Girona or Montpellier?

Neither city is on the sea. From Girona the Costa Brava is about 40 minutes away, and it is the prettier coast: pine-backed coves, with the clearest water around Begur and L'Escala. Without a car, though, sparse buses limit how much of it you see, and the best-known coves fill early in summer.

Montpellier is the better choice for regular beach days. Palavas and Carnon are only about 11km away by tram and bus, and a long strip of fine sand runs east to the dunes of l'Espiguette. The water is shallow and easy for swimming, though it has none of the rock and clarity of the Catalan coves.

The two eat about equally well, but in different ways. Girona has the higher peak: serious tasting-menu kitchens sit alongside Catalan taverns serving botifarra with beans and mar i muntanya dishes, with Empordà wine and xuixos from the pastry shops.

Montpellier is better for everyday eating than for big occasions. It has lagoon oysters and mussels from Thau, tielle from Sète, market halls with counters where you can eat, and plenty of cheap student places. Its wine, Pic Saint-Loup reds, comes from just beyond the city edge.

These are close, but the sightseeing differs. Girona's appeal is one tightly packed medieval quarter: the cathedral with its huge single nave, the Call Jewish quarter, the Arab Baths and a walk along the walls. Its museums are modest.

Montpellier covers more centuries and has one major collection. The Musée Fabre is a gallery worth travelling for, and the formal Peyrou terrace, France's oldest botanical garden and Bofill's neoclassical Antigone add up to two or three days rather than one or two.

Montpellier is clearly the place for a night out. Its huge student population fills the wine bars and pubs around Place Jean-Jaurès on weeknights as well as weekends, and later the crowd moves on to clubs towards Lattes and the coast.

Girona's evenings are slow dinners and terrace drinks, with a few student bars and small late clubs. For anything bigger, people take the train to Barcelona.

Girona is the stronger outdoor base, above all for cyclists. Quiet lanes lead straight out of town to the climbs of Rocacorba and Els Àngels, and traffic-free greenways run to Olot and the coast. Within reach are the beech woods and cinder cones of the Garrotxa, the coast-guard path above clear coves, and the Pyrenees for hiking or skiing.

Montpellier's countryside is gentler and wetter. Flamingos and herons feed in the lagoons behind the coast, and the Camargue marshes are about an hour away. Inland there is the climb up Pic Saint-Loup and canoeing in the Hérault gorges. Cycling here means flat coastal paths and the canal rather than mountain climbs, and the windy shore suits kitesurfing and windsurfing.

Both are excellent bases, and the difference is in what you go out to see. From Girona, Barcelona is a quick high-speed train ride away, Dalí's Figueres, Púbol and Cadaqués form a trail of their own, and medieval villages such as Besalú and Peratallada sit close by, with Perpignan just over the border.

Montpellier opens up Roman and papal Provence. Nîmes, the Pont du Gard, Arles and Avignon are all an easy day out, and Carcassonne is within train range. As around Girona, the smaller villages are much easier with a car.

Montpellier is the clear pick with children. It has the Lunaret zoo in its wooded park, an aquarium and a planetarium side by side at Odysseum, trams that are easy with a pushchair, and calm, shallow beaches.

Girona is safe and relaxed, and children enjoy the walls and the shade of the Devesa park. Beyond that it has no attractions aimed at them, and the stepped lanes of the Barri Vell are hard work with a pushchair, so families tend to spend their days on the coast.

Both centres are walkable, but Montpellier goes further without a car. Its tram network links the station, the old town, Antigone, Odysseum and the edge of the city, from where buses run to the beach. Fast trains reach Nîmes and Avignon.

Girona is small enough to cross on foot in about twenty minutes, though it is steep and full of stairs. Trains serve Barcelona and Figueres well, but the coast and villages depend on infrequent buses, which is why many visitors rent a car.

Montpellier offers more. Boutiques and wine shops fill the lanes of the Écusson, the Polygone mall stands next to the Comédie, and Odysseum adds the big brands, though there is no luxury street.

Girona is smaller still, with independent shops along the Rambla, cycling kit for visiting riders, and Barcelona for anything more serious. In both cities the best things to take home are edible: Empordà cheese and oil from the Mercat del Lleó, or Languedoc wine and honey from Montpellier's markets.

Costs are much the same in both, sitting in the middle for Western Europe, but they build up in different places. In Girona it is the rooms: the old town has few, and they get expensive in summer and during the flower festival and the cycling season. A hire car adds more, though the set lunches are good value.

Montpellier's student economy keeps casual eating and drinking cheap, and the tram saves on taxis. Restaurant dinners with wine and summer rooms on the coast are where the money goes.

Montpellier has far more on stage. Two opera houses share a year-round season of opera, ballet and concerts by the national orchestra. Contemporary dance is its speciality, with the Montpellier Danse festival each summer, and the Radio France festival brings many free concerts.

Girona has the Auditori for touring concerts and one standout event, the Temporada Alta theatre and dance festival in autumn. Outside that the programme is thin, and many plays are in Catalan.

Neither city has a bathing culture of its own, and each relies on a nearby spa town. For Girona it is Caldes de Malavella, about 20 minutes south, with its Roman past. For Montpellier it is Balaruc-les-Bains on the Thau lagoon, about half an hour away, which takes day visitors.

The real difference is the mood. Girona's quiet stone lanes and river walks make it the calmer place to slow down, while Montpellier's terraces are relaxing but rarely quiet.