Bordeaux or Nantes?

Neither city is on the sea, and both put sand about an hour away, but Bordeaux's coast offers more. The Arcachon basin has sheltered water that warms well in summer, beaches near the towering Dune du Pilat and Cap Ferret, and the long surf beaches of Lacanau if you want waves.

From Nantes, the train runs to the broad bay at La Baule and the coves around Pornic. These are clean, calm and good for children, but the water stays cooler and the season is shorter.

Bordeaux is the stronger food city, mainly because of what is in the glass. Médoc, Graves, Saint-Émilion and Sauternes all appear on local lists. The cooking matches them: lamprey in red wine, Landes duck, Arcachon oysters at the Capucins counters and a canelé from any bakery.

Nantes eats well in a lighter, coastal style. It has pike-perch with beurre blanc, which was invented there, Breton galettes, butter biscuits and crisp Muscadet with shellfish. Its bistros in the Bouffay and Graslin quarters are good value, but few people would make the trip for the food alone.

Bordeaux has the grander setting. Its sweep of pale classical façades along the Garonne, from the Place de la Bourse and the Miroir d'eau to the Grand Théâtre, is the main attraction, with Saint-André and Saint-Michel adding Gothic height. The museums are good rather than great.

Nantes centres on one strong monument, the moated Château des Ducs de Bretagne, plus the leaning merchant houses of Ile Feydeau and the Passage Pommeraye arcade. Both former slave-trading ports face that history openly, Bordeaux in the Musée d'Aquitaine and Nantes in its castle museum and riverside memorial.

Both cities are lively in term time thanks to large student populations, and neither has big-city nightlife. In Bordeaux the evening revolves around wine. People drink on terraces in Saint-Pierre or in the cheap, loud bars of Place de la Victoire, and later head to the warehouse clubs of Quai de Paludate or bars on moored boats.

Nantes is more of a pub town. The narrow lanes of medieval Bouffay are packed with bars, and late at night the crowd crosses to the old banana warehouses on the Ile de Nantes, where the clubs are right on the river.

Both are set in flat country, so the difference is in the kind of landscape. Around Bordeaux it is sand and pine. You can climb the Dune du Pilat, kayak among the oyster beds and bird islands of Arcachon, or surf at Lacanau, and greenways lead out through the vineyards.

Nantes is greener and wetter. You can follow the wooded Erdre by boat or canoe, punt through the reed marshes of the Brière, or ride the Loire à Vélo route. The cliff paths of the Côte Sauvage give it the better coastal walking.

Both make excellent bases, but Bordeaux has the edge for wine. The stone hill town of Saint-Émilion is a short train ride away, the great châteaux of Margaux and Pauillac line the Médoc, and Sauternes, Cognac and even Biarritz are within reach. Many estate visits do need a car or a tour.

Nantes offers more variety than depth. There is the salt-marsh town of Guérande, Angers and its Apocalypse Tapestry, the cave villages of Saumur, half-timbered Vannes in Brittany and the Italian-style town of Clisson among the Muscadet vines.

Nantes is the more rewarding city for children because it has attractions built for them. The 12-metre elephant and the sea-creature carousel at the Machines de l'Ile are in town, and the Puy du Fou and the Port-Saint-Père safari park are within a short drive.

Bordeaux is pleasant with a pushchair, and in hot weather the Miroir d'eau and the puppet theatre in the Jardin Public help. Its best family day is climbing the Dune du Pilat, though older children may tire of a city built around wine and long meals.

Both are flat, walkable and served by simple tram networks, so neither needs a car in town. Bordeaux's sights are strung out along a few kilometres of the left bank, which makes for long riverside walks. Nantes is tighter, with everything within about half an hour on foot. It also has river shuttles across the Loire and fast trains to Paris in about two hours.

Bordeaux is the better place to shop. Rue Sainte-Catherine has the chains, the Triangle d'Or has luxury labels and Rue Notre-Dame in Chartrons is lined with antique dealers. Above all, there are the wine cellars, which sell everything from everyday bottles to old vintages and will ship them home.

Nantes has less luxury and a smaller range. Its highlight is browsing the three tiers of the Passage Pommeraye, and the local things to take home are modest ones: butter biscuits, berlingot sweets and Guérande salt.

Both cost what a prosperous French regional city costs, and set lunch menus are the best way to eat well in either. In Bordeaux the bills come from château tastings, guided wine tours and summer hotel rates, which climb further during wine events. In Nantes, rooms are usually easier to find, and the costs that catch people out are dinners, drinks and coastal stays in high summer.

The two scenes are equally strong but differ in shape and timing. Bordeaux has one standout venue, the gilded 18th-century Grand Théâtre, home to the city's opera and ballet. It is a city for a formal night out during the season, and quiet in high summer.

Nantes is more informal and festival-led. Its winter classical marathon, La Folle Journée, is famous across France. It also has contemporary work at the Lieu Unique in the old LU biscuit factory, giant street puppetry and outdoor performances in summer.

Neither city has a bathing culture, and both send you out of town to relax properly. Bordeaux offers vinotherapy, treatments made from grape seeds and vine extracts, at spa hotels among the nearby vineyards, and real thermal waters at Dax. Near Nantes the tradition is the seawater cure, with long-established thalassotherapy centres on the coast at La Baule and Pornic.