Bilbao or Carcassonne?

Neither city is a beach destination, but the sea is much easier to reach from Bilbao. The metro runs to Ereaga and Arrigunaga in Getxo, to the surf beaches at Sopelana and to the sheltered bay at Plentzia, all in under an hour. The Biscay water stays cool until late summer, though, and grey days can interrupt.

Carcassonne's own swimming is the Lac de la Cavayère, a lake with lifeguards on the edge of town. The long, shallow Mediterranean beaches at Gruissan and Narbonne-Plage have warmer water, but they are an hour away, so every day at the sea means taking the car.

Food is where the two cities differ most. In Bilbao, eating is a reason to come. You can spend an evening going from bar to bar around Plaza Nueva and the Ensanche, and the Ribera market shows the fish and produce the cooking is built on. Beyond the bars there are asadores grilling txuleta and several Michelin-starred kitchens.

Carcassonne has one famous dish, cassoulet, and excellent local wine from Corbières, Minervois and Limoux. The cooking is otherwise plain southern French. The set menus inside the Cité are uneven, so the better meals are down in the Bastide.

The two are equally rewarding, but in very different ways. Bilbao's culture is mostly in its museums: Gehry's Guggenheim, an old-master collection at the Bellas Artes, the Basque Museum, and a short metro ride away, the Vizcaya Bridge, an industrial UNESCO site.

Carcassonne is built around one great monument. La Cité has a double ring of walls with towers, the Château Comtal ramparts and the stained glass of Saint-Nazaire, with the Bastide's grid streets and the Canal du Midi below. Choose Bilbao for galleries and modern architecture, and Carcassonne for walking through a medieval fortress. Either takes only two or three days.

Bilbao is far livelier after dark. The pintxo crawl runs straight into late nights in the Casco Viejo and around Licenciado Poza, especially from Thursday to Saturday, and the August Great Week turns the riverbanks into one long party.

In Carcassonne, an evening means a walk along the floodlit walls and a glass on a terrace around Place Carnot. There are almost no clubs, and anyone after a real night out has to go to Toulouse or Montpellier.

Bilbao is the better outdoor base, mainly because so much of it is close. Green hills rise straight from the edge of the city, so a proper walk needs no planning, and the coast adds a second landscape: the Urdaibai biosphere reserve around its estuary and the long stairway out to the islet of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. You can have mountain days and sea days in the same week, but bring waterproofs in any season.

Carcassonne's country is drier and more austere, with chestnut and beech forest in the Montagne Noire to the north and the Galamus gorge and Pyrenean foothills to the south. It is best for walking in spring and autumn, before or after the summer heat and wind. Apart from the flat towpath of the Canal du Midi, which is good for cycling or a hired boat, nearly every outing starts with a drive.

Both are excellent bases for day trips. From Bilbao, San Sebastián is the obvious outing by bus, and Gernika, the fishing ports from Bermeo to Lekeitio, Vitoria and the Rioja wine villages fill out the week, many of them without a car.

Carcassonne's best trips are the Cathar castles of Peyrepertuse, Quéribus and Lastours, along with villages such as Lagrasse and Minerve. Toulouse and Narbonne are easy by train, but most of the countryside depends on driving.

Both work well with children, in different ways. Bilbao is the easier city day to day: the riverside is flat for pushchairs and scooters, Puppy and the Artxanda funicular go down well, and the metro reaches the beaches. However, there is no zoo or aquarium for rainy days.

Carcassonne has the bigger draw for children, a castle out of a storybook with jousting and falconry in summer, plus a lake with a water park and an animal park. The catch is steep cobbles, summer crowds and midday heat on the ramparts.

Bilbao is far easier without a car. The main sights lie along a flat walk by the river, a tram covers the same stretch, and the metro, with its glass Foster entrances, runs out to the beaches and Portugalete. Regional trains and buses reach Gernika, the coast and San Sebastián.

Carcassonne's Bastide is compact enough to walk, but the Cité is a steady climb across the Pont Vieux. Once you leave town, the castles and wine villages are poorly served by public transport, so most visitors hire a car.

Bilbao has more for shoppers, with chain stores and a department store on the Gran Vía and old family shops in the Casco Viejo selling berets, espadrilles and linen. Carcassonne's Cité lanes are mostly plastic swords and souvenirs, and the Bastide has only a modest high street. In both places the best things to take home are edible: Idiazabal cheese and tinned anchovies from Bilbao, and cassoulet and blanquette from Carcassonne.

Carcassonne is the cheaper of the two, priced like a provincial French town, with cheap local wine and good-value set lunches. Avoid sleeping or eating inside the Cité, where you pay more for less, and budget for car hire.

Bilbao is expensive for Spain, especially for central hotels near the Guggenheim and in August. Its saving grace is the pintxo crawl, which is a cheap way to eat very well, and the city's metro and walkable centre keep transport cheap.

Bilbao has a stage life that runs through the year. Opera from the ABAO season and the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra play at the Euskalduna, theatre and dance fill the Arriaga and the Campos Elíseos, and the BBK Live festival brings international bands in July.

Carcassonne has one memorable month, when the July festival puts headline acts on the open-air stage inside the walls, followed by the Bastille Day fireworks over the Cité. For the rest of the year the programme is thin, and opera means a trip to Toulouse.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, and spa options in both come down to hotel spas. Carcassonne has modest thermal villages such as Rennes-les-Bains within an hour, while Bilbao's balnearios are a separate trip. For rest, Bilbao offers long lunches and walks by the river, and Carcassonne offers the shaded Canal du Midi and quiet evenings on the walls, provided you avoid the crowds of high summer.