Dijon or Toulouse?

Neither city is a beach destination, and you would need a pool or a lake in both. In Dijon, Lac Kir sits on the western edge of town, close enough for a hot afternoon, with a supervised bathing area, lawns and a strip of sand. The coast is several hours away.

Toulouse has more than one lake, at Sesquières and La Ramée, and it also has the sea within reach. The Mediterranean at Gruissan or Narbonne is about two hours away and warm in summer. That makes a long day out rather than a beach trip, but from Dijon it is not possible at all.

The two cities eat equally well, but in different styles. Dijon offers the more refined Burgundian table: coq au vin, jambon persillé and Époisses cheese from Les Halles, mustard and cassis as local specialities, and a proper fine-dining tier. With the vineyards so close, wine sits at the centre of every meal.

Toulouse's cooking is heartier and more everyday: cassoulet, duck confit and foie gras, with lunch at the market counters above the Victor Hugo hall. Thanks to the student quarters, eating casually and cheaply is easier here than in Dijon. Neither city offers much international food.

Dijon's sights tell the story of the Dukes of Burgundy. Their palace holds the Musée des Beaux-Arts, with the carved Valois tombs and their ring of mourners, and the tower gives a view over the glazed, patterned roofs. Much of the pleasure is in close-up detail: the gargoyles and the lucky owl on Notre-Dame, the Romanesque crypt of Saint-Bénigne and Sluter's Well of Moses at the Chartreuse de Champmol.

Toulouse is built in rose-red brick, and its monuments are on a larger scale. Saint-Sernin is one of Europe's largest Romanesque churches and a stop on the pilgrim road to Santiago, and the Jacobins has its palm-tree vault. The Capitole's painted rooms and the collections at the Hôtel d'Assézat and the Augustins fill a second day. Here the history is about trade and pilgrimage rather than a ducal court, and the aerospace museums on the outskirts add a modern chapter you won't find in Dijon.

Toulouse is the stronger choice for going out. Place Saint-Pierre fills with students along the river, Carmes and the Daurade suit an older wine-bar crowd, and the clubs and electronic nights keep going late. It gets quieter in high summer.

Dijon's evenings are mostly wine, beer and a late dinner on Rue Berbisey or the market terraces. There are only a few clubs, and outside term time the streets are usually empty by midnight.

Toulouse has slightly more to offer because of the Pyrenees, which take an hour and a half to two hours by car. Luchon and the Ariège offer serious hiking, mountain cycling and winter skiing, and the Aveyron gorges are closer still.

Dijon's countryside is gentler but closer. You can climb or walk in the combes just west of town, or cycle through the vineyards to Beaune. Both have a long, flat canal towpath for cycling, the Burgundy Canal in Dijon and the Canal du Midi in Toulouse.

Dijon has the edge, mainly because its best trips are packed so close together. The Grand Cru villages, Vougeot and walled Beaune are all just south of town, with Beaune about twenty minutes by train, and Fontenay Abbey and Semur-en-Auxois make a second full day.

Toulouse's two big trips are excellent and each takes about an hour by train: Carcassonne's ramparts and Albi's brick cathedral. Moissac, Cordes-sur-Ciel and Foix are further apart, so they work better with a car than as easy repeat outings.

Toulouse is much the stronger family destination. The Cité de l'espace can fill a whole day with its Ariane rocket and planetarium, and the aircraft museum, the mechanical creatures at Montaudran and a drive-through safari park give you several more.

Dijon is calm, safe and easy with a pushchair. The planetarium at the Jardin de l'Arquebuse and paddling at Lac Kir are pleasant, but there is little else aimed at children.

In Dijon almost everything is a few minutes' walk apart. The station, Les Halles, the ducal palace and the cathedral all sit in one small, mostly pedestrian core. Trams and buses cover the outskirts, and a bus will take you out to Lac Kir. Paris is well under two hours away by TGV.

Toulouse needs a little more than your feet. Its flat centre inside the ring of boulevards is pleasant to walk, two automated metro lines share tickets with the trams and buses, and a public bike scheme runs along the river. In both cities the easy part ends where the rail lines do. For Dijon that means the Côte villages that have no station. For Toulouse it means the space centre and aircraft museum out on the edges, and above all the Pyrenees, which are far simpler to reach by car.

Toulouse is the better place for a shopping trip. Rue d'Alsace-Lorraine has the chains, the lanes of Saint-Étienne add independent boutiques and some designer labels, and the Sunday market around Saint-Sernin is fun to browse.

Dijon's shopping is mostly edible: mustard, pain d'épices, cassis and bottles of Burgundy. Rue de la Liberté has little beyond the chains and one department store. In both cities, the most memorable things to take home come from the covered market.

Dijon is a little easier on the wallet. Its wine by the glass is cheap even by French standards, and the tiny centre costs nothing to walk. The catch is that tastings, wine tours and good bottles are the main reason to go, and they add up quickly.

Toulouse makes cheap eating easier thanks to its student bars, and some municipal museums are free on certain days. Hotel prices jump during trade fairs and aerospace events, though.

Toulouse has the stronger programme. The Théâtre du Capitole stages opera and ballet with its own company, the Orchestre National du Capitole plays in the round Halle aux Grains, and the piano festival in the Jacobins cloister and the riverside Rio Loco festival keep things going in summer.

Dijon's opera has two good venues, including an Auditorium known for its acoustics. Its season follows the academic year, though, and thins out to outdoor events in summer.

Neither city is somewhere to go for a spa vacation. Dijon has a few hotel spas, some with grape-based treatments in the wine villages, and is best for unhurried lunches and quiet squares.

Toulouse adds hammam-style day spas and big open-air pools in summer. The thermal towns of the Pyrenees, such as Luchon and Ax-les-Thermes, are within reach for an overnight stay.