Cannes or Lille?

Here the gap is as wide as it gets. Cannes is a real beach town: fine sand curves along the Croisette, the wide, mostly free Plage du Midi lies west of the old port, and clearer, rockier swimming waits on the Lérins islands and in the Esterel coves. The sea is warm enough from June to early October, though the central beaches are crowded in high summer.

Lille is inland, and the sea is a day out rather than part of a stay. Malo-les-Bains at Dunkirk and the dune beaches of the Opal Coast are good for a bracing walk or sand yachting, but the North Sea stays cool even in August.

The two eat about equally well, but they eat very differently. Cannes cooks from the Mediterranean and Provence: the Forville market, bouillabaisse and grilled fish in Le Suquet, socca, and rosé on a terrace, with a fine-dining tier in the palace hotels and towards Mougins. The catch is the overpriced, generic food along the Croisette and port.

Lille is heavier, northern and built around beer. Its wood-panelled estaminets in Vieux-Lille serve carbonnade, potjevleesch and welsh, Maroilles turns up everywhere, and the Sunday Wazemmes market brings a multi-ethnic mix. Come for beer and slow-cooked dishes in Lille, and for seafood and wine in Cannes.

Lille has far more to see. The Palais des Beaux-Arts, with its Flemish masters, Goya and relief maps of fortified towns, is a major museum, and the Vieille Bourse, Grand Place and UNESCO-listed belfry make Vieux-Lille worth slow exploring. La Piscine, the LaM and Vauban's citadel easily fill two or three days.

In Cannes the sights amount to the castle museum and church on Le Suquet, the Belle Époque hotels and the Palais des Festivals steps, all done in a morning. Its serious art lies along the coast, not in town.

Lille gives the better night out, and it does so all year. A big student population fills the cheap bars on Rue Masséna and Rue Solférino, while beer cafés and cocktail cellars in Vieux-Lille suit a calmer crowd. Proper clubbing usually means a short hop into Belgium.

Cannes is seasonal and dressy. From June to September and during the festivals the beach clubs on the Croisette turn into party venues and the streets behind the old port fill with bars, but it is champagne and dress codes rather than casual drinking. Out of season it goes quiet early.

Cannes has much the better outdoors. The volcanic red rock of the Esterel, with trails up Pic de l'Ours, lies twenty minutes west, the Lérins islands offer pine-shaded walks, and Cap d'Antibes has a wild coastal path. Add sailing, kayaking and diving, the gorges of the pre-Alps inland and winter skiing in the Alpes-Maritimes. Summer fire risk can close forest trails.

Around Lille the land is flat and farmed. The Citadel park, canal towpaths for cycling and the low Monts de Flandre make for gentle outings, and the chalk cliffs of Cap Blanc-Nez are a long day away.

Both make excellent bases. The difference is that Cannes sends you along a coast and Lille sends you across borders. From Cannes, the coastal train links Antibes, Nice, Villefranche, Monaco and Menton, and buses or a car reach Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Èze, Grasse and Mougins. A short ferry from the old port takes you to the Lérins islands, with their fortress and a working monastery that has its own vineyards. Days out from Cannes are a sunny mix of art, villages and sea.

Lille's day trips are international and mostly to cities. Fast trains put Brussels, Ghent, Bruges, Paris and even London within reach for the day. Closer to home are the arcaded squares of Arras, Amiens Cathedral, the Louvre-Lens and the First World War battlefields around Ypres, Vimy and the Somme.

Neither city is built for children, but Cannes has a slight edge thanks to its gently shelving sandy beaches, calm water and the flat Croisette with carousels. A boat picnic on the Lérins islands makes an easy outing, though summer heat means planning around the middle of the day.

Lille is more of a park-and-museum city for families. There is the small zoo and playgrounds in the Citadel park, the natural history museum and the Forum des Sciences, with Pairi Daiza and the Nausicaá aquarium as bigger outings. The cobbles of Vieux-Lille are tough with a pushchair.

Lille is simpler to get around. Its flat, compact centre is walkable, its two main stations sit beside the old town, and the automated VAL metro and tram cover Roubaix, Tourcoing and the suburbs, so a car is never needed.

Cannes is also small and walkable, apart from the climb to Le Suquet, and the central station makes coastal trips easy. Inland is another matter. Grasse, the perched villages and the Esterel corniche really want a car, and summer traffic and scarce parking make driving a chore.

Both are about as good as each other for shopping, but in different ways. Cannes is about luxury: the big Paris fashion and jewellery houses face the sea along the Croisette, Rue d'Antibes covers mid-range fashion, and Rue Meynadier sells olive oil, Provençal fabrics and soaps.

Lille has fewer luxury labels and more independents. Look in the design and fashion shops of Vieux-Lille, alongside the chains of Rue Neuve and the Euralille mall. Its unique draw is the Braderie in early September, a city-wide flea market spread over kilometres of streets.

Lille is clearly the cheaper stay. Hotels are reasonable for most of the year, estaminet meals, beer, the metro and the main museums are all fairly priced, and costs sit at ordinary French city levels. Only the Braderie and trade fairs push rooms up.

Cannes is expensive near the water, with seafront dining, cocktails and private-beach loungers priced for the wealthy, and the film festival sends rooms far higher. Spring and autumn, picnics from Forville and staying in a neighbouring town all help.

Lille has the fuller programme year-round. The Opéra de Lille stages opera and dance, the Orchestre National de Lille plays a symphonic season, the Théâtre du Nord is a national theatre, and the Zénith and Aéronef bring rock and pop tours.

Cannes is better known than it is busy. The film festival is mostly closed to the public apart from free beach screenings, and outside summer the Palais des Festivals and the regional orchestra offer a modest schedule. Summer brings castle-courtyard concerts on Le Suquet and the jazz festival at nearby Juan-les-Pins.

Cannes is the better place to unwind. Its palace hotels have polished spas using sea minerals and Provençal plants, thalassotherapy centres line the coast, and a calm seafront in spring or autumn makes slow mornings easy. Avoid August and festival weeks if rest is the aim.

Lille offers little beyond hotel and day spas, tea rooms and café terraces in Vieux-Lille. For real thermal water you need the short train ride to Saint-Amand-les-Eaux.