Geneva or Toulouse?

Neither city has a coast, but Geneva makes swimming part of a summer stay. You can dive off the jetty at the Bains des Pâquis or spread out on the lawns at Genève-Plage, all within the city, and the lake warms up nicely by August. It works like a lido, not a beach, but it is right there.

Toulouse has nothing to match that. Locals cool off at the leisure lakes of Sesquières and La Ramée on the outskirts, and the Mediterranean is a long day out, about two hours each way.

Toulouse has the stronger food identity and the easier everyday eating. Cassoulet, confit and foie gras are the backbone, the Victor Hugo market lets you graze through it all and eat lunch upstairs, and a set lunch or a student-quarter snack costs little.

Geneva eats more expensively and more internationally. Lake perch, fondue and local Chasselas give it a Swiss-French character, and its fine dining and range of world cuisines go beyond Toulouse's. What it lacks is cheap, casual food.

Toulouse has slightly more to see, and its brick old centre is a pleasure to walk through. Saint-Sernin and the palm-tree vault of the Jacobins are major monuments, the Renaissance mansions hold good collections, and the aerospace museums add something you will not find elsewhere.

Geneva's story is Reformation and diplomacy rather than architecture. It runs from Calvin's cathedral and the Reformation Wall to the Palais des Nations, the Red Cross museum and CERN. It is a more thematic set of sights, and both cities need only two or three days.

Toulouse is much the livelier city after dark. Its huge student population fills the terraces of Place Saint-Pierre and spills onto the quays, while Carmes and the Daurade cater to an older crowd with wine bars. The one dip is midsummer, when the students leave.

In Geneva, evenings are quiet and expensive. The Pâquis bars and the alternative centres around Plainpalais keep weekends going, but on weeknights the city winds down early.

Geneva is far better placed for the outdoors. You can take the cable car up the Salève, hike the forested Jura ridge, sail on the lake and look out at Mont Blanc on clear days. The high Alps and ski resorts are close enough for a day out.

Toulouse sits on a gentle farming plain. Its best local asset is the flat towpath of the Canal du Midi for cycling. The Pyrenees offer serious hiking and skiing, but they are at least an hour and a half away, so the mountains need more planning than in Geneva.

Both cities have excellent outings, but Geneva's are more varied and easier without a car. Lake steamers and trains run to Lausanne, Montreux's Château de Chillon and the Lavaux vineyard terraces, and Annecy and the medieval village of Yvoire are just across the French border.

Toulouse's highlights are each about an hour by train: Carcassonne's walled Cité and brick Albi with its Toulouse-Lautrec museum. Beyond Moissac and Montauban, most places, such as Cordes-sur-Ciel and Foix, are easier to reach by car.

Families will find these two broadly even, though the appeal is different. Toulouse has the big-ticket days: walking through a Mir module at the Cité de l'espace, climbing inside a Concorde and driving through a safari park. Bear in mind that July and August can be very hot.

Geneva is calmer and simpler. The Natural History Museum's dioramas, lakeside playgrounds and the little yellow harbour boats fill a few days, and after that families head up into the mountains, since the city has no zoo or theme park.

Geneva is the easier city to move around. The centre is walkable, the trams are punctual, the harbour boats are on the same network, and the airport is a few minutes from the main station. Trains reach the rest of Switzerland and the French suburbs, so you rarely need a car.

Toulouse's flat centre inside the boulevards is just as pleasant on foot, and two metro lines help. But the space centre and leisure lakes mean a bus ride, and the Pyrenees and villages are much easier by car.

For serious shopping, Geneva is well ahead. The flagship watch and jewellery houses along the Rue du Rhône give it a luxury end that Toulouse has nothing to set against, and the chocolatiers of the Old Town make an easy gift at a lower price.

Below that level, the two are closer and differ mainly in character. Geneva's craft workshops in Carouge and the antiques on the Plainpalais flea market compare well with the independent boutiques in Toulouse's Saint-Étienne lanes, though the Sunday market around Saint-Sernin is the bigger and more mixed outing. Toulouse does better on things to eat and drink at home, such as violet sweets, Armagnac and jars of cassoulet from its covered markets, which are more distinctive than Geneva's chocolate. In both cities the main shopping streets offer little beyond the usual chain stores.

This is where the two differ most. Geneva is among the most expensive cities in the world to visit, from hotel rooms to a single glass of wine. Free museums, free transport for hotel guests and cheap lake lidos help a little, and many visitors sleep across the border in France.

Toulouse is not a budget destination, but it is far kinder. Hotels cost much less, the set lunch is a cheap way to eat well, and the student quarters keep drinks and snacks inexpensive.

Both have a serious classical season, so neither has a clear advantage. Geneva's Grand Théâtre and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Victoria Hall are matched by Toulouse's Théâtre du Capitole and its well-regarded orchestra in the round Halle aux Grains.

The difference is in the extras. Geneva adds French-language theatre and dance in a former pumping station in the middle of the Rhône. Toulouse leans towards festivals, with piano recitals in the Jacobins cloister and the riverside Rio Loco world-music festival.

In winter the Bains des Pâquis turns into a sauna and hammam, and regulars plunge from the heat straight into the cold lake. That habit gives Geneva a real bathing culture. Lakefront hotels add serious spas, the spa towns of Évian and Divonne are close by, and the very quiet Sundays help you slow down.

Toulouse has no bathing tradition of its own, so it relies on hotel spas, a few day spas and summer pools. Relaxing there means long lunches and slow rides along the Canal du Midi. The thermal springs are up in the Pyrenees and are best visited with an overnight stay.