Bordeaux or Montpellier?

Neither city is on the sea, but Montpellier's coast is much closer and easier. Palavas and Carnon are about 11km away, and from there fine sand runs east to the dunes of l'Espiguette. The water shelves gently and is warm enough for swimmers of any age. The catch is that the nearest beaches get crowded on summer evenings.

From Bordeaux, a beach day means about an hour's journey. The Médoc shore at Lacanau is wild and beautiful, but its surf and rip currents mean swimming inside the flags. The calm water is in the Arcachon basin and below the Dune du Pilat. It makes a good summer day out, but it is less convenient than Montpellier's coast.

Bordeaux is the stronger city for eating and drinking, and wine is the reason. In one week you can taste Médoc, Graves, Saint-Émilion and Sauternes, and pair them with entrecôte grilled over vine cuttings, Landes duck and Arcachon oysters at the Marché des Capucins. The bistros of Saint-Pierre and Chartrons give the city real depth.

Montpellier eats well in a simpler, Mediterranean way. There are Pic Saint-Loup wines, Thau lagoon shellfish, tielle from Sète and lunches at the counters of the Halles Laissac. Thanks to the students it is cheaper and more casual, but it has fewer serious kitchens.

Bordeaux has the more impressive city to look at. Its whole 18th-century riverfront is a UNESCO site, from the Place de la Bourse and its water mirror to the Grand Théâtre, with Gothic Saint-André and Saint-Michel set among the streets. It holds three or four days of slow walking, and the Musée d'Aquitaine faces the city's slave-trading past directly.

Montpellier is more intimate. The medieval lanes of the Écusson open onto the Peyrou terrace and its aqueduct, and the Jardin des Plantes is the oldest botanical garden in France. Its best single museum, the Musée Fabre, outshines anything in Bordeaux, but the city as a whole takes only two or three days.

Montpellier has the slightly livelier evenings, because its large student crowd fills the bars around Place Jean-Jaurès on weeknights as well as weekends. The mood is young and loud. When the bars close, the clubs are out towards Lattes and the coast, so the night usually ends with a taxi ride.

In Bordeaux, evenings are more about wine bars, terraces in Saint-Pierre and an older crowd in Chartrons. The clubs are grouped on the Quai de Paludate near the station, which makes a late night simpler to plan, but the city is quieter overall outside term-time weekends.

Montpellier has more varied country on its doorstep. To the south, the lagoons are full of flamingos and herons, and the Camargue's marshes and white horses are about an hour away. To the north, the garrigue climbs to Pic Saint-Loup, and the Hérault gorges and the Cévennes give real walking and canoeing. The windy coast also suits kitesurfers.

Around Bordeaux the land is flat vineyard and pine forest. Its highlights are the Dune du Pilat, birdwatching in the Arcachon basin and serious surf at Lacanau. Long, level greenways make cycling a pleasure, but serious hikers will miss the hills.

Both are excellent bases, but Montpellier offers more variety. Roman Nîmes is about half an hour by train, with the Pont du Gard beyond it, and Arles and Avignon are each about an hour away. Carcassonne, Aigues-Mortes, Sète and Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert add walled towns, a fishing port and a gorge village.

Bordeaux's day trips centre on wine. They include the medieval town of Saint-Émilion, the château roads of Margaux and Pauillac, and the villages of Sauternes, plus Arcachon, Blaye and Cognac. For wine lovers it is hard to beat, though most estates need a car or a tour.

Both cities are easy with children, with traffic-free centres and pushchair-friendly trams, but the attractions differ. Bordeaux's are simple outdoor pleasures: the Miroir d'eau as a summer paddling pool, the carousel and puppet theatre in the Jardin Public, Cap Sciences, and a climb up the Dune du Pilat.

Montpellier has more ready-made outings, with the Lunaret zoo in its wooded park and an aquarium and planetarium side by side at Odysseum. Its calm, shallow beaches are also closer for small swimmers. On the other hand, its midsummer heat means planning the day around mornings at the sea.

There is little to choose between them. Both have compact, largely car-free centres and simple tram networks, and both need a car for the countryside. Bordeaux's centre is completely flat, with its sights lined up along the left bank from Chartrons to Saint-Michel, and riverside paths that suit cycling.

Montpellier's Écusson sits on a low hill with slopes and uneven paving. Getting to the beach means a tram and then a bus, which is slow in summer, but fast trains to Nîmes, Avignon and Carcassonne make up for it.

What separates the two is range. Bordeaux runs from high-street chains to luxury labels and antiques, while Montpellier stops at the middle of the market. Rue Sainte-Catherine carries the chains, the Triangle d'Or around Cours de l'Intendance gathers the luxury labels, and Rue Notre-Dame in Chartrons has antique dealers and independent boutiques. The wine cellars, which stock rare vintages and ship abroad, are a reason to shop in themselves.

In Montpellier, the lanes of the Écusson hold small boutiques, bookshops and delicatessens in old stone buildings, and the Polygone mall and Odysseum cover the big brands. There is no luxury street and little in the way of local crafts, so the best things to carry home are edible: olive oil, honey and Languedoc wine.

Montpellier is the somewhat cheaper of the two. Hotel rooms in the centre are moderate for most of the year, and the student economy keeps plenty of cheap counters and bars open. Bordeaux's central hotels are mid-to-high priced, and château tastings and wine tours soon add up.

In both cities, set lunches are the smart way to eat well. Rooms get more expensive in summer in both, especially on the coast near Montpellier.

Timing decides this one. Bordeaux's season runs from autumn to spring and goes quiet in high summer, which is exactly when Montpellier's stages are at their fullest. Bordeaux's highlight is the gilded Grand Théâtre of 1780, a superb room for opera and ballet. Around it is a respectable regional mix of orchestral concerts, jazz, touring acts and bar bands.

Montpellier gives someone who goes out to see performances more through the year, and far more in summer. Montpellier Danse is one of Europe's most respected contemporary dance festivals, the Radio France festival brings classical and jazz concerts, many of them free, and the Printemps des Comédiens fills the outdoor theatres of the Domaine d'O. During the regular season, the opera and the orchestra share the Opéra Comédie and the Corum.

Neither city has a bathing culture, and both rely on hotel spas and an unhurried pace. Bordeaux's speciality is vinotherapy at spa hotels among the vineyards, and its nearest thermal waters at Dax are about an hour and a half away. From Montpellier, Balaruc-les-Bains on the Thau lagoon is only half an hour away and takes day visitors. However, Montpellier's student-filled centre is less restful than Bordeaux's quiet quays and Jardin Public.