Bordeaux or Marseille?

Bordeaux has no beach of its own. The sand is an hour away by train or car. You can choose the wild Atlantic surf beaches of Lacanau and the Médoc, where you swim between the flags, or the sheltered Arcachon basin, whose calmer water suits children. Either way it is a day out in July or August rather than a daily habit.

In Marseille you swim on your own doorstep. The Prado beaches, the little Plage des Catalans and the rocky Corniche inlets are a short bus ride from the centre, and the turquoise Calanques and Frioul coves give you clear water for a half-day trip. The catch is that the beaches are more shingle than sand, and the mistral can chill the water overnight.

Bordeaux has the stronger table, and wine is at its centre. You can drink your way through the Médoc, Saint-Émilion and Sauternes by the glass, eat entrecôte grilled over vine cuttings and spend a weekend morning at the oyster counters of the Capucins. The brasseries and bistros of Saint-Pierre and Chartrons keep standards high, though the range stays firmly French.

Marseille's food is more mixed and cheaper from day to day, from panisses and wood-fired pizza to the North African and Armenian shops of Noailles. Bouillabaisse in a Corniche harbour is a fine occasion, but around the Vieux-Port you have to choose carefully to avoid tired set menus.

The two are close, but their heritage is of different kinds. Bordeaux is one complete 18th-century set piece. Walk the curve of the Garonne past the Place de la Bourse, the Grand Théâtre and the bell tower of Saint-Michel, and the city itself is the exhibit. Sound regional museums such as the Musée d'Aquitaine fill a rainy afternoon.

Marseille's history goes back much further, to its Greek founding, but it is spread through a working city rather than kept in a preserved centre. You climb to Notre-Dame de la Garde, cross from Fort Saint-Jean to the MuCEM, wander the lanes of Le Panier and take a boat to the Château d'If. That makes for a more scattered but more varied few days.

Marseille has more going on after dark. Cours Julien and La Plaine fill with graffiti-painted bars, small music venues and pavement tables, the Vieux-Port terraces stay open late, and summer brings warehouse nights and rooftop parties. Some streets feel edgy late at night, so a taxi home is sensible.

Bordeaux's nights are quieter and built around wine: a long dinner, then bars around Saint-Pierre or the student crowd at Place de la Victoire. The clubs are grouped along the Quai de Paludate, which suits people who want to go looking for them.

Here Marseille is in another league. The Calanques national park begins inside the city, with limestone ridges, coastal paths to Sormiou, Sugiton and En-Vau, sport climbing on the cliffs, and kayaking and diving among the inlets. Sainte-Victoire and the Sainte-Baume forest are within an hour. In high summer, heat and fire risk can close the massifs.

Bordeaux's countryside is flat and mild, and at its best by bike along the greenways through Entre-Deux-Mers. Its big natural moments are on the coast an hour away: climbing the Dune du Pilat, birdwatching on the Arcachon tidal flats or surfing at Lacanau. Serious hiking means travelling to the Pyrenees.

Both make fine bases, but Marseille has more famous places within easy reach. Aix is about half an hour away and Cassis is closer still. Arles and Avignon are around an hour by train, and the Luberon villages, Les Baux and the Pont du Gard make longer days out by car.

Bordeaux's day trips are more single-minded, and excellent if wine is the point. Saint-Émilion is a short train ride away, the châteaux of Margaux and Pauillac line the Médoc, and Sauternes lies to the south, with Arcachon for the sea. Visiting the estates is much easier with a car or a tour.

Bordeaux is the easier city with children. The flat, largely car-free centre and the trams make pushchairs manageable, the Miroir d'eau doubles as a paddling pool on hot days, and the Jardin Public has a carousel and a puppet theatre. The Dune du Pilat and the calm Arcachon basin make the best days out.

Marseille has the beaches, with Parc Borély behind the Prado strip, and boat trips to the Frioul islands go down well. Steep streets, traffic, heat and the lack of a zoo or aquarium make the centre harder work, so families usually stay near the southern beaches.

Bordeaux is far simpler to get around. Most sights lie along a flat stretch of the left bank from Chartrons to Saint-Michel, the tram lines are easy to follow, and cycling along the river feels natural. You only need a car for the Médoc and Sauternes estates.

Marseille's core is walkable but hilly, and its two metro lines and trams serve the centre and the north rather than the coast. The beaches and the Calanques trailheads depend on buses that get stuck in traffic, so the summer ferries across the Vieux-Port and out to Pointe Rouge are a welcome alternative.

Bordeaux makes for the fuller shopping day. There is the long pedestrian Rue Sainte-Catherine for chains, the Triangle d'Or for luxury labels and the antique dealers of Rue Notre-Dame in Chartrons. The cellars will ship abroad, which makes wine the obvious thing to take home.

Marseille is better for souvenirs with a story than for fashion. The finds here are green cubes of Marseille soap, santon figures from the Le Panier workshops, and the fabrics and teas of Noailles. Anyone looking for designer shops will run out of options quickly.

Neither city is cheap, and there is little between them on cost. Marseille makes cheap eating easier, with pizza, North African snacks and market food, and the Calanques walks and several museums cost little. In Bordeaux the centre is free to admire and set lunches are good value, but château tastings and wine at dinner add up. Room prices rise in summer in both.

The two are evenly matched, with different strengths. Bordeaux has the finer single stage: the Grand Théâtre of 1780, home to the city's opera and ballet, with the national orchestra close by. Its seasons pause in high summer.

Marseille leans towards the popular and the Mediterranean. There is serious drama at La Criée, mixed programmes at the Friche la Belle de Mai and a strong place in French hip-hop and world music, and the Festival de Marseille keeps summer busy when Bordeaux's stages go quiet.

Neither city suits a spa vacation. Bordeaux has the gentler options: vinotherapy at spa hotels among the vineyards just outside town, and the slow pace of walks along the quays. The nearest real thermal waters are at Dax, an hour and a half south. Marseille has a few local hammams and some hotel spas in a loud, dense city, and visitors who want rest tend to stay in Cassis or inland and come in for the day.