Lyon or Paris?

Neither city is a beach destination, and the difference is only in how each cools off. Lyon has a supervised bathing lake at the Grand Parc de Miribel-Jonage and clear Alpine lakes at Annecy and the Lac du Bourget within a couple of hours, which make a genuinely good swimming day out.

Paris dresses its riverbanks with sand and deckchairs in summer and offers swimming on the Bassin de la Villette and in the Seine, plus handsome Art Deco public pools. Its nearest coast is the cool Channel in Normandy, so Lyon's warm lakes are the better bet for a real swim.

Lyon's food goes deep rather than wide. In the bouchons you get quenelles, andouillette and praline tart with a pot of local red. Les Halles Paul Bocuse has Bresse poultry, oysters and Saint-Marcellin under one roof, and the Beaujolais vineyards start just north of the city. Its regional cooking has real depth, but there is little street food or international cooking.

Paris has the wider choice. Beyond zinc-counter bistros and haute cuisine, there are natural wine bars and small, inventive neo-bistros in the east of the city. Belleville has North African couscous, the south-east has Vietnamese pho, and the pastry is an art in itself, so a week of meals need never repeat.

Lyon's heritage is layered and rewarding: Roman theatres on Fourvière, the Renaissance lanes and traboules of Vieux Lyon, the silk-weavers' hill of Croix-Rousse and a fine Musée des Beaux-Arts. It fills a few full days without a single landmark everyone knows.

Paris plays in another league. The Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, the Pompidou and the Orangerie would each anchor a trip, and Notre-Dame, the Sainte-Chapelle and the Eiffel Tower are world icons. The cost is queues at the big sights, which Lyon largely spares you.

Lyon's nights are student-driven and informal, with wine bars on the Presqu'île, pubs in Vieux Lyon and its signature barges along the Rhône. Its electronic scene around Gerland and the Confluence is strong, but outside weekends and term time evenings wind down early.

Paris has far more depth and keeps going longer. The crowded bars of Oberkampf, Canal Saint-Martin and Belleville, Pigalle's cocktail bars and the Marais gay scene lead into clubs playing house and techno until dawn, though doors can be selective and drinks dear.

Lyon gives more room to move outdoors. The car-free Rhône quays, the large Parc de la Tête d'Or and the steep stairways of its two hills sit right in the city, and the Monts d'Or, Beaujolais lanes and Pilat park are close.

With a car, Lyon also reaches real mountains in Chartreuse, Vercors and the Alps. Paris stays gentler: formal gardens, the Bois de Boulogne and Vincennes woods, and the forest of Fontainebleau, famous for its sandstone climbing boulders, but no mountains anywhere near.

Lyon's trips run on wine and old towns: Roman Vienne a short train ride south, medieval Pérouges, the Beaujolais villages and Burgundy around Beaune, with Annecy and the Alpine lakes further out.

Paris has the longer and grander list, and fast trains make it easy without a car. Versailles, Fontainebleau and Chantilly are close, Chartres and Giverny are an easy hop, and Reims, Rouen and the Loire châteaux at Tours are all reachable for a day. On a long stay, the capital's excursions can fill as many days as the city.

Lyon keeps it simple and relaxed, with the free zoo, pedalos and pony rides of the Parc de la Tête d'Or, dinosaurs at the Musée des Confluences, Guignol puppet shows and funicular rides up Fourvière.

Paris has far more to fill a family week: Disneyland and Parc Astérix within reach, the hands-on Cité des Sciences, the Jardin d'Acclimatation and carousels in the parks. Daily logistics are harder, with stair-only metro stations, small hotel rooms and long queues, where Lyon's flat Presqu'île is easier going.

Paris is the easier city to get around. Its centre is one of the great walks, and the dense metro puts a station a few minutes from almost anywhere, with the RER reaching the airports and Versailles. Stairs, rush-hour crowds and pickpockets are the downsides.

Lyon's flat Presqu'île is pleasant on foot and its funiculars and rack metro make the hills a ride rather than a slog. The metro is small, though, so some trips need a change or a climb.

This is where the two differ most. Paris is the home of luxury fashion, with the great houses on Avenue Montaigne, the department stores Galeries Lafayette and Le Bon Marché, Marais independents, the covered passages and the vast Saint-Ouen flea market.

Lyon offers solid chains on the rue de la République, a few luxury labels and the large Part-Dieu mall. Its distinctive finds are silk from its weaving past and the small designer workshops of Croix-Rousse, but nobody travels there for the shopping.

Lyon is clearly the cheaper stay. Hotels are reasonable for most of the year, except during trade fairs and the Fête des Lumières, and its bouchon set lunches are some of the best-value eating in France.

Paris is expensive for rooms, terrace drinks and the big museums. Walking, bakeries, markets, river picnics and the free collections of the city's own museums soften it, as does staying in the outer arrondissements.

Paris has the bigger stage, with the Palais Garnier and Opéra Bastille, the world-class Philharmonie, the Comédie-Française, Pigalle cabaret and jazz cellars around the rue des Lombards. Much of the theatre is in French, which matters less for opera, ballet and concerts.

Lyon punches above its size. The Opéra de Lyon and its orchestra are well regarded, and dance is its speciality through the Maison de la Danse and the Biennale. Summer concerts in Fourvière's Roman theatres give it a setting Paris cannot match.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, so the difference lies in style and reach. Paris has a hammam culture from its North African communities, best known at the Grande Mosquée, but its fast, crowded streets leave rest to an hour in the Luxembourg gardens.

Lyon is calmer day to day, with long lunches, quiet Sunday mornings by the Saône and the open-air pool on the Rhône quays. It also has real thermal bathing within a day trip at Aix-les-Bains.