Lugano or Montpellier?

Montpellier has proper beaches and Lugano does not. About 11km from the centre, a long strip of fine, shallow sand runs from Palavas past La Grande-Motte to the open dunes of l'Espiguette, with Sète adding more to the west. In high summer the nearest stretches get crowded.

In Lugano you swim in the lake instead, from lidos with lawns, decks and ladders rather than sand. The main lido at the mouth of the Cassarate and the small lake baths in the villages are lovely on a hot afternoon, but the season is shorter and nobody comes for a beach.

Montpellier eats better and more cheaply. It has Pic Saint-Loup wines, Thau oysters and mussels, tielle from Sète, and markets such as the Halles Castellane and the Saturday market under the Arceaux aqueduct, with plenty of casual student places in between.

Lugano's strength is narrower: polenta, braised meats and Ticino Merlot at granite tables in a grotto under chestnut trees. Beyond that, the choice in town is thin and expensive, which is why many visitors cross into Italy for a big meal.

Montpellier has much more to see. The car-free lanes and hidden courtyards of the Écusson, the Promenade du Peyrou with its aqueduct, France's oldest botanical garden and the Musée Fabre's European paintings easily fill two or three days, and Bofill's Antigone district adds modern architecture.

Lugano's sights take about a day: the arcaded old town around Piazza della Riforma, San Lorenzo above it, Luini's Passion fresco in Santa Maria degli Angioli and the art collection split between LAC and Palazzo Reali.

Montpellier is the clear winner for a night out. Its huge student population fills the terraces and small bars of the Écusson on weeknights too, and later the crowd takes taxis out to clubs towards Lattes and the coast. It gets quieter outside term time.

Lugano's evenings are an aperitivo by the lake and a long dinner among a smart, mostly local crowd. Apart from summer weekends on the promenade, the town is quiet well before midnight.

Lugano has the more dramatic landscape. Mountains rise straight from the lake, and funiculars and a rack railway take you up Monte Brè, San Salvatore and Monte Generoso for views and paths down through chestnut woods. The lakeside walk to Gandria and the clear green rivers of the Verzasca and Maggia valleys are close by.

Montpellier's countryside is gentler and more spread out: lagoons with flamingos, the Camargue an hour away, the climb up Pic Saint-Loup and the Hérault gorges for canoeing. The windy coast suits kitesurfers better than anything on Lugano's lake.

Both are excellent bases, and the difference is the kind of trip. From Lugano you go between two countries by rail: Milan's cathedral and The Last Supper, Lake Como, Bellinzona's castles and the Borromean Islands on Lake Maggiore.

From Montpellier, day trips mean Roman and medieval southern France: the arena in Nîmes, the Pont du Gard, Arles, Avignon and the walls of Carcassonne. Smaller places like Uzès and Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert are much easier with a car.

Lugano keeps children busy outdoors. They can take boats to the lakeside villages, use the slides at the lidos, ride the funiculars up Monte Brè and San Salvatore and see the Swiss landmarks in miniature at Melide. Its steep streets are hard going with a pushchair, and there is no zoo or aquarium to fall back on.

Montpellier adds the Lunaret zoo in its wooded park, with an aquarium and a planetarium side by side in Odysseum, and nearby beaches that shelve gently for small swimmers. The pedestrian old town and the trams are easy with a pushchair. Midsummer heat in the stone streets makes beach mornings and indoor afternoons the best plan.

Lugano's centre is all slope. A short funicular drops from the station to the old town, the lakefront promenade links most of the sights, and boats, funiculars and rack railways take over for the waterside villages and the summits. Swiss trains cover the rest of Ticino, so a car only helps in the remoter valleys.

Montpellier is flatter and runs on its trams, which tie together the station, the Écusson, Antigone and Odysseum, with bike lanes on the level parts. Reaching the beach by tram and bus is slow in summer, and the gorges, the hills and the Camargue are far easier by car.

Neither is a shopping destination, and they appeal to different budgets. Lugano has Via Nassa, an arcaded street of Swiss watchmakers, jewellers and Italian fashion houses, plus a big designer outlet near Mendrisio.

Montpellier has no luxury street but more everyday choice, with boutiques and bookshops in the Écusson and the Polygone mall beside the Comédie. The best things to take home are wine, olive oil and honey.

Montpellier costs far less. Moderate hotels, cheap student bars and counters and good lunch menus keep a stay affordable, and only restaurant dinners and summer rooms on the coast push the bill up.

Lugano is expensive across the board, from lakeside hotels to wine, boat trips and mountain railways. Grotti, set lunches and the free regional transport that comes with hotel stays help a little, but there is no cheap way to stay there.

Montpellier has much the richer stage. It has two opera houses, the Opéra Comédie and the Opéra Berlioz, a national orchestra and a national choreographic centre. In summer, Montpellier Danse, the Radio France festival and outdoor theatre at the Domaine d'O fill the calendar.

Lugano's cultural life is centred on LAC, home of the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana and mostly classical. The free Estival Jazz concerts in Piazza della Riforma are the summer highlight, and opera lovers go to La Scala in Milan.

Neither city has a bathing culture of its own, so the difference is in the mood. Lugano is the quieter place to unwind, with lido afternoons, benches in Parco Ciani, hotel spas and a large pool and sauna complex near Rivera.

Montpellier has real thermal water half an hour away at Balaruc-les-Bains on the Thau lagoon, but the student crowd makes its centre livelier than restful.