Marseille or Siena?

This is where the two differ most. Marseille has a long seafront: shingle and sand at the Prado, the small Plage des Catalans, the rocky Vallon des Auffes, coves on the Frioul islands and the clear inlets of the Calanques, which take half a day to reach on foot or by boat.

Siena has no beach of its own. A swim on the Maremma coast near Castiglione della Pescaia takes a full day. If the sea matters, plan a few nights on the coast or settle for the pool at your agriturismo.

Both cities eat well, but in different ways. Marseille is a Mediterranean port with food from many places: bouillabaisse in the Corniche harbours, panisses and wood-fired pizza, and the North African, Comorian and Armenian shops of Noailles. Its range runs from street snacks to serious seafood cooking.

Siena sticks to its own cooking: pici, ribollita, cinta senese pork, and panforte and ricciarelli from old pastry shops. It is stronger on wine, with Chianti Classico, Brunello and Vino Nobile poured by the glass, but it has little international food. In both places, avoid the restaurants facing the main square or port.

Marseille is the older city, founded by Greek sailors around 600 BC. Its sights are scattered through a working port rather than gathered in one preserved centre. Notre-Dame de la Garde looks down on the forts of the Vieux-Port and on the MuCEM beside Fort Saint-Jean. Le Panier has the Vieille Charité, and the Château d'If and Le Corbusier's Cité Radieuse lie further out. Many visitors find all this more interesting than beautiful.

For sightseeing, Siena is the stronger choice. Its medieval centre is UNESCO-listed as a whole. The Campo, the Palazzo Pubblico with its Good and Bad Government frescoes, and the Duomo with its inlaid floor and Piccolomini Library are a few minutes' walk apart. Two or three days cover the main sights well.

Marseille is the place for a night out. The graffiti-covered bars and pavement tables of Cours Julien and La Plaine stay busy until late, the Vieux-Port terraces fill at sunset, and in summer there are warehouse electronic nights and parties by the sea. Some central streets feel edgy late at night, so a taxi home is wise.

Siena's evenings are a long dinner and a glass of wine on the Campo, with a few student pubs and the centre quiet before midnight. The Palio nights are the exception.

Marseille has wilder country closer at hand. The Calanques national park starts in its southern suburbs, with coastal paths to Sormiou and En-Vau, sport-climbing cliffs, and kayaking and diving around the Riou archipelago. Sainte-Victoire and the Sainte-Baume forest are within an hour.

Siena's landscape is gentler, farmed and more pastoral: the bare clay hills of the Crete Senesi and the Val d'Orcia. Its outdoor speciality is cycling on the strade bianche. It has no coast or high mountains, but its countryside is also less likely than Marseille's massifs to close in summer because of fire risk.

Both are excellent bases, and Siena is slightly better. San Gimignano, Monteriggioni, the Chianti villages, Volterra, Pienza, Montalcino and Montepulciano are all close, with abbeys such as Sant'Antimo and San Galgano in between and Florence a bus ride away.

Marseille's day trips are spread a little wider across Provence. Aix and Cassis are close, Arles and Avignon are about an hour by train, and the Luberon villages and the Pont du Gard make longer days out. In both regions the towns are on public transport, but the villages and wineries really need a car.

Neither is an easy family city, but Marseille gives children more to do. In summer it has the gentle water of the Prado beaches, the lake and lawns of Parc Borély, and boat trips to the Château d'If and along the Calanques. The catch is traffic, heat and narrow pavements.

Siena is safer, almost car-free and welcoming in every trattoria. Beyond climbing the Torre del Mangia, though, there is little for younger children, and the steep lanes make pushchairs hard work. A farmhouse with a pool works better.

They are about as easy to get around as each other, in different ways. Marseille is a large, spread-out city with two metro lines, trams and harbour ferries, but the buses to the beaches and Calanques trailheads get stuck in traffic and driving in the centre is stressful.

Siena is a small town you see on foot, with the main sights a few minutes apart and escalators up from the station, but it has steep ridges and thin regional trains. In both places a car is most useful outside the city.

For a long afternoon of shopping, Marseille goes further, though its fashion offer is thin. Rue Paradis and Rue de Rome have department stores and chains, La Joliette has a large shopping centre, and Noailles is good for fabrics, teas and kitchenware. Green cubes of Marseille soap and santon figures from Le Panier are the classic souvenirs.

Siena is smaller and simpler. Banchi di Sopra has Italian clothing, shoe and leather shops, and the local buys are majolica ceramics, contrada scarves and food to take home, such as panforte and pecorino.

Costs are much the same in both, and neither is a budget trip, but the savings come in different places. In Marseille, everyday eating from the market, pizza ovens and North African bakeries is cheap, public transport costs little and the Calanques paths are free. Hotels near the port and beaches cost a lot more in high summer.

In Siena, the few rooms inside the walls are expensive, especially around the Palio, and the museum tickets add up. An osteria lunch with house wine and a bed in an agriturismo outside town keep costs down.

Marseille has the bigger stage. The art deco Opéra runs a full season, the Théâtre de la Criée stages national-level drama, and the Friche la Belle de Mai mixes dance, concerts and theatre. The city is also known for French hip-hop and Mediterranean music, with the Festival de Marseille and the Fiesta des Suds as yearly highlights.

Siena's music is fine but small in scale: summer concerts by the Accademia Chigiana in palaces and churches, Siena Jazz, and winter seasons at the Rinnovati and Rozzi. Opera means a trip to Florence.

Siena is much better for rest. The town is calm once the day visitors leave, and warm water is close by: the travertine pools of Rapolano Terme, the steaming medieval bath at Bagno Vignoni, the free limestone pools of Bagni San Filippo and the hot sulphur river at Petriolo.

Marseille has no real bathing tradition beyond a few local hammams and hotel spas. Its quiet moments are a long harbourside lunch on the Corniche, and many visitors looking for rest stay out in Cassis instead.