Nice or Toulouse?

Nice lives on its seafront: 7km of pebble beach below the Promenade des Anglais, clear water for swimming from June into October, and sandier coves at Villefranche, Beaulieu and Juan-les-Pins within easy reach. Bring water shoes or rent a lounger, because the stones are hard on bare feet.

Toulouse cannot compete here. The Mediterranean at Gruissan makes a long day out, so a summer swim usually means the supervised lakes at Sesquières and La Ramée, a hotel pool or a shady spot by the Garonne.

Both cities have a strong regional cuisine, but the food is very different. Nice cooks light and close to Liguria: socca from wood ovens, pissaladière, stuffed vegetables and produce from the Cours Saleya. It is best in the family places of Vieux Nice rather than on the promenade terraces.

Toulouse is the home of heavier south-western cooking: cassoulet, duck confit, foie gras and violet sweets. The lunch counters upstairs at the Victor Hugo market are the place to start. Choose by appetite: olive oil and anchovies, or duck fat and Armagnac.

There is about as much to see in each, two or three days' worth, but the character differs. Nice leans towards art and resort history: the Matisse and Chagall museums in Cimiez, MAMAC with its Yves Klein works, and Belle Époque villas and the onion domes of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral alongside the baroque lanes of Vieux Nice.

Toulouse is a city of rose-red brick and great churches. The Romanesque Basilica of Saint-Sernin and the palm-tree vault of the Jacobins lead the way, and Renaissance mansions such as the Hôtel d'Assézat hold fine collections. Aerospace is a distinctive strength too: the aircraft museums and the space centre on the outskirts add a modern, technical side that Nice lacks.

Toulouse goes out harder. Its students pack the terraces of Place Saint-Pierre and the quays on warm nights, Carmes and the Daurade have wine bars for an older crowd, and the electronic scene is solid. It does thin out in July and August, when the students leave.

Nice's evenings are shorter and simpler: bars in the lanes of Vieux Nice, a few more grown-up places by the port and beach clubs in summer. For the glossier clubbing you go to Monaco or Cannes.

Nice has the more dramatic setting, where the Alps meet the sea. It offers coastal paths around Cap Ferrat, cycling on the corniches, and sailing and diving offshore, and the Mercantour's high lakes and ibex are within about two hours.

Toulouse sits among gentle farmland, and its everyday outdoors means flat cycling along the towpaths of the Canal du Midi. The Pyrenees have serious hiking and skiing, but they are a drive away rather than on the doorstep.

Both make good bases, but Nice has more variety close at hand and you need no car. Monaco, Èze, Menton, Antibes, Cannes, Grasse and even Sanremo across the Italian border are mostly under an hour away by coastal train or bus.

From Toulouse, Carcassonne's ramparts and Albi's cathedral are excellent trips, each about an hour away by train, with Moissac and Montauban close behind. The hill villages, vineyards and Pyrenean sites are much easier with a car.

Both are easy with children, and Toulouse has a slight edge thanks to its aerospace attractions. Children can see the Ariane rocket and the Mir module at the Cité de l'espace, walk through a Concorde and watch giant mechanical creatures in Montaudran, and there is a safari park on the edge of town.

Nice is more about outdoor play, with the splash jets and playgrounds of the Promenade du Paillon, Parc Phoenix and the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco. Its pebble beaches are tough on small feet, though.

Both are easy without a car, in different ways. Nice is long and narrow along the bay, so the east-west tram and the coastal trains do most of the work, and the tram runs straight from the airport to the centre.

Toulouse is a compact, walkable circle inside its boulevards, with two metro lines, trams and a public bike scheme. Its weak point is the outer sights and the Pyrenees, which are much simpler by car, whereas in Nice you only need one for the mountains.

Neither is a shopping destination, so the difference lies in what you bring home. Nice has luxury fashion around rue Paradis, Galeries Lafayette on Avenue Jean Médecin, Provençal soaps and olive oil in Vieux Nice, and a Monday antiques market on the Cours Saleya.

Toulouse has no luxury district but better edible souvenirs: violet sweets, duck confit, cassoulet in jars and Armagnac. Its big Sunday market around Saint-Sernin adds clothes and bric-a-brac.

Nice is the dearer of the two, and the gap is mostly in where you sleep: a room near the sea costs well above anything comparable in Toulouse, and summer pushes it higher still. Eating cheaply takes a little effort. It means socca in the old town, a picnic from the Cours Saleya or a simple lunch menu away from the seafront, while the trams and coastal trains keep a day in Monaco or Antibes inexpensive.

Toulouse keeps everyday costs lower without your having to plan for it. Hotels are far cheaper than on the Riviera, except during big trade fairs, and the set lunch is how the city eats every day rather than a bargain to track down. The student quarters keep drinks and snacks cheap, and several municipal museums are free on certain days. A smart dinner with a bottle of wine is the one place where it costs much the same as anywhere else in Western Europe.

Toulouse has the stronger classical scene. The Théâtre du Capitole puts on a full season of opera and ballet with its own company, and the Orchestre National du Capitole plays in the round Halle aux Grains. In summer, Rio Loco and the piano festival in the Jacobins cloister fill the calendar.

Nice's opera house and philharmonic offer a regional season, and its big moments are the Jazz Festival in July and the Carnival in February. Outside those events, there is less to plan an evening around.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, but Nice is the more restful of the two. It has thalassotherapy centres along the coast and spas in the big hotels, and you can swim early and walk along the bay at dusk. It is calmest outside high summer.

Toulouse has hotel spas, a few hammams, open-air pools and slow rides along the canal. For proper thermal bathing, plan an overnight trip to Luchon or Ax-les-Thermes in the Pyrenees.