Dijon or Saint-Tropez?

There is no contest here. Dijon is hours from any coast. Swimming there means the supervised lawn-and-sand area at Lac Kir or the town pools, fine for a hot afternoon but not something to plan a trip around.

Saint-Tropez has Pampelonne, about 5km of pale sand with beach clubs and public stretches between them, and quieter coves at Escalet, Cap Taillat and Gigaro along the coast path. The beaches in town are small, and the swimming season runs from June to September.

Dijon is the better trip for anyone who travels to eat. The slow-cooked Burgundian classics, beef braised in red wine, parsley-set ham and snails, come with a larder the city makes itself: mustard, blackcurrant liqueur and spiced bread. Les Halles shows the region's poultry and cheeses at their best. Because the vineyards begin just south of town, village wines that are rarely sold by the glass elsewhere are an everyday order here. If you want spice, other cuisines or street stalls, you will have to look elsewhere.

Saint-Tropez cooks lighter food from the sea and the sun. Grilled fish, bouillabaisse and aïoli are served with pale rosé from the estates on the peninsula, where Dijon would pour red Burgundy. The local treats are the plane-shaded market on the Place des Lices and the cream-filled tarte tropézienne. Dijon rewards an ordinary bistro meal, but on Saint-Tropez's port you often pay more for the view than for the cooking. The memorable meals tend to be the expensive ones, and in winter many kitchens close.

Dijon was the capital of the Valois dukes of Burgundy, and it shows. The palace, the Musée des Beaux-Arts with its tombs ringed by mourners, the gargoyles of Notre-Dame and the Chartreuse de Champmol add up to two or three full days.

Saint-Tropez can be seen in a day. The pointillist and Fauvist paintings in the Annonciade are the highlight, followed by the maritime museum in the citadel and the lanes of La Ponche. People come for the setting rather than the sights.

In summer, Saint-Tropez goes out much harder. Afternoons at the beach clubs lead to champagne on the harbour terraces and then to famous clubs that stay open until dawn, all with table service and a dress code. Out of season it falls almost silent.

Dijon's evenings are smaller and cheaper, and they run on students rather than yachts: pubs on Rue Berbisey, terraces around Place Émile Zola and plenty of wine bars. Outside term time the streets are quiet by midnight. It suits a relaxed drink better than a big night.

Saint-Tropez has the more striking outdoors. The Sentier du Littoral runs past pine-backed coves to the capes of Camarat and Taillat, and inland lie the cork-oak forests of the Massif des Maures. There is sailing and snorkelling in the gulf, and the national park islands of Port-Cros and Porquerolles are within reach. Summer heat and the risk of forest fire can close trails.

Dijon's countryside is gentler. There are climbing and walking trails in the combes west of town, flat cycling along the Burgundy Canal towpath and the vineyard route towards Beaune. The granite hills of the Morvan are the wildest country nearby.

Dijon makes the better base for excursions. The Route des Grands Crus starts at the city's edge and runs through Gevrey-Chambertin and Vougeot to Beaune, which is a short train ride away. Fontenay Abbey, Semur-en-Auxois, Alésia and Besançon by train add history of real weight.

Saint-Tropez's outings are pretty but smaller in scale. There are the hilltop villages of Ramatuelle and Gassin, Grimaud's ruined castle, Port Grimaud by boat, and a longer day on Porquerolles. Most of them depend on roads that jam in July and August.

Neither city is built around children, and the difference is in kind. Dijon has an easy, pedestrian centre, a planetarium and natural history museum at the Jardin de l'Arquebuse, and parks with play areas, but most of the sights lean towards wine and fine art.

Saint-Tropez has the gently shelving sand at Pampelonne and Gigaro, which suits small children. Against that come high prices, summer traffic and a scene aimed at adults, so many families stay across the gulf and come over by boat.

Dijon is far simpler to get around. You can walk from the station into the centre, trams run out to the suburbs and Lac Kir, regional trains go to Beaune, and the TGV reaches Paris in under two hours. You need a car only for the wine villages away from the railway.

Saint-Tropez is easy on foot within the town, but it has no railway, the buses are slow and the beaches are several kilometres out. Most visitors drive, ride a scooter or take taxis. In summer the passenger boats from Sainte-Maxime and Port Grimaud beat the jams on the gulf road.

Saint-Tropez offers far more shopping than its size suggests. Fashion houses keep summer shops in the lanes behind the port, alongside resort wear, jewellery and hand-made Tropézienne sandals, and the market on the Place des Lices adds linen, baskets and pottery.

Dijon's shopping is mostly for the table: mustard, cassis, pain d'épices, cheese from Les Halles and Burgundy from the wine merchants. Rue de la Liberté has chains and a department store. It is the place for edible souvenirs, not for clothes.

Dijon costs what a French regional city costs. Rooms are moderate, the set lunches are good and wine by the glass is inexpensive. The bill climbs mainly with tastings, wine tours and serious restaurants.

Saint-Tropez is in another bracket altogether. In high summer, rooms, harbour meals, loungers and taxis are priced for the yachting crowd, and even a coffee on the port is dear. Staying across the gulf, picnicking from the market or coming in late spring or autumn all help, but the town never becomes cheap.

Dijon has a proper cultural season. The Opéra de Dijon performs in the old Grand Théâtre and in the Auditorium, known for its acoustics, and the city also has a national drama centre and a venue for touring bands. The programme follows the academic year.

Saint-Tropez has summer concerts in gardens and at the citadel, and the Bravade each May, a costumed procession with muskets for the town's patron saint. For opera or theatre, though, it is a long drive to Toulon or Nice.

Neither town has thermal baths, but Saint-Tropez has the edge. Its luxury hotels and villas keep polished spas. In May, June and September the town slows to long lunches and games of pétanque under the plane trees, though high summer is loud.

In Dijon, spas are limited to a few hotels, some offering grape-based treatments. Its calm comes instead from quiet squares, long lunches and slow afternoons in the vineyards.