Chamonix or Lille?

Neither place is for a beach vacation, and the swimming they offer is very different. From Chamonix you swim in fresh water: Lac de Passy, with its sandy strip facing Mont Blanc, is warm enough in July and August, and Lake Annecy makes a fine summer day out.

From Lille you get the sea, but it is the cold, windy North Sea at Dunkirk or along the Opal Coast. Those wide dune beaches are better for a bracing walk or sand yachting than for a long swim.

Lille has more to offer at the table. Wood-panelled estaminets serve carbonnade, potjevleesch and welsh, pungent Maroilles turns up in everything, and a deep beer culture makes evenings at specialist bars part of the cooking. The Sunday market at Wazemmes adds variety that a resort cannot.

Chamonix eats well on its own terms, with fondue, raclette and tartiflette on terraces facing the glaciers and good cheese shops for picnics. Beyond that, the menus repeat and many places close between seasons.

Lille is the place for sightseeing. The Palais des Beaux-Arts holds Flemish masters, Goya and Delacroix, Vieux-Lille is dense with carved brick, and Vauban's citadel, the LaM and La Piscine fill several days.

Chamonix's heritage tells one story well: the birth of alpinism and the first Winter Olympics, told in the Musée Alpin, the guides' quarter and the climbers' cemetery. Half a day covers it, and after that you are there for the peaks.

Lille gives you more evenings out and more variety. A large student population packs the bars on Rue Masséna and Rue Solférino, while Vieux-Lille's brick cellars hold quieter beer and cocktail bars. For clubbing, people have traditionally headed over the Belgian border.

Chamonix has lively winter après-ski and a single lane of loud pubs shared by guides and seasonal workers, with a couple of small clubs. Summer is quieter, and the off-season is almost silent.

Chamonix is in a league of its own here. The Aiguille du Midi takes you to 3,842m, the Mer de Glace is a train ride away, and you can walk, climb, ski or fly beneath the highest summit in Western Europe.

Lille's outdoors is gentle: the Citadel park loop, flat towpath cycling along the Deûle and short walks on the Monts de Flandre. The real scenery, the chalk cliffs of Cap Blanc-Nez, is a long day away.

Lille is one of the best bases in northern Europe for day trips. Fast trains put Brussels, Ghent, Bruges, Paris and even London within reach. Closer to home are the cathedral in Amiens, the squares of Arras, the Louvre-Lens and the battlefields of Ypres and the Somme.

Chamonix's trips cross borders too: Courmayeur and Roman Aosta through the tunnel, Martigny on the Mont Blanc Express, and Annecy or Geneva about an hour away. Mountain roads slow the journeys, though, and further out it is mostly other resorts.

Chamonix has the edge for active families. In summer there are easy lake trails, a summer luge, treetop courses and marmots at the Merlet park, and in winter nursery slopes and sledging, all in a small, safe town. The highest cable cars are unsuitable for small children, and wet days are hard to fill.

Lille is pleasant with children rather than exciting. The Citadel zoo and playgrounds, the natural history museum and the science centre work well, but the big draws, Pairi Daiza and Nausicaá, mean a day's travel.

Both have compact, flat centres you can cover on foot. Lille is a little easier, with the VAL automated metro and trams across the metropolitan area and two main stations a short walk from the old town.

Chamonix relies on valley buses and the Mont Blanc Express, which are free with the guest card, though ski buses get packed in winter and evening services thin out.

Lille is the better place to shop. It has chains on Rue Neuve, the Euralille mall, independent fashion and design in Vieux-Lille and the enormous Braderie flea market every September.

Chamonix's strength is narrow but real. Its generations-old climbing and ski shops are worth saving a big gear purchase for, and beyond them you find cheese, génépi and souvenirs.

Lille is much kinder to a budget. Hotels are reasonable outside the Braderie and trade fairs, beer and estaminet meals are fairly priced, and the museums cost little.

In Chamonix, lift passes, cable cars, guides and peak-season rooms quickly push up the bill. Self-catering, free valley transport and trails that need no lift help, as does visiting in late spring or autumn.

Lille has a proper cultural season. The Opéra de Lille stages opera and dance, the Orchestre National de Lille plays symphonic concerts, the Théâtre du Nord is a national theatre, and the Zénith and Aéronef host touring bands.

Chamonix offers a summer jazz festival with sets high in the mountains, mountain film evenings and the odd church concert. For opera you would have to go to Geneva.

Chamonix is the better place to unwind, as long as the relaxing follows some effort. Its large day spa has hot outdoor pools facing the glaciers, many chalets have saunas, and the thermal springs at Saint-Gervais are close by. The town itself is busy in high season.

Lille's version is hotel spas, tea rooms and slow terrace afternoons, with the thermal baths at Saint-Amand-les-Eaux a short train ride away.