Bordeaux or Saint-Malo?

Neither city has the better beach overall, but they offer quite different kinds. Bordeaux is a river city with no sand of its own. A beach day means an hour by train or car, either to the wild Atlantic surf at Lacanau, where you swim inside the flagged zones, or to the sheltered Arcachon basin, which has the warmest and calmest water of either city.

In Saint-Malo the beaches start at the foot of the walls. The Sillon runs for about 3km, and at Bon-Secours a seawater pool refills at every high tide. The trade-off is the Channel water, which stays cold even in August, so you spend more time on the sand than in the sea.

Bordeaux is much the better place to eat. It has wine from the surrounding appellations by the glass, entrecôte grilled over vine cuttings, Landes duck, canelés in every bakery, and good bistros across Saint-Pierre, Chartrons and Saint-Michel. You could spend a week eating and drinking well without repeating yourself.

Saint-Malo's food is simpler and centres on the sea: galettes with cider, mussels, and kouign-amann. Both places have famous oysters, Arcachon in one case and Cancale in the other. Inside the walls, though, many restaurants serve the day-tripper crowd, and the better meals are found out in Saint-Servan or along the coast towards Cancale.

Bordeaux has much more to see. Its UNESCO-listed 18th-century centre, the Place de la Bourse and the Grand Théâtre can fill several days on their own, and the Musée d'Aquitaine and the CAPC add real museum time.

Saint-Malo's appeal lies in one striking setting rather than in a list of sights. You walk the full ring of ramparts, see the cathedral and the castle keep, and cross to the Grand Bé at low tide to find Chateaubriand's grave. Most of the walled town was rebuilt after 1944, and its corsair history shows more in street names than in museums. A day covers it.

In Bordeaux the evening can carry on after dinner. Terraces in Saint-Pierre and the student bars around Place de la Victoire lead on to the clubs of the Quai de Paludate, which stay open until morning, and the town is liveliest on term-time weekends.

Saint-Malo has a few pubs and wine bars inside the walls, which keep going a little later in summer. For the rest of the year the town goes to bed early, and the nearest clubs are in Rennes.

Saint-Malo is the better place for outdoor days. The GR34 coastal path starts right from the town and heads east to the Pointe du Grouin and west to the cliffs of the Emerald Coast. Tides of up to about 13m reshape the bay twice a day, and the Rance estuary and the windy beaches suit kayakers, sailors and kitesurfers.

Bordeaux's countryside is flat vineyard and pine forest, and its best scenery is an hour away at the coast: the Dune du Pilat, the birdlife of the Arcachon basin and the Médoc surf. Its strong point is cycling, on long flat greenways through Entre-Deux-Mers.

Both make excellent bases, and the difference lies in where the trips go. From Bordeaux they lead mostly to wine. Saint-Émilion is an easy train ride, and the Médoc châteaux and Sauternes are best reached by car or on a tour, with Arcachon and Cognac also in range.

Saint-Malo's outings are about history and coast. Mont-Saint-Michel is an hour's drive away, Dinan's half-timbered streets are closer still, Dinard is a short boat ride across the estuary, and summer ferries go to Jersey. Most of these, as around Bordeaux, are easier with a car.

Saint-Malo is the easier place to entertain children, because the fun starts at the door. There are sandcastles on wide beaches, the sea pool at Bon-Secours, pirate stories on the ramparts, walks out to the island forts and the Grand Aquarium for rainy days. Parents need to watch the fast-rising tides, and the walled town is crowded with pushchairs in August.

Bordeaux is flat and has trams, so it is comfortable with a pushchair, and the Miroir d'eau and the Jardin Public fill a hot afternoon. Its best family days, though, mean travelling out to the Dune du Pilat or Arcachon.

Bordeaux is the easier city to get around. The centre is flat and largely pedestrianised, the trams link the Cité du Vin, the right bank and the station, and bike lanes run along the river. Only the Médoc and Sauternes vineyards really call for a car or a tour.

Saint-Malo's walled town and seafront are easy on foot, and there are buses, a passenger boat to Dinard and fast trains to Paris. Outside the town the buses are thin, so most people drive, and parking near the walls is a struggle in summer.

Bordeaux offers more choice. Rue Sainte-Catherine has the chains and a department store, the Triangle d'Or has the luxury labels, and Chartrons has antique dealers. Its wine cellars, which will ship bottles home, are reason enough to shop here.

Saint-Malo is better for small souvenirs than for serious shopping. You will find striped sailor tops, salted-butter caramels, faience and cider, and anyone who wants fashion goes to Rennes.

Neither is cheap, and the two end up costing much the same. The difference is in when you pay. Bordeaux is priced like a prosperous city all year, with hotel rates rising in summer and during wine events. Château tastings and good bottles at dinner are what push up the bill.

Saint-Malo is priced like a seaside resort. Rooms by the walls and the beach are expensive and book up early in July and August, then become noticeably cheaper in spring and autumn. A galette and cider remains one of the cheapest good meals in either town.

Bordeaux offers far more on an ordinary evening. The Grand Théâtre of 1780 hosts the city's opera and ballet in its gilded hall, a national orchestra plays nearby, and there are jazz, touring acts and bar bands as well, though the seasons pause in high summer.

Saint-Malo's cultural life comes in bursts, during the La Route du Rock, Étonnants Voyageurs and Quai des Bulles festivals. Between them there are only a modest theatre season and occasional concerts in the cathedral.

Saint-Malo is the more restful choice. It is one of France's classic thalassotherapy towns, with heated seawater pools on the Sillon seafront and the same tradition across the estuary in Dinard. Out of season, quiet low-tide walks and an afternoon of treatments make an easy, calm break.

Bordeaux has no bathing tradition of its own. It offers vinotherapy at a few vineyard spa hotels outside the city, and in town relaxing mostly means long lunches and evening walks along the quays.