Lyon or Nantes?

Nantes has the advantage simply because the Atlantic is within an hour by train. La Baule's wide sheltered sand and the coves at Pornic work well as day trips, although the water stays cool and the season is short.

Lyon has no coast at all. Swimming means the supervised lake at Miribel-Jonage on the city's edge or a longer outing to Annecy or the Lac du Bourget, where the water is in fact warmer than the Atlantic in high summer but the trip takes most of a day.

This is where Lyon pulls furthest ahead. The bouchon tradition, the legacy of the Mères lyonnaises and the city's great chefs, Les Halles Paul Bocuse and Beaujolais and the northern Rhône on the doorstep make eating the main point of a visit, and set lunches let you do it well every day.

Nantes eats well on a smaller canvas: beurre blanc with Loire fish, oysters from the coast, galettes and crisp Muscadet, with the Talensac market as the showcase. It is a pleasure to dine in, but not a city you would plan a trip around for the food.

Lyon offers far more to see. Fourvière layers Roman theatres under a nineteenth-century basilica, Vieux Lyon is one of Europe's largest Renaissance quarters with its traboules, and the Musée des Beaux-Arts is among France's best outside Paris. Add Croix-Rousse's silk heritage and the birthplace of cinema, and you need several full days.

Nantes is more concentrated around the moated Château des Ducs de Bretagne, whose museum deals frankly with the city's slave-trading past, alongside the Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery. The merchant façades of Ile Feydeau and the Jules Verne museum round it out in two or three days.

Both are student cities that go quiet midweek outside term, but Lyon has more range. Wine and cocktail bars crowd the Presqu'île, the moored péniches on the Rhône turn into bars and clubs, and warehouse clubs towards Gerland and the Confluence feed a serious electronic scene.

Nantes keeps things simpler. The medieval Bouffay lanes are the place for pubs and terraces, and the later crowd heads to the old docks on the Ile de Nantes. It is friendly and easy to join, but a regional night out.

Lyon has more variety. Within the city there are hills to climb and the Parc de la Tête d'Or, and beyond it the Monts d'Or, the Beaujolais hills and, an hour or more away, the limestone massifs of Chartreuse and Vercors for real hiking and climbing, with the high Alps further on.

Nantes is flat and watery instead. The Erdre is best seen by boat or towpath, the Loire à Vélo route runs to the sea, and the Brière marshes suit birdwatchers. The Côte Sauvage gives good coastal walking, but there are no hills at all.

Both make good bases, and the difference is in the scenery. From Lyon the themes are wine and old stone: Roman Vienne, medieval Pérouges, the Beaujolais villages, Burgundy around Beaune and, further out, Annecy's lake.

From Nantes the pull is the Atlantic and the Loire: walled Guérande above its salt marshes, Le Croisic, Angers and its Apocalypse Tapestry, Saumur's cave villages and Vannes on the Gulf of Morbihan.

The two are close for families, with different highlights. Lyon's strength is the Parc de la Tête d'Or with its free zoo, pedalos and small train, plus dinosaurs at the Musée des Confluences and Guignol puppet shows, though the stepped hill lanes are hard with a pushchair.

Nantes has the one unforgettable sight, the walking mechanical elephant at the Machines de l'Ile, and flat streets with trams that suit buggies. Puy du Fou and the calm beaches at La Baule give it slightly more for a longer summer stay.

Both are easy without a car, but they work differently. Lyon combines a flat, walkable Presqu'île with four metro lines, trams and funiculars up to Fourvière, so the hills are part of the ride, though some journeys mean a climb or a change.

Nantes is smaller and flatter, and its tram network is simple enough to learn at once. Everything central is within about half an hour on foot, river shuttles cross the Loire, and the central station puts the coast an hour away.

Lyon offers noticeably more. Chains line rue de la République, luxury labels gather around Place des Jacobins, Part-Dieu has one of France's largest city-centre malls, and Croix-Rousse adds silk and designer workshops.

Nantes is pleasant but small, with the three-level Passage Pommeraye as its most memorable setting and little luxury retail. In both cities the best things to take home are edible: pralines and cheese from Lyon, salted-butter biscuits and Guérande salt from Nantes.

Costs are much the same, both cheaper than Paris but not budget cities. Nantes has the slight edge on rooms, which are usually easy to find, while Lyon's hotels get scarce and expensive during trade fairs and the Fête des Lumières.

Set lunches are the bargain in both. Remember that Nantes beach days cost more in high summer, and that Lyon's free zoo helps families.

Lyon has the bigger stage. Its glass-vaulted opera house, national orchestra and grand old theatres are joined by a real specialism in dance, at the Maison de la Danse and the Biennale. In summer the Nuits de Fourvière puts on shows in the Roman theatres above the city.

Nantes is lively for its size and leans towards the popular and the outdoors: La Folle Journée packs short classical concerts into a few winter days, the Lieu Unique stages contemporary work, and giant street puppetry is part of the city's character.

Neither city is a place to rest, and both offer only hotel and day spas. The difference lies in the day trips. From Lyon you go to thermal bathing at Aix-les-Bains on the Lac du Bourget, while from Nantes you go to seawater thalassotherapy at La Baule or Pornic. In town, Lyon's quiet Sunday quays and Nantes' Jardin des Plantes and Erdre banks do the same job.