Carcassonne or Girona?

Neither city is on the sea, but Girona is much closer to good swimming. Carcassonne's nearest option is the Lac de la Cavayère, a pleasant lifeguarded reservoir. The real beaches at Gruissan and Narbonne-Plage are an hour's drive away, and there they are long, sandy and often roughened by the tramontane.

From Girona the Costa Brava starts about 40 minutes away, and the choice is far wider. There are big sandy bays at Platja d'Aro, small pine-backed coves around Begur and some of the clearest water on the Spanish Mediterranean. It is still a day out rather than a beach base, but it is a much easier one.

Girona is the better place to eat. Its Catalan cooking ranges from pa amb tomàquet and mar i muntanya plates to tasting menus that have given the city an international reputation. Add xuixos from the pastry shops, the Mercat del Lleó and Empordà wines on every list.

Carcassonne offers fewer kinds of meal but one great dish, cassoulet. Its wine is a strength too, from Corbières and Minervois reds to the blanquette of Limoux. In both towns, avoid the tourist menus in the old quarter: eat in Carcassonne's Bastide around Place Carnot, and across the Onyar in Girona.

The two are equally rewarding, but in different ways. Carcassonne is one huge monument: the double walls and towers of La Cité, heavily restored by Viollet-le-Duc, with the Château Comtal and the stained glass of Saint-Nazaire inside. You come mainly for the skyline and the ramparts walk.

Girona's old town is a lived-in quarter rather than a fortress. There's the wide Gothic nave of the cathedral at the top of its Baroque stairs, the narrow alleys of the Jewish Call, the Arab Baths and the painted houses over the Onyar. In both cities the museums are small, and two days covers the sights.

What sets the two apart after dark is the clock. Carcassonne's evenings end early: the best of them is a stroll on the floodlit walls of the Cité once the day visitors have left, then a glass at a wine bar or on the café terraces around Place Carnot. Clubs and late nights barely exist, and anyone wanting one drives to Toulouse or Montpellier.

Girona keeps going longer because it runs on Spanish time, with dinner late and the terraces full afterwards. In term time students crowd the bars around Plaça de la Independència, and at weekends a few music bars and small clubs on the edge of the centre stay open into the small hours. For a proper big night, Girona's answer is the train to Barcelona.

Girona is the stronger outdoor base, and it is famous among road cyclists. Quiet lanes, climbs and traffic-free greenways start at the edge of town. Within about an hour you can reach the volcanic beech woods of the Garrotxa, the coast-guard path above the Costa Brava coves and the bare headland of Cap de Creus.

Carcassonne's countryside is drier and rougher. It has the chestnut forests of the Montagne Noire, garrigue hills topped with Cathar ruins, the gorges of Galamus and rafting on the upper Aude. The flat, shaded towpath of the Canal du Midi is the easy option, but almost everything else needs a car.

Both are very good bases, and Girona has a little more within easy reach. Barcelona is under 40 minutes by high-speed train. Figueres and the Dalí Theatre-Museum, Besalú's fortified bridge, Pals, Peratallada and the ruins of Empúries are all close.

Carcassonne's best trip is to the Cathar castles of Peyrepertuse and Quéribus on their limestone ridges. Lagrasse, Minerve and Narbonne add more, and Toulouse is an hour by train. Collioure is reachable from both, which shows how close the two regions are.

Carcassonne is the better choice with children, because its main sight is a castle. There are drawbridges and ramparts, and jousting and falconry shows in summer. The Lac de la Cavayère adds a lifeguarded beach and a water park.

Girona is safe, and children are welcome in its squares late into the evening. Walking the walls is fun for them, but there is no zoo or theme park and the museums are for adults. Families tend to spend their days on the Costa Brava instead. Both old towns are steep and cobbled, so a pushchair is hard work.

Girona is easier to get around. The river, the old town and the modern centre are all within a short walk of each other, though the Barri Vell is full of stairs. Fast trains from Girona reach Barcelona, Figueres and Perpignan, and a bike works well for short trips.

Carcassonne is in two parts. The Bastide is flat and next to the station, but the Cité is a walk across the Pont Vieux and up a steady climb. Trains serve Toulouse and Narbonne well, but the castles and wine villages are poorly connected, so a hire car is more necessary here than in Girona.

Neither town is worth the trip for shopping, but Girona gives you more to browse. Carcassonne's shops fall into two camps. In the Cité the lanes live off the castle, selling toy weapons and costume armour, while the Bastide's high street is mostly French chains with a few independents, much like any provincial town. What's worth carrying home from Carcassonne is what you can eat and drink: local reds, a bottle of Limoux fizz, cassoulet in a tin.

Girona's old town has the character Carcassonne's lacks. Owner-run clothes and book shops take the place of the souvenir trade, and the covered market is a good place to stock up on Empordà cheese and charcuterie. Visiting riders will also find plenty of bike shops. Even so, the choice is small, and for luxury labels or a department store you need a day in Barcelona.

The two cost about the same, and both are cheaper than their countries' big cities. In each, set lunches are good value and walking keeps transport costs down.

They differ in where the cost comes from. In Carcassonne, hotels and restaurants inside the Cité walls charge a premium, and July and August are expensive. In Girona, rooms in the old town are scarce and expensive in summer, during the spring flower festival and in the cycling season. In both, car hire is the usual extra cost.

Girona has more on its stages through the year. The Auditori hosts touring orchestras and jazz, and Temporada Alta brings international theatre and dance in autumn, though many plays are in Catalan.

Carcassonne's season is mostly July. That is when the Festival de Carcassonne puts headline acts in the open-air theatre inside the Cité, a memorable setting, and Bastille Day ends with fireworks over the walls. For opera or a major orchestra, you go to Toulouse from Carcassonne, and to Barcelona from Girona.

Girona is the better choice for a proper spa day. Caldes de Malavella, a thermal-spring town with Roman roots and spa hotels, is about 20 minutes south. Carcassonne's spa villages, Rennes-les-Bains and Alet-les-Bains, are an hour away up the Aude valley and are modest local places.

Otherwise both offer the same slow pleasures: long lunches and quiet walks, along the Onyar in Girona and on the shaded Canal du Midi in Carcassonne. In Carcassonne that calm mostly disappears in high summer, when the Cité is crowded.