Dijon or Genoa?

Dijon can't offer a beach trip. The only open-air swimming is at Lac Kir, a supervised lawn-and-sand area at a reservoir that suits a hot afternoon with children, and after that it's a municipal pool.

Genoa lets you swim on most summer afternoons without leaving the city: the pebble cove at Boccadasse, the bathing places on the rocks along Corso Italia, and the platforms below the cliffs at Nervi. Better water is a short train ride away at Camogli, Sestri Levante or the sandier beaches of Varazze. The shores are mostly pebble, and loungers fill much of the space.

Both cities eat very well. The difference is in what you eat and how. Dijon offers the classic French table: boeuf bourguignon, snails and Époisses cheese, served over long bistro lunches. It also has good wine by the glass and a proper fine-dining tier.

Genoa's cooking is lighter and closer to the street: focaccia at breakfast, pesto with trofie, and farinata and fried fish by the slice from old shops in the caruggi, with seafood in the harbour trattorias. Come to Genoa for grazing and the sea, and to Dijon for a long sit-down meal with Burgundy in the glass.

Dijon's sights are concentrated and easy to take in: the Palace of the Dukes, the carved Valois tombs in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, the gargoyles of Notre-Dame and the lucky owl. A well-kept half-timbered centre fills the gaps, and two or three days is enough to see it.

Genoa has more, and it goes deeper. The caruggi make up one of Europe's largest medieval quarters. Above them, Via Garibaldi has a row of Rolli palaces with painted halls and works by Van Dyck and Rubens. Add the striped cathedral, the Lanterna and the marble sculpture of Staglieno, and you have enough to fill a longer stay.

Neither city is for a big night out, but Genoa has more going on in the evenings. People take aperitivo in the medieval squares around Piazza delle Erbe, there are waterfront bars at the Porto Antico, and in summer the crowds move out to the beach clubs along Corso Italia.

Dijon's evenings depend on its students. In term time Rue Berbisey and the market quarter fill with wine bars and pubs, but the streets go quiet around midnight once the students have left.

Genoa has hills behind it and sea in front, so you can walk out of the city. A funicular takes you up to the ring of forts above the port. The Portofino promontory has cliff paths down to San Fruttuoso, and the boats that go out to look for whales and dolphins add something Dijon has no answer to.

Dijon's countryside is gentle. The combes just west of town have short trails and climbing cliffs, the canal towpath is flat and good for easy cycling, and the Morvan's granite hills are the wildest scenery within reach. It suits cyclists better than hikers looking for drama.

Day trips from Dijon mostly need a car, a bike or a small tour, while from Genoa almost all of them are on the coastal railway. Dijon's days out are about wine and stone: the grand cru villages of the Côte de Nuits down to walled Beaune, Fontenay's Cistercian abbey in its wooded valley, and the ramparts of Semur-en-Auxois. Beaune and Besançon are the easy ones by train.

From Genoa the train takes you along the Riviera to Camogli, Santa Margherita for Portofino, Sestri Levante and the Cinque Terre, or inland to Milan or Turin for a museum day. Genoa's days out are about cliff villages and the sea, Dijon's about vineyards and abbeys.

Genoa keeps children busier. The Porto Antico has one of Europe's largest aquariums, a science centre, a submarine you can walk through and a panoramic lift, and the funiculars feel like rides in themselves. The downside is the steep, dark lanes and stairs, which are hard work with a pushchair.

Dijon is the easier city to walk with small children. It is flat, safe and mostly pedestrianised, and it has a planetarium and park lawns. But once those are done, its days of tastings and fine art suit the parents more.

Dijon is the simpler city to get around. The station, the market, the palace and the cathedral are a few flat minutes apart on foot. Trams cover the outskirts, and the TGV gets you from Paris in well under two hours. The only time you need wheels is for the wine villages away from the railway.

Genoa takes more effort. The old town is a maze, the city climbs steeply from the water, and the buses crawl through narrow streets. Funiculars, public lifts and the coastal railway make up for much of this, and the train along the Riviera is the most useful link of all.

In both cities you'll mostly be shopping for things to eat. Genoa has a little more variety: the arcades of Via XX Settembre, Italian labels around Galleria Mazzini, and old-town workshops making silver filigree and coral, on top of the pesto and candied fruit.

Dijon's shopping centres on mustard, pain d'épices, cassis and Burgundy from the wine merchants. Rue de la Liberté adds a department store, French chains and some antiques in the side lanes.

Both are mid-range, and the overall cost is similar. What differs is where the money goes. In Dijon, set lunches and wine by the glass are fair, but tastings, wine tours and good bottles add up quickly.

In Genoa, focaccia and farinata make some of the cheapest good meals in northern Italy, and the funiculars cost little. Beach days are where it gets expensive, with rented loungers and the smart Riviera resorts in summer.

Genoa has a little more going on. The Teatro Carlo Felice on Piazza De Ferrari runs opera, ballet and symphony seasons. The city also holds Paganini concerts and has small clubs where the tradition of Genoese singer-songwriters lives on.

Dijon's Opéra is good for a city of its size, with the old Grand Théâtre and the Auditorium, known for its acoustics. But the programme follows the academic year and thins to outdoor events in summer.

Dijon has no bathing culture to speak of, so rest there comes from the pace of the place. There are a few hotel spas and the odd grape-based treatment in the wine villages, but mostly it means long lunches and quiet afternoons among the vines.

Genoa gives you a little more for unwinding. The thermal waters of Acqui Terme, a historic spa town in the Piedmont hills, are a little over an hour away. Closer in, Nervi's seafront promenade and villa gardens are calm in a way the busy port centre never is.