Dijon or Lille?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Lille at least has the sea within reach. The wide, windy sand at Malo-les-Bains near Dunkirk is about an hour away by train, and the dune beaches of the Opal Coast lie further on, though the North Sea stays cool even in August. Dijon is hours from any coast, so swimming there means the supervised lawn-and-sand area at Lac Kir or a pool.

Dijon eats better, and it does so through wine and classic Burgundian cooking. Boeuf bourguignon, snails and jambon persillé come with village Burgundies by the glass. Les Halles is a proper produce market with Bresse poultry and Époisses, and the city has a serious fine-dining tier.

Lille's table is heartier and more Flemish: carbonnade cooked in beer, potjevleesch and Maroilles in the wood-panelled estaminets of Vieux-Lille, with ales rather than wine. It has a sweet tooth too, with vanilla-filled waffles and the multi-ethnic Sunday market at Wazemmes, but its top restaurants run less deep than Dijon's.

The two are evenly matched, and the difference is in their history. Dijon is the old capital of the Dukes of Burgundy: the ducal palace with the carved Valois tombs, half-timbered streets, the gargoyles of Notre-Dame and Sluter's Well of Moses give it a medieval and Renaissance character.

Lille is Flemish baroque brick and carved stone around the Vieille Bourse and the Grand Place, and its Palais des Beaux-Arts is the larger collection, with Flemish masters and Goya. It also has more art beyond the centre, with La Piscine in Roubaix and the LaM reached by metro or tram.

Lille is the livelier night out. Its students pack the loud bars of Rue Masséna and Rue Solférino on Thursdays, Vieux-Lille adds beer cafés and cocktail bars in brick cellars, and Belgium's later clubs are close by.

Dijon's evenings mostly mean a late dinner, wine bars and the pubs along Rue Berbisey. Outside term time the streets are quiet by around midnight.

Dijon has far more on its doorstep. The Combe à la Serre and Combe de Lavaux cut wooded valleys with cliffs and viewpoints just west of town, the Burgundy Canal towpath and the vineyard cycle route make for long rides, and the Morvan's lakes and granite hills are about an hour and a half away.

Around Lille the land is flat and farmed. Outdoor time there means the Citadel park loop along the Deûle and short walks on the low Monts de Flandre, while the chalk cliffs of Cap Blanc-Nez are a long day away.

Both make excellent bases, but Lille's reach is wider. Brussels is about half an hour by fast train, Ghent and Bruges around an hour, and Paris about an hour by TGV. Arras, Amiens Cathedral, the Louvre-Lens and the First World War battlefields fill the French side.

Dijon's day trips are concentrated and more rural. They run down the Grand Cru villages to walled Beaune, out to Fontenay Abbey and Semur-en-Auxois, and on to Besançon. Much of that is easier by car or bike than by train.

Lille gives children a bit more to do. The Citadel park combines a small zoo, playgrounds and fairground rides, the Forum des Sciences is a hands-on science centre, and Pairi Daiza and the Nausicaá aquarium are within reach for a bigger outing. The cobbles of Vieux-Lille are hard going with a pushchair, though.

Dijon is calm and safe, with the planetarium at the Jardin de l'Arquebuse and paddling at Lac Kir. Its vineyards and tastings are aimed at adults, however.

Both have compact, walkable centres where a car is unnecessary, and Lille has a slight edge for anyone who travels a lot. Its two main stations stand side by side near the old town, and the automated VAL metro and the tram reach Roubaix and Tourcoing. Dijon covers its outskirts with two tram lines and runs trains to Beaune, but the wine villages away from the railway call for a hire car, a bike or a tour.

Lille is the better place to shop. International chains on Rue Neuve and the Euralille mall sit alongside independent fashion, design and delicatessens in the lanes of Vieux-Lille. Every September, the Braderie turns the streets into one vast flea market.

Dijon's shopping is mostly edible: mustard in many flavours, pain d'épices, cassis and Burgundy from the wine merchants. Rue de la Liberté offers little beyond a department store and French chains.

Costs are much the same, and comfortable rather than cheap in both. What differs is what pushes the bill up. In Dijon, set lunches and wine by the glass are good value, but cellar tastings, wine tours and good bottles add up fast. In Lille, estaminet meals, beer and the metro cost little, while hotels get dearer during the Braderie and the big trade fairs.

Lille has the fuller programme. Its grand opera house, a resident national orchestra, the Théâtre du Nord, the contemporary dance in Roubaix and Tourcoing and the touring bands at the Zénith and Aéronef give more choice on a given evening.

Dijon offers opera, concerts and dance at the Grand Théâtre and at the Auditorium, which is known for its acoustics. Its season thins out in summer.

Neither city is a place to go for spa treatments, and both rely on hotel spas and a gentle pace. Lille does have a real thermal bath a short train ride away at Saint-Amand-les-Eaux. Dijon's version of rest is long lunches and slow afternoons in the vineyards, with grape-based treatments at a few village hotels.