Avignon or Milan?

Neither city has a beach, and in both swimming is an outing rather than a daily habit. What differs is the water. From Avignon you drive about half an hour to the clear green pools of the Gardon below the Pont du Gard, or further to the wild Camargue sands at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.

Milan's swimming is freshwater and reached by train. There is the Idroscalo basin near Linate for a quick dip, or the pebbly lidos and swimming platforms of Lake Como and Lake Maggiore, about an hour away. Pick Avignon if you want sand and the sea, and Milan if you want lakes without a car.

Avignon's table is narrow but has a clear identity: daube, tians and goat's cheese, lunch at the market counters of Les Halles, and Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Côtes du Rhône by the glass. Wine is where it holds its own.

Milan is the stronger place to eat. Alongside its own butter-rich risotto, ossobuco and cotoletta, it draws on the cooking of the whole country and has a serious fine-dining tier. The aperitivo hour in Brera, Isola and the Navigli can make a meal on its own. For range and variety, Milan wins easily.

Avignon offers one tight, coherent ensemble. There is the Palais des Papes, the largest Gothic palace in Europe, along with the cathedral, the broken bridge and almost 4km of ramparts around a lived-in medieval town, with the Petit Palais and the Collection Lambert inside the walls. Two days see it all.

Milan's sights are spread through a modern city but carry more weight: the roof of the Duomo among the spires, Leonardo's Last Supper, the Italian painting at the Brera and Michelangelo's Rondanini Pietà at the Castello Sforzesco. For art of the first rank, and enough to fill a longer stay, Milan comes out ahead.

An evening in Avignon means an aperitif on Place Pie and a glass of Côtes du Rhône on a terrace. By midnight the walled streets are quiet, and there are hardly any clubs. July's festival is the one month the town stays up late.

Milan has a real night out all year except August. Aperitivo spills onto the Navigli towpaths, Brera has smarter bars, Porta Venezia has a mixed, gay-friendly scene, and the clubs range from dressy Corso Como to warehouse nights. It pays to dress up a little, because style counts.

Both cities sit on flat plains with fine country about an hour away, so the difference lies in the landscape. Around Avignon it is dry and Mediterranean: the bare summit of Mont Ventoux, the ochre trails of the Luberon, the crags of the Alpilles, canoeing on the Gardon and the flamingo lagoons of the Camargue. Most of it is reached by car.

Milan looks north to water and mountains, with wooded slopes above Como and Maggiore, ferries and sailing, via ferrata on the Grigne and skiing in winter. Trains reach the start of many walks, while Avignon's outdoors is best in spring and autumn with a hire car.

Both are outstanding bases, and the real choice is between Roman Provence and the cities of northern Italy. From Avignon, Nîmes, Arles, Orange and the Pont du Gard are all within half an hour. Beyond them lie the wine villages and Luberon hilltops, though those need a car.

Milan works by fast train. Verona, Turin and Bergamo are about an hour away, with Bologna, Mantua and Parma a little further, and Lake Como or the Borromean Islands make a slower day. Without a car Milan is the easier base, while Avignon packs its ancient sites into a tighter radius.

Avignon has a few moments children enjoy: the tablet tour of the Palais des Papes, dancing on the bridge from the song and the playground on the Rocher des Doms. The real family days out, such as canoeing at the Pont du Gard or seeing the Camargue's horses, need a car, and the cobbles are hard work with a pushchair.

Milan copes better. The submarine and trains at the science museum fill a rainy day, and Parco Sempione has room to run. The flat centre and the trams make a pushchair easy, and Leolandia and Gardaland are within reach for older children.

Inside its walls Avignon is easy, with most things within twenty minutes on foot. Regional trains run to Arles, Nîmes and Marseille. Away from the railway, though, buses are sparse, and the hill villages and Mont Ventoux mean hiring a car.

Milan covers far more ground without one. It has five simple metro lines, the old orange trams through the centre and direct trains to the lakes and nearby towns. The weak points are the stuffy summer metro and the long trip in from Malpensa.

In Avignon shopping is a pleasant sideline: Provençal cottons, lavender and olive wood in the lanes off Rue des Marchands, and tapenade, olive oil and wine to take home. For serious antiques you go out to L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.

In Milan, shopping is a reason to come. The Quadrilatero della Moda holds the flagships of the great Italian houses, and the Galleria and La Rinascente add history. Brera, Porta Ticinese and the design showrooms cover vintage, furniture and lighting.

Neither is cheap, but Avignon is easier on the wallet. Set lunches in bistros away from the main squares, wine bought from producers and an old town that costs nothing to wander keep costs down, provided you avoid July rooms and budget for a hire car.

Milan is Italy's most expensive city, and hotels get dearer still during trade fairs and fashion weeks. Aperitivo snacks, office-worker lunch menus and a room near a metro stop outside the centre all help, and you will not need a car.

For three weeks in July Avignon is extraordinary. The Festival d'Avignon plays in the Cour d'honneur of the Palais des Papes, and the Off fills every cellar and courtyard. The rest of the year it has the Opéra Grand Avignon, a handful of small theatres and a jazz club.

Milan has the stronger stage all year: La Scala's opera and ballet season from December, the Piccolo Teatro, a fine symphony orchestra and big summer concerts at San Siro. Unless your dates fall in July, Milan has far more on any given night.

Rest in Avignon is about pace rather than facilities: long lunches, shaded squares under the plane trees, the Rocher des Doms in the late afternoon and a few hotel spas. Visitors who really want to switch off stay outside the walls in farmhouse guesthouses among the vineyards. In town, July's festival crowds and a mistral that blows for days can work against any sense of calm.

Milan is a working city, yet it has more to offer within its limits. There is a large thermal spa with outdoor pools and saunas, and in summer the restored 1930s pools of the Bagni Misteriosi make for a relaxed afternoon. For real quiet, the lakeside villas and walks of Como and Maggiore are an hour away by train.