Como or Montpellier?

Neither is a beach resort, but Montpellier has a real coast and Como only has a lake. In Como you swim from lido decks and pontoons, such as the one by Villa Olmo, or from small pebble strands up the lake at Moltrasio and the Tremezzina, and the season lasts barely three summer months.

Montpellier's sea is a tram and bus ride away rather than on the doorstep. Once you get there, a long sweep of fine sand runs from Palavas and Carnon to the dunes of l'Espiguette, with shallow, gently shelving water. The nearer beaches fill up in high summer, so the quieter stretches further east are worth the extra distance.

Como cooks the Lombard food of lake and mountain: perch risotto, missoltini and polenta. It is best eaten in family-run places up the lake, since the lakefront terraces tend to charge for the view.

Montpellier has more depth at the table and is easier on the wallet. Its wine country begins at the edge of the city and oysters come in from the Thau lagoon. The Halles Castellane, the Saturday market under the Arceaux aqueduct and the counters of the Halles Laissac give it a market culture that Como lacks, and there are plenty of cheap student places too.

Both cities have compact, well-kept old towns, but Montpellier has more to see. Como's highlights are its marble cathedral, the Romanesque churches of San Fedele and Sant'Abbondio, and Terragni's Casa del Fascio, which architects travel to see. A single day covers them.

Montpellier's Écusson needs two or three days. It takes in the Peyrou terrace and its aqueduct, the medieval medical faculty, France's oldest botanical garden and Bofill's Antigone district. The Musée Fabre, with painting from the Flemish masters to Soulages, is a collection of a weight that Como cannot match.

Como goes to bed early. After aperitivo and dinner there are a few wine and cocktail bars near the cathedral and a stroll along the lakefront, and young locals take the train to Milan for anything bigger.

Montpellier's huge student population makes it a much better night out. The terraces around Place Jean-Jaurès are crowded on weeknights as well as weekends, and when the bars close people move on to clubs out towards Lattes and the coast. The centre is quieter outside term time, but it still offers far more after dark than Como.

This is where Como pulls ahead. Steep wooded mountains drop straight into the lake, so a funicular ride from the waterfront puts you on ridge trails to the Volta lighthouse. The water adds kayaking, sailing and paddleboarding right from town.

Montpellier's countryside is more varied but further away. There are flamingos on the lagoons, the Camargue about an hour off, the climb up Pic Saint-Loup and the Hérault gorges for canoeing, and most of these need a car. In both places spring and autumn are the best seasons for walking.

Both are outstanding bases, and the difference lies in the kind of trip. From Como you travel by boat to lake villages and gardens such as Bellagio, Varenna, Villa Carlotta and Balbianello, with the art and opera of Milan forty minutes away by train and Swiss Lugano even closer.

From Montpellier the trips are to Roman and medieval sites: the arena at Nîmes, the Pont du Gard, Arles, the Palace of the Popes in Avignon and the walls of Carcassonne, most of them by fast train. Smaller places such as Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert and Uzès are much easier with a car, whereas Como's lake villages are all reachable without one.

Como suits a quiet family stay of boat rides, the funicular and a paddle at the lido. Beyond that little is made for children, and the villa and church visits are aimed at adults.

Montpellier offers children much more: the Zoo de Lunaret in its wooded park, the aquarium and planetarium at Odysseum, and beaches that shelve gently enough for small swimmers. The drawback is the midsummer heat in the stone streets, so plan beach mornings and indoor afternoons.

Como's flat old town and promenade are easy on foot, and the trains to Milan and Lugano are quick. Going up the lake is another matter: the slow ferries take their time and the shore roads jam in summer.

Montpellier has a tram network linking the station, the old town, Antigone and Odysseum, so you can cross the wider city easily without a car. Its centre sits on a low hill with some slopes and uneven paving. In both places a car helps for the hills beyond the city.

Como is a place to buy silk, while Montpellier's best buys are its wine and market food. Como has made silk for centuries, and the scarves, ties and fabric sold in old-town specialists and in mill outlets on the city's edge come from the same mills that supply the fashion houses. Away from silk there is only a short run of Italian boutiques around Via Vittorio Emanuele II, and for serious fashion shopping people take the train to Milan.

Montpellier offers a little more range. Languedoc wine, olive oil and honey from the covered markets make the best souvenirs, and the stone lanes of the Écusson have small boutiques, bookshops and delicatessens. The Polygone and Odysseum malls cover the big brands. What it lacks is a speciality of its own like Como's silk.

Montpellier is clearly kinder to a budget. Como's lake draws a luxury crowd, and summer rooms and villa rentals by the water are costly. Rooms back from the shore, trattorias in the old town and the cheap ferries soften this.

Montpellier is mid-range, with central hotels moderately priced for most of the year, student-priced food and drink, and good-value lunch menus. In both cities July and August cost noticeably more.

Como's stage is the Teatro Sociale, a handsome neoclassical opera house with an open-air arena beside it for summer, plus chamber concerts in churches and lakeside villas. On many nights little is on, and La Scala is a train ride away.

Montpellier has far more. The Opéra Comédie and the modern Opéra Berlioz share a season with the city's national orchestra, and the Montpellier Danse festival makes it a European centre for contemporary dance. Summer adds the Radio France festival's concerts, many of them free, and outdoor theatre at the Domaine d'O.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, and in both a spa means a hotel or day spa. Como's restfulness comes from its setting: still water, gardens running down to the shore and villages that go quiet in the evening, especially in spring and autumn.

Montpellier has real thermal water at Balaruc-les-Bains on the Thau lagoon, about half an hour away. The city itself is livelier, though, and its calm is found in long lunches and shaded squares rather than in quiet nights.