Dijon or Portofino?

Portofino comes out clearly ahead, though the swimming is from rocks and small coves rather than long sand. Ladders drop into deep, clear water along the lighthouse path, Paraggi's little bay is mostly taken by paid clubs, and San Fruttuoso's pebble beach is reached by boat or on foot. The spots are small and fill up in summer.

Dijon is hours from any coast. Lac Kir's supervised lawn-and-sand area is fine on a hot afternoon, but that and the municipal pools are all there is.

Dijon is the better place to eat, by a long way. It has boeuf bourguignon and jambon persillé, Les Halles stacked with Bresse poultry and Époisses, village Burgundies by the glass, and a serious fine-dining tier. Food is reason enough to go.

Portofino serves Ligurian cooking: trofie with pesto, fritto misto and the cheese focaccia of Recco. Most of it comes on harbour terraces where you pay for the view of the yachts more than for the cooking. Keen eaters head to Camogli or to the trattorie in the hills.

Dijon has much more to see. A former capital of the Dukes of Burgundy, it has their palace, a historic museum holding the Valois tombs, Notre-Dame's gargoyles and lucky owl, a Romanesque crypt and Sluter's Well of Moses. That easily fills two or three days.

In Portofino the village itself is the sight: the painted houses around the harbour, San Giorgio above the bay and the views from Castello Brown. The abbey of San Fruttuoso in its roadless cove is the one real excursion.

Neither is a party town, but Dijon has more going on after dinner. Its large student population keeps the small bars of Rue Berbisey and the terraces around Place Émile Zola busy, and there are a few clubs, though outside term time and summer weekends the streets empty around midnight.

Portofino's evening is a dressed-up aperitivo and dinner facing the moored yachts, and then it is over. For anything later, people go to Santa Margherita, Rapallo or Genoa.

Portofino has the stronger landscape, on land and underwater. Its headland is a regional park, with trails through holm oak and pine to the Semaforo Nuovo and down to San Fruttuoso, and some exposed stretches have chains. Offshore, the marine reserve has red coral walls and the sunken Christ of the Abyss for divers.

Dijon's outdoors is gentler: walking and climbing in the limestone combes just west of town, flat cycling on the canal towpath, and the vineyard route to Beaune. The granite hills of the Morvan are the wildest country within reach.

Both make excellent bases, but the trips are very different. From Dijon you go into wine country. You can follow the Grands Crus villages to Beaune, which is close by train, or head to Fontenay Abbey and the ramparts of Semur-en-Auxois. For the villages away from the railway you need a car, a bike or a tour.

From Portofino you travel along the coast, often by boat. Camogli and Santa Margherita are close, Genoa's palaces are under an hour away, and in summer ferries run to the Cinque Terre and Portovenere. Out of season you depend on the trains.

Dijon is the easier of the two with children, though neither is built for them. Its flat, largely car-free centre, the planetarium at the Jardin de l'Arquebuse, the play areas of the Parc de la Colombière and paddling at Lac Kir make for gentle days.

Children enjoy Portofino's boats and rock swimming, but the steep stepped paths defeat pushchairs and there are no playgrounds. Families usually stay in Santa Margherita or Rapallo and go to Genoa for the aquarium.

Dijon is much simpler to get around. You can walk from the station to the palace in minutes, trams reach the outskirts, trains run along the wine route, and the TGV puts Paris under two hours away.

Inside Portofino everything is close, but the climbs to the castle and lighthouse are steep. The hard part is getting in and out. One narrow coastal road links it to Santa Margherita, parking is scarce, and in summer the bus is crowded and the road jams. The ferries running from spring to autumn are often the best way in.

Dijon is better for shopping, mostly for things you can eat and drink: mustards in dozens of flavours, cassis, pain d'épices, Burgundy from the wine merchants and cheese around Les Halles. Rue de la Liberté adds a department store and French chains.

Portofino's few lanes hold a surprising number of luxury fashion and jewellery boutiques, plus resort linen and Ligurian lace. You can see it all in under an hour, so for a longer browse people go to Chiavari's arcades or to Genoa.

Dijon costs far less. It is a mid-range French regional city where a bistro set lunch is a fair-priced way to eat well and wine by the glass is cheap. The bill only climbs if you book serious restaurants, tastings and wine tours.

Portofino is among the most expensive places in Italy. It has a few luxury hotels, the piazzetta charges heavily for the view, and loungers and boat hire cost a lot. Hiking and the local bus are the only cheap things, so many visitors sleep in Camogli or Rapallo.

Dijon has a real season. The Opéra de Dijon stages opera, concerts and dance in the old Grand Théâtre and the acoustically admired Auditorium, and there is also a national drama centre. Most of it runs through the academic year.

Portofino has the occasional summer concert in the piazzetta or at the castle and nothing else. For a night at the opera you go to Genoa's Teatro Carlo Felice.

Portofino is the more restorative choice, with spas and pools in its hillside luxury hotels, shaded paths where you hear only birds and the sea, and quiet mornings and evenings. The caveat is the middle of the day in high summer, when tour-boat crowds fill the harbour.

Dijon has only a handful of hotel spas, some with grape-based treatments in the wine villages. Its restfulness comes from long lunches and quiet squares rather than from any pampering.