Monaco or Toulouse?

Here only Monaco is in the running. Larvotto is a short, groomed city beach with calm, clear water inside its breakwaters, and the coves at Cap d'Ail and the long beaches of Menton and Nice are a few minutes away by train or on foot. Much of the swimming happens off rocks and at beach clubs, but the sea is part of every summer day.

Toulouse is two hours from the nearest Mediterranean beach at Narbonne or Gruissan, too far to be part of a normal stay. The lakes at Sesquières and La Ramée, with supervised swimming in summer, are the local substitute.

Toulouse is the better place to eat on an ordinary day. Cassoulet, confit, magret and foie gras define the cooking, the Victor Hugo market serves it at its upstairs counters, and the set lunch and student quarters keep good meals affordable, with Fronton and Gaillac wines alongside.

Monaco's strength sits at the very top: starred hotel dining rooms cooking Riviera and Ligurian food, and harbour terraces where the view is half the point. Below that level the choice thins out, though barbagiuan and socca from the Condamine market give a taste of the local kitchen.

Toulouse has more to see and more depth to it. Saint-Sernin is among Europe's largest Romanesque churches, the Jacobins has its palm-tree vault, and the Capitole, the Augustins and the woad merchants' mansions fill two full days, with aircraft museums and the space centre adding an unusual modern layer.

Monaco's sights are fewer but very well presented: the palace and its guard ceremony, the cathedral with Grace Kelly's tomb and the Oceanographic Museum on the Rock, then the Casino and the Belle Époque streets of Monte-Carlo. A day or two covers it, and the setting on the cliffs does much of the work.

Toulouse goes out more easily and more cheaply. Its large student population fills the bars around Place Saint-Pierre and the quays, while Carmes and the Daurade have wine bars for an older crowd. The one quiet spell is July and August, when the students leave.

Monaco's nights are a dressed-up affair of hotel bars, the Casino square and glossy seafront clubs, at their liveliest in summer and on Grand Prix weekend. The rest of the year it goes to bed early and has no casual bar scene to fall back on.

Monaco has the more dramatic surroundings. Limestone mountains rise straight from the sea, with the view from Tête de Chien, the old mule path up to Èze and coastal walks around Cap Martin, and the clear water suits snorkelling, diving and paddleboarding.

The country around Toulouse is gentle farmland, best on a bike along the flat Canal du Midi towpaths. Its bigger draw is the Pyrenees, a drive of up to two hours for proper hiking, cycling climbs and winter skiing, so the outdoors here means a day out rather than a walk from the hotel.

Monaco makes the easier and richer base. The coastal train links Villefranche, Nice and Menton in minutes, Èze and La Turbie are a short bus ride up the hill, and Antibes, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Grasse and the Italian towns of Sanremo and Dolceacqua are all reachable without a car.

Toulouse has a smaller number of excellent single outings: walled Carcassonne and brick Albi, each about an hour by train, plus Moissac's cloister and Montauban. Places such as Cordes-sur-Ciel, Foix and Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges really need a car.

Both work for children for different reasons. Monaco offers the aquarium, Larvotto's gentle water and the palace guards in a small, safe town where lifts do the climbing, but it runs out of things to do fast and its restaurants are formal.

Toulouse has the bigger day-long attractions, with the Cité de l'espace's Ariane rocket and Mir module, the walk-through Concorde at the aircraft museum and the mechanical creatures of Montaudran. Its flat centre suits pushchairs, though the summer heat can be hard on small children.

Monaco is the easier place to get around. The whole principality is about 3km end to end, so you walk almost everywhere, and free public lifts and escalators take the strain off the steep climbs between levels. The station in the hillside puts the rest of the coast a short train ride away, so you never need a car.

In Toulouse, the centre inside the ring of boulevards is flat and good for walking, and two automated metro lines, trams and a bike scheme cover the rest of the city. The catch is how much lies outside that centre. You need a bus to reach the space centre, the aircraft museum and the lakes, and the Pyrenees and most rural day trips are far simpler with a hire car.

There is about as much to buy in each, but the kind of shopping could hardly be more different. Monaco's Carré d'Or is a compact cluster of fashion houses, jewellers and watchmakers built for luxury buyers and window-shopping, with little in between.

Toulouse is mainstream and practical: chains and a department store on Rue d'Alsace-Lorraine, independent boutiques and antiques around Saint-Étienne, and the Sunday market at Saint-Sernin. The best things to take home are violet sweets, Armagnac and jars of cassoulet.

This is where the two differ most. Monaco is among the most expensive places in the world to visit, from hotel rooms to a café coffee, and the free sights are the gardens, the Rock and the harbour walk. Many visitors save by sleeping in Nice, Menton or Beausoleil.

Toulouse is no bargain, but it is a sensibly priced French city. Its hotels cost far less than on the Riviera, and the set lunch, cheap student bars and free museum days stretch a budget a long way.

Both have opera, ballet and a well-known orchestra, so the difference is one of setting and range. Monaco's Salle Garnier, the gilded hall inside the Casino, and Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo give it real prestige, but the programme is seasonal and there is little to wander into on an ordinary night.

Toulouse matches it with the Théâtre du Capitole's own company and the Orchestre National du Capitole in the round Halle aux Grains. On top of that it has small theatres, jazz bars, the late-summer piano festival in the Jacobins and Rio Loco by the river.

Monaco is clearly the place for a pampering day. The large seawater thalassotherapy centre beside the Casino carries on the old sea-bathing tradition, the grand hotels have substantial spas, and quiet mornings in the Japanese Garden are genuinely restful.

Toulouse has hotel spas, a few hammams and summer pools, and its relaxation comes mostly from long lunches and slow rides along the canal. For real thermal bathing you would go to Luchon or Ax-les-Thermes in the Pyrenees, best as an overnight trip.