Chamonix or Toulouse?

Neither city is a place for a beach vacation, and both treat swimming as an occasional summer afternoon. What differs is the setting. In Chamonix it means Lac de Passy, a small lake with a sandy strip and Mont Blanc in front of you, or a drive of a little over an hour to the clear water of Lake Annecy.

Toulouse offers supervised swimming at leisure lakes on the city's edge, such as Sesquières and La Ramée. The Mediterranean around Gruissan is warmer, but it is about two hours away and makes a long day out.

Toulouse eats better and more varied. Cassoulet, duck confit, foie gras and Fronton reds belong to a deep regional tradition, the Victor Hugo market is a destination in itself, and the everyday set lunch gives good cooking at sensible cost.

Chamonix's strength is narrower: fondue, raclette and tartiflette made with Alpine cheeses, ideally eaten on a refuge terrace facing the glaciers. In town the menus tend to look alike, and many places close between seasons.

Chamonix has one story to tell, the birth of alpinism. The Musée Alpin, the pioneers' statues and the climbers' cemetery tell it well, and the whole visit takes about half a day.

Toulouse is a proper city for sightseeing. A brick old town surrounds the great Romanesque basilica of Saint-Sernin, the Jacobins' palm-tree vault, the Capitole's painted state rooms and the art collections in the Hôtel d'Assézat and the Augustins. Its aircraft and space museums add a modern side that no Alpine town can offer.

Chamonix's nights centre on après-ski. Bars at the foot of the slopes fill in the late afternoon, and a single lane of pubs and two or three small clubs carry a young, mostly English-speaking crowd into the small hours, mainly in winter.

Toulouse goes out on a larger scale and in more styles. Students fill Place Saint-Pierre and the quays, wine bars around Carmes suit an older crowd, and the electronic scene is solid. In both places summer nights are calmer, in Toulouse because the students have left.

This is where Chamonix stands far apart. The Mont Blanc massif rises almost 4km above the valley, and the Aiguille du Midi, the Mer de Glace and the Tour du Mont Blanc start from town. Skiing, ski touring, mountaineering, climbing and paragliding are all on the doorstep.

Toulouse's own surroundings are gentle farmland, and its outdoor life is cycling the Canal du Midi towpaths or walking the Garonne banks. The Pyrenees offer real mountains, but they are a journey of one and a half to two hours.

Toulouse has the stronger list, and much of it is reachable by train. Carcassonne's walled Cité and brick Albi with its Toulouse-Lautrec museum are each about an hour away. Moissac's cloister, Montauban, Cordes-sur-Ciel and Foix fill further days.

Chamonix's excursions are about crossing borders: through the tunnel to Courmayeur and Roman Aosta, over to Martigny on the Mont Blanc Express, or to Annecy and Geneva. After those the choice thins to other resorts along slow mountain roads.

Both work well with children, but in different ways. Chamonix is a vacation spent outdoors, with nursery slopes, sledging, the summer luge, the marmots and ibex of the Merlet park and the little red train to the glacier. It has little to offer on wet days, and the highest cable cars are unsuitable for small children.

Toulouse keeps children busy indoors as well as out. The Cité de l'espace easily fills a day, families can walk inside a Concorde at the aircraft museum, and the giant mechanical creatures parade in Montaudran. The catch there is the heat of high summer.

Both are easy to get around without a car, though by different means. Chamonix is a small walkable centre with the main lift stations in town, and buses and the valley train are free with the guest card. In winter, however, the ski buses are crowded and evening services thin out.

Toulouse has two metro lines, trams and a bike scheme around a flat centre inside the boulevards. The space centre, the lakes and the countryside are where you start wanting a car.

Toulouse is the better general shopping trip. It has chain stores and a department store on Rue d'Alsace-Lorraine, independent boutiques and antiques around Saint-Étienne, and the Sunday market at Saint-Sernin.

Chamonix has one real speciality, technical climbing and ski gear sold by shops with generations of expertise. Apart from that it offers cheese, génépi, crystals and souvenirs, and for fashion people head to Geneva or Annecy.

Toulouse is much easier on the wallet. Its hotels cost far less than those in famous French destinations, and the set lunch and student bars keep daily costs reasonable, although a good dinner with wine still adds up.

Chamonix charges resort rates for rooms, lift passes, cable cars and guides, especially in school vacations and midsummer. Self-catering, free valley transport and trails that need no lift help, as do the cheaper shoulder seasons.

Toulouse has a real season. The Théâtre du Capitole stages opera and ballet with its own company, the Orchestre National du Capitole plays in the round Halle aux Grains, and Rio Loco brings world music to the riverside each early summer.

Chamonix offers a summer jazz festival with some sets played high in the mountains, plus mountain film evenings. Anyone wanting an orchestra has to travel to Geneva.

Chamonix is the better place to unwind, provided you have earned it on the slopes. Its large thermal-style day spa has hot outdoor pools facing the glaciers, chalets often have their own saunas, and the springs of Saint-Gervais are a short drive away.

Toulouse relaxes in a different way, through long lunches, shaded squares and slow rides along the canal. Proper thermal bathing means an overnight trip to Luchon or Ax-les-Thermes in the Pyrenees.