Dijon or Monaco?

This is no contest. Dijon is far inland, and the nearest swimming is at the reservoir of Lac Kir, a lawn-and-sand strip for a hot afternoon, or in a municipal pool.

Monaco has the sea. Larvotto is short and groomed but calm and clear, and beach clubs and rocky platforms add more places to swim. It is still not a big beach town, and the long beaches of Menton and Nice are a short train ride away.

Dijon has the deeper food culture. It stands at the head of Burgundy's wine country, with classics such as boeuf bourguignon and jambon persillé, its own mustard and cassis, Les Halles stacked with Bresse poultry and Époisses, and wine bars pouring village Burgundies by the glass.

Monaco's strength is the top end, with a remarkable cluster of starred dining rooms cooking Riviera and Ligurian food, but casual eating is scarce. Barbagiuan and socca at the Condamine market give the local taste, and many visitors cross to Nice to eat more freely.

Dijon offers more to see, and for longer. The Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy and its fine arts museum, with the carved Valois tombs, anchor an old centre of half-timbered houses and Renaissance mansions, along with Notre-Dame's gargoyles and Sluter's Well of Moses at Champmol.

Monaco's sights fit onto the Rock and the area around the Casino: the Prince's Palace, the cathedral where Grace Kelly lies, the Oceanographic Museum and the Belle Époque setting of Monte-Carlo. It is grand to look at and quicker to finish, and the scenery does more of the work than the collections.

Monaco has more going on after dark, though in one style only: you dress up for the hotel bars on the Casino square and for glossy clubs along the Larvotto seafront and the port. It is at its liveliest in summer and on Grand Prix weekend. Dijon's evenings are student-driven and casual, with small bars along Rue Berbisey and terraces around Place Émile Zola, mostly wine, beer and late dinners, and the streets go quiet by midnight outside term time.

The country around Monaco is far more dramatic. Limestone mountains rise straight from the sea, there is the view from Tête de Chien and the old mule path up to Èze, footpaths run round Cap d'Ail and Cap Martin, and the clear water is good for diving and paddleboarding.

Dijon's landscape is gentler. The combes west of town have trails and climbing cliffs, the canal towpath and the vineyard route to Beaune make for flat, easy cycling, and the lakes and granite hills of the Morvan are the wildest ground within reach.

Both are excellent bases, and Monaco has the edge for anyone without a car. Trains and buses link it to Nice, Menton, Èze and Antibes, and across the Italian border to Sanremo and Dolceacqua, a whole coast of contrasting towns.

Dijon's outings are about wine and abbeys: the Route des Grands Crus to Beaune, Fontenay Abbey, the ramparts of Semur-en-Auxois and Vézelay. Beaune and Besançon are easy by train, but the vineyard villages are far better by car, bike or small tour.

Monaco gives children more to do. The main draw is the aquarium in the Oceanographic Museum, with its sharks and turtles, and there are also the gentle water at Larvotto, the palace guard ceremony and the yachts, although the formal restaurants and steep streets wear thin after a couple of days.

Dijon is safe and relaxed, with a pedestrian centre, a planetarium in the Jardin de l'Arquebuse and lawns in the Parc de la Colombière. Its vineyards and art museums, though, are aimed squarely at parents.

Both are walking cities, but the effort is different. Monaco is only about 3km across, free public lifts and escalators make up for its steep levels, and its station opens up the whole Riviera, which gives it the edge.

Dijon's centre is flat and largely pedestrian, with trams to the outskirts and fast trains to Paris. The wine villages away from the railway still need a car or a bike.

Monaco is the place for luxury. The Carré d'Or packs fashion houses, high jewellers and watchmakers into a few streets around the Casino gardens, though beyond those streets and a covered mall the choice is thin.

Dijon's shopping is for the kitchen and the cellar: mustards, pain d'épices, cassis, Burgundy from wine merchants and cheese around Les Halles. For clothes there is little beyond the department store and chains on Rue de la Liberté.

The gap here is enormous. Dijon is priced like a French regional city, with moderate hotel rooms, fair-priced bistro set lunches and inexpensive wine by the glass. Only serious restaurants and wine tours push the bill up.

Monaco is one of the most expensive places in the world to visit, from hotel rooms to café coffee. The lifts and walks are free, but many visitors sleep in Nice, Menton or Beausoleil and come in for the day.

Monaco's stage has an international name. There is opera in the gilded Salle Garnier, the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic and Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, with the main season running from winter into spring, and in summer there are open-air concerts by the sea.

Dijon is solid for its size, with the Opéra de Dijon in the Grand Théâtre and the Auditorium, a venue for touring bands and a national drama centre, which gives it the spoken theatre Monaco lacks. Its programme follows the academic year and thins out in summer.

Monaco has real facilities: a large thalassotherapy centre beside the Casino with heated seawater pools, sizeable spas in the grand hotels, and calm corners such as the Japanese Garden. Dijon has no thermal baths and only a few hotel spas and grape treatments in the wine villages. What makes it restful is long lunches and quiet squares.