Paris or Montreal?

Neither city is for a beach trip, but Montreal at least has real swimming in summer. The supervised sand beach on Île Notre-Dame, the little river beach at Verdun and the larger shore at Oka, about an hour away, give hot July weekends a proper swim.

Paris only dresses its riverbanks as beaches, with sand and deckchairs, and adds outdoor dips in the Bassin de la Villette and handsome Art Deco pools. The nearest sea is the cool Channel at Deauville, two hours away by train.

Both cities make eating a reason to go, but in different ways. Montreal's pleasures are its own: wood-fired Mile End bagels baked through the night, hand-cut smoked meat, poutine and spring sugar-shack meals, along with Québécois bistros serving game and local cheeses, many of them bring-your-own-wine. The Jean-Talon market and the city's Portuguese, Haitian and Vietnamese kitchens round it out.

Paris goes deeper and wider. Good food is part of daily life there, from the neighbourhood boulangerie, cheese shop and street market up to the haute cuisine tradition. Add the neo-bistros and natural-wine bars of the eastern arrondissements, couscous in Belleville, pho in the Asian quarter of the south-east and patisserie as an art form, and it will keep a food-led trip going much longer, provided you eat a few streets away from the big sights.

Paris is in another league here. The Louvre, the Orsay, the Orangerie, Notre-Dame and the Sainte-Chapelle would each anchor a trip, and the Haussmann boulevards, the Marais and the Seine embankments make the walks between them part of the show.

Montreal's heritage is concentrated in Old Montreal's grey-stone streets and the Notre-Dame Basilica, with the Museum of Fine Arts, Saint Joseph's Oratory and the Expo 67 Biosphere filling the rest. It is rewarding, but done in two or three days rather than a week.

The two are close, and the difference is in rhythm. Montreal's bars stay open until 3am every night of the week, filled by students along Boulevard Saint-Laurent, with the Village's big gay clubs and summer dance parties on Île Sainte-Hélène.

Paris starts on a terrace or in a wine bar and drifts east to Oberkampf, Belleville and the Canal Saint-Martin. Bars close earlier, but clubs and summer barges carry on with house and techno until dawn, in a chic mood that can be choosy at the door.

Montreal has more real outdoors to offer. Mount Royal's wooded park rises beside downtown, the Lachine Canal and bike lanes make cycling easy, and there is kayaking and even river surfing on the St Lawrence. The Laurentian lakes and slopes and the Eastern Townships are within an hour and a half, though deep winter cold can cancel plans.

Paris is a city of formal gardens and large woods such as the Bois de Vincennes. Its best escape is Fontainebleau, with sandstone boulders loved by climbers, but the region has no mountains or coast.

Paris has one of the richest sets of day trips anywhere: Versailles, Fontainebleau and Chantilly in under an hour, Chartres, Giverny and Provins close by, and fast trains to Reims's Champagne houses, Rouen and the Loire.

From Montreal the good choices are fewer and further. Ottawa's Parliament and museums are two hours by train, and the Townships' villages and Mont-Tremblant make pleasant outings, while Quebec City really needs a night.

Paris gives children more to do: Disneyland and Parc Astérix close by, the Cité des Sciences, the Jardin des Plantes galleries, and puppet shows and toy sailboats in the Luxembourg. The cost is daily friction, with metro stairs, crowded trains, small hotel rooms and long queues.

Montreal has fewer big draws, but the Biodome, Insectarium and Botanical Garden sit together at the Olympic Park, and the city feels relaxed and welcoming to families. Go in summer or early autumn, as winter cold makes outings with small children hard.

Paris is the easier city to explore without thinking about transport. Its centre is a superb walk, from the Marais to Saint-Germain along the river, and the dense metro puts a station a few minutes from almost anywhere. Watch for long stairways, rush-hour crowds and pickpockets.

Montreal's central neighbourhoods are compact too, and summer cycling on separated lanes is a pleasure. Its four-line metro is simpler but thinner, and in winter the underground network keeps you out of the cold while icy streets slow you down.

Paris is a shopping destination in its own right, from the couture flagships on Avenue Montaigne to Galeries Lafayette and Le Bon Marché. The covered passages, the Saint-Ouen flea market and the bouquinistes along the Seine go well beyond clothes.

Montreal is for browsing rather than a reason to travel. Sainte-Catherine has the chains and department stores, while Mile End and Saint-Henri offer Quebec designers, vintage and records. Maple products and ice cider make the best souvenirs.

Montreal is the cheaper of the two, though hotels in Old Montreal and downtown are still priced like the rest of North America, and tax and tip lift restaurant bills. Casual eating, free festival concerts and quiet winter months keep the costs down.

Paris costs more almost everywhere, with small, expensive rooms, full admission at the big museums and terrace drinks that add up. Bakeries, lunchtime set menus, the free city museums and walking help soften it.

Paris has the grander stage. The Palais Garnier and Opéra Bastille, the Philharmonie and church concerts in the Sainte-Chapelle make for a full classical calendar, and jazz cellars and Pigalle cabaret add evening variety. Much of the theatre is in French, which also applies in Montreal.

Montreal's strengths are different: contemporary circus, from the National Circus School to TOHU, the summer Jazz Festival with its many free outdoor concerts, and an indie music scene in the Plateau's small venues.

Montreal is clearly better for unwinding. The Nordic circuit of hot pools, saunas and a cold plunge is a habit locals keep up all year, in the city on Nuns' Island or the ferry in the Old Port and in forest spas an hour north. Summer days in Parc La Fontaine add to the easy pace.

Paris offers the tiled hammam of the Grande Mosquée and hotel spas, but its pace is fast and rest comes in short breaks on a terrace or a garden chair.