwatching on the Arcachon basin, and surfing at Lacanau. Long cycle greenways are the easy pleasure here, but there is no hill walking nearby.

Both are excellent bases, but Avignon has the wider reach. Within half an hour are some of the finest Roman remains outside Italy: Nîmes, Arles, Orange's theatre and the Pont du Gard. Beyond them lie the Luberon hill villages, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and Aix and Marseille by fast train.

Bordeaux's excursions are more focused on wine. Saint-Émilion is an easy train ride, and the Médoc châteaux and Sauternes are best done by car or on a tour. Arcachon's oyster ports and Blaye's citadel add some variety. Cognac and Biarritz are possible but stretch the day.

With a pushchair, the difference shows on the first morning. Avignon's narrow cobbled lanes inside the walls are hard work to push along, and apart from the tablet tour of the papal palace, dancing on the bridge from the song and the playground on the Rocher des Doms, little in town is aimed at children. Family days out, such as the Pont du Gard or the Camargue's flamingos and horses, mostly need a car.

Bordeaux makes everyday life with children simpler. Its centre is flat, largely car-free and served by trams, so pushchairs are easy to manage. On hot days the Miroir d'eau turns into a paddling pool, the Jardin Public has a carousel and puppet theatre, and Cap Sciences runs hands-on exhibitions. Climbing the Dune du Pilat makes a memorable day out.

Bordeaux is the more comfortable city to get around. It is flat, many streets are pedestrianised, the trams link the Cité du Vin, the right bank and the station, and bike lanes run along the river. You will not need a car until you head for the Médoc estates.

Avignon's walled centre is compact enough to cross on foot in twenty minutes, though the cobbles and the mistral can tire you. Regional trains reach Arles, Nîmes and Orange well. For the hill villages and Ventoux, a hire car is the realistic choice.

Avignon's shops are small and mostly Provençal. The lanes off Rue Joseph Vernet sell printed cottons, lavender, olive-wood and soap, while Rue de la République has the usual chains. The best things to take home are edible, from Les Halles, and serious antiques hunters drive out to L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.

Bordeaux has far more range in town. Rue Sainte-Catherine runs for over a kilometre with the chains and a department store, the Triangle d'Or gathers the luxury labels, and Rue Notre-Dame in Chartrons is lined with antique dealers and independent boutiques. Its wine cellars, which will ship abroad, are a reason to shop here in their own right.

Costs are much the same in both, and neither is cheap. What changes the bill is when you go and how you get around. In Avignon, rooms inside the walls become scarce and expensive in festival July and much easier in spring and autumn, and seeing the countryside usually means paying for a hire car.

Bordeaux's central hotels are mid-to-high priced and rise in summer and during big wine events. Inexpensive trams mean you can manage without a car in the city. In both, set lunch menus are the way to eat well for less, and wine tastings and good bottles are where the money goes.

Avignon comes out ahead because of July. The Festival d'Avignon puts major productions in the Cour d'honneur of the papal palace, and the Off fringe adds well over a thousand shows a day across the town. The rest of the year there is still the opera house on Place de l'Horloge and a dozen or so small theatres.

Bordeaux has the steadier season. Opera and ballet play in the gilded 1780 Grand Théâtre, the national orchestra performs nearby, and there are jazz and touring concerts. However, its stages pause in high summer, just when Avignon's festival is at its height.

Neither city has a bathing culture, so in both you relax by slowing down. Avignon's version is a farmhouse guesthouse among the lavender and vineyards, with a pool and long lunches. In town, July's crowds and the days-long mistral make it less restful.

Bordeaux offers vinotherapy, treatments using grape seeds and vine extracts, at spa hotels among the vineyards just outside town. Evenings on the quays are calm. For real thermal waters, Dax is about an hour and a half away.