Carcassonne or Turin?

Neither city is a beach base, but Carcassonne comes far closer. The Lac de la Cavayère has sandy shores and lifeguards a short drive east of the Cité, and the shallow Mediterranean beaches at Gruissan and Narbonne-Plage make an easy day out by car.

Turin's nearest sea is the Ligurian Riviera, nearly two hours away. In practice, swimming there means a lake such as Avigliana or Viverone, or the longer trip to Lago Maggiore.

Carcassonne is a good place for one dish and its wines, while Turin is one of Italy's great food cities. In Carcassonne the meal to have is cassoulet, best eaten in the Bastide around Place Carnot rather than inside the Cité, with a Corbières red or a blanquette de Limoux. Beyond that, the choice rarely goes past southern French cooking.

Turin offers much more: agnolotti del plin, bollito misto, white truffles from the Langhe in autumn and Barolo on every wine list. Add gianduiotti and bicerin in the arcaded cafés and the huge Porta Palazzo market. Its only weak spots are street food and international cooking.

Carcassonne has one tremendous sight. The double walls and towers of La Cité, the Château Comtal and the stained glass of Saint-Nazaire, plus the Bastide and the Canal du Midi, fill two days. After that, the museums run out.

Turin has far more depth. There is the Museo Egizio, the Royal Palace, Palazzo Madama and the cathedral of the Shroud, the Savoy residences around Venaria, the cinema museum inside the Mole and contemporary art at Rivoli. It is a city for several days of sightseeing, not a weekend.

Turin has a real evening culture, and Carcassonne mostly does not. After dinner in Carcassonne, the choice is a walk on the floodlit walls or a drink on Place Carnot. Anyone who wants a club goes to Toulouse.

In Turin, the night starts with aperitivo and moves on to small cocktail bars in the Quadrilatero, the student crowds of San Salvario, the more alternative Vanchiglia and, in summer, the Murazzi along the Po. The mood is sociable rather than wild.

Both cities have good country around them, but Turin's is on a much grander scale. Around Carcassonne there are forest walks in the Montagne Noire, Cathar ridges in the Corbières, rafting in the upper Aude gorges and the flat, shaded Canal du Midi towpath for cycling.

From Turin, the Alps are an hour or so away: the Gran Paradiso with its ibex and hut-to-hut trails, Monviso on the skyline and skiing on the Via Lattea. The Superga hills and the Mandria forest are closer to town.

Both are excellent bases. Turin is a little ahead, because its city excursions run by train. Carcassonne's region is about castles and villages: Peyrepertuse and Quéribus on their limestone ridges, Lastours, Minerve and Lagrasse. Toulouse and Narbonne are easy by rail, but almost everything else needs a car.

From Turin you can combine wine country with cities. The Langhe, with Alba and Barolo, lies about an hour south, and Milan is an hour away by fast train. The Sacra di San Michele, Roman Aosta and the port of Genoa add more choice.

Both work for a few days with children, but in different ways. Carcassonne is a storybook castle, with jousting and falconry in summer and a lake beach and water park nearby. On the other hand, the Cité is steep, cobbled and crowded in high summer, which is hard work with a pushchair.

Turin is flat, covered by arcades and rarely crowded, and its attractions suit older children best: the glass lift up the Mole, the car museum and the Egyptian mummies. There is no zoo or theme park in the city itself.

Carcassonne itself is small and simple: a flat Bastide beside the station, then a twenty-five minute walk uphill to the Cité. The difficulty starts beyond the town, where the castles and vineyards almost require a hire car.

Turin is easier on both counts. You can walk the grid-plan centre under its arcades, a driverless metro and trams fill the gaps, and the main stations connect well with the rest of Italy. A car is only needed for the wine hills and the mountains.

Turin is a proper shopping city and Carcassonne is not. The lanes of Carcassonne's Cité sell plastic swords and Cathar souvenirs, and the Bastide has a modest high street. The best things to buy are tinned cassoulet, Limoux blanquette and produce from the market.

Turin has fashion labels under the arcades of Via Roma, boutiques around the Quadrilatero, antique dealers on Via Maria Vittoria, the Balon flea market and serious chocolate and truffle shops. Designer fashion is the one area where choice is limited.

Overall costs are much the same, but the expensive parts differ. In Carcassonne, the Cité is where you pay more, for both hotels and meals, and prices rise sharply in July and August. Bastide rooms and cheap local wine keep the rest of the bill moderate, though car hire is an extra most visitors face.

In Turin, an aperitivo that replaces dinner and cheap public transport help a lot. Fine dining, the truffle season and the big trade fairs are when spending goes up.

Carcassonne's performing arts are mostly in July: the Festival de Carcassonne in the open-air theatre inside the walls, then the Bastille Day fireworks over the ramparts. The rest of the year, there is only the municipal theatre's modest programme.

Turin has a full season all year: opera and ballet at the Teatro Regio, the RAI National Symphony Orchestra, concerts at the Lingotto, jazz clubs and long-running festivals. Its theatre is almost all in Italian.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, and Turin is only slightly better for a restful stay. In Carcassonne, the calm comes from the shaded Canal du Midi and quiet evenings on the walls, both harder to find in high summer. The modest spa villages of the upper Aude, such as Alet-les-Bains, are within an hour by car.

Turin keeps an unhurried pace all year, with long coffees in historic cafés, walks under the arcades and afternoons in Valentino park. For real thermal waters, Acqui Terme is close to two hours away.