Oxford or Saint-Malo?

This is Saint-Malo's clear advantage. The Grand Plage du Sillon runs for kilometres from the walls, there are coves below the ramparts, and at low tide you can walk across the sand to the island forts. Oxford is about as far from the sea as anywhere in England, so a dip there means the Thames at Port Meadow or the pool at Hinksey.

Oddly, the water is just as cold in both: neither the Channel nor the rivers get much above 18°C. The difference is that in Saint-Malo you have the sand to lie on once you are out.

Saint-Malo eats better on the whole because it has a regional kitchen. You get buckwheat galettes with cider, Cancale oysters eaten by the harbour wall and kouign-amann for dessert. Look beyond the tourist crêperies inside the walls, though, and head for Saint-Servan or the Cancale coast.

Oxford has no cuisine of its own. It does have pubs, so it is good for a riverside Sunday roast, and Cowley Road gives it a wider international range than Saint-Malo, with Middle Eastern, South Asian and Caribbean food.

Oxford has much more to see. Christ Church, the Radcliffe Camera, the Bodleian and the Sheldonian stand within minutes of each other, and the Ashmolean, the Pitt Rivers and the Natural History Museum are each worth a long visit. Two or three full days are well spent.

Saint-Malo's sightseeing is the town itself. You walk the full circuit of the ramparts, see the cathedral and castle, and cross at low tide to Chateaubriand's tomb on the Grand Bé. It fills one good day, and anyone looking for serious museums will not find them here.

Neither is a place for a big night out, but Oxford has a bit more going on. Cowley Road has late bars and a couple of small clubs, and the city-centre taverns fill up in term time. Saint-Malo's evenings mean wine bars and Irish-style pubs inside the walls, lively in July and August and quiet early the rest of the year, and the nearest clubs are in Rennes.

Saint-Malo has the more dramatic outdoors. The GR34 coastal path runs east to Pointe du Grouin and west to the cliffs of Cap Fréhel. The tides are among the largest in Europe, and there is kayaking on the Rance and kitesurfing on the long beaches. Inland, though, it is flat farmland.

Oxford's countryside is gentler and starts right in town, with Port Meadow, Christ Church Meadow and punting on the Cherwell. It also has hills within an hour: the Cotswolds, the Chilterns and the Ridgeway, all good for long, easy walks.

Both are excellent bases, and Oxford has the edge, largely because London is an hour away by train. Blenheim Palace is twenty minutes away, and Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon and Windsor are all within reach.

Saint-Malo's big trip is Mont-Saint-Michel, about an hour's drive. Medieval Dinan, Dinard across the estuary by boat and Rennes by train are good shorter outings. Beyond those, you mostly need a car.

Saint-Malo is easier with children because the beach does most of the work. Children can build sandcastles, jump into the Bon-Secours sea pool, walk out to the forts and hear the corsair stories, and the Grand Aquarium covers a rainy day. Keep a close eye on the fast incoming tides.

Oxford's highlights for children are free: the dinosaur skeletons at the Natural History Museum and the curiosities in the Pitt Rivers. Punting and the Harry Potter scenes at Christ Church add more, but most of the rest of the city is aimed at adults.

Both centres are compact and pleasant to walk, but Oxford is easier overall. Its station is a short walk from the colleges, frequent buses run out to the suburbs, and bicycles are everywhere.

Saint-Malo has direct high-speed trains to Paris and a boat to Dinard. Once you leave town, though, buses to Cancale or Mont-Saint-Michel are thin, so a car or a tour matters more here.

Oxford offers more choice. There are Blackwell's vast basement of books, the traders of the Covered Market, antique maps and prints, and the designer outlet village at Bicester twenty minutes away. Saint-Malo is mainly good for Breton things to take home: striped sailor tops, salted-butter caramels, faience and cider. For fashion you would have to go to Rennes.

Neither is cheap, but Saint-Malo is easier on the budget, especially if you avoid July and August. Its rooms get cheaper in spring and autumn, and a galette with cider is still an inexpensive meal. Oxford's few central hotel rooms stay expensive because of university events, so many visitors sleep by the ring road. Its free museums help a little, but college entry fees add up.

Oxford wins here easily. Its college choirs sing Evensong most evenings in term, and the Sheldonian and the historic Holywell Music Room hold concerts. There are also touring shows at the Playhouse and New Theatre.

Saint-Malo has a modest theatre season and the occasional concert in the cathedral. Most of its cultural life comes in festival bursts such as La Route du Rock and Étonnants Voyageurs, with little on in between.

Saint-Malo is a genuine place to recover, with seafront thalassotherapy, heated seawater pools and hydrotherapy, and long walks on the sand at low tide outside the summer crowds. Oxford has no bathing tradition and few spas. Its calm comes from the Botanic Garden, Addison's Walk and a slow afternoon on a punt, which is pleasant but not a treatment break.