San Sebastian or Toulouse?

Here San Sebastian has no competition. La Concha is a shell-shaped bay of pale sand in the heart of the city, with Ondarreta for quieter family swimming and Zurriola for surfers. It is still the Bay of Biscay, so the season is short and the water is cool.

Toulouse sits inland on the Garonne. Summer swimming means the supervised lakes at Sesquières and La Ramée or a hotel pool, and the nearest sea, at Gruissan or Narbonne, is a long day out.

Both cities are serious about food, but San Sebastian is a place people travel to just to eat. Evenings go from bar to bar in the Parte Vieja and Gros, a pintxo and a glass of txakoli at each, and there is an exceptional tier of fine dining in the hills, plus winter cider houses in Astigarraga.

Toulouse is more about hearty plates than grazing: cassoulet, duck confit and foie gras, with a set lunch at the Victor Hugo market and Fronton or Gaillac to drink. It is satisfying and good value, but the top end is thinner. Neither city offers much beyond its own regional cooking.

Toulouse has more to see. Saint-Sernin is one of Europe's great Romanesque churches, the Jacobins' palm-tree vault is remarkable, and the Augustins, the Hôtel d'Assézat and Les Abattoirs make up a real circuit of museums, with the aerospace museums as an unusual extra.

San Sebastian is more about the townscape than individual sights: the rebuilt grid of the Parte Vieja, the Belle Époque streets around Buen Pastor, the San Telmo Museum and Chillida's Peine del Viento on the rocks at Ondarreta. It is charming, but you cover it quickly.

Toulouse goes out harder, thanks to its huge student population. Place Saint-Pierre's terraces spill onto the quays, Carmes and the Daurade have wine bars for an older crowd, and there is a solid electronic scene, though it quietens in summer when the students leave.

In San Sebastian a night out mostly means the pintxo crawl itself. The old town stays loud and sociable until late at weekends, but after that there are only a few late bars and clubs. Semana Grande in August is the main exception.

San Sebastian has wilder scenery on its doorstep. You can walk from the city onto Monte Ulia, follow the cliffs to Pasaia and cross Jaizkibel to Hondarribia, with surfing and paddleboarding in the bay as well.

Toulouse's own surroundings are flat farmland, best for cycling the Canal du Midi towpaths. Its trump card is the Pyrenees, with high hiking, cycling climbs and skiing, but they are one and a half to two hours away rather than walking distance.

Both make good bases, but San Sebastian's position on the border gives it the wider spread. Bilbao's Guggenheim, Hondarribia, Pamplona, Biarritz and Bayonne and the Rioja Alavesa vineyards are all within easy reach, many by bus or local train.

From Toulouse, Carcassonne's walled Cité and Albi's brick cathedral are superb trips of about an hour by train each, and Moissac's cloister is close behind. Many of the rest, such as Cordes-sur-Ciel and Foix, are far easier with a car.

Both cities are easy with children, but in different ways. San Sebastian's assets are sheltered beaches, a flat car-free promenade, the harbour aquarium and the old funfair on top of Monte Igueldo, although rain can wipe out beach days.

Toulouse is better for a day built around one big attraction: the Cité de l'espace with its Ariane rocket and Mir module, a walk inside Concorde at the aircraft museum, and the giant mechanical creatures in Montaudran. The trade-off there is summer heat rather than rain.

San Sebastian is the easier city to get around. The old town, La Concha, Gros and Zurriola sit along one river and one promenade, so you walk almost everywhere, and the Euskotren runs to the French border and towards Bilbao.

Toulouse's centre inside the boulevards is also very walkable, and it has two metro lines and trams. But its best family sights and its countryside lie on the outskirts or beyond, so you will need buses or a car more often.

Toulouse is the better place to shop, with the chains and a department store on Rue d'Alsace-Lorraine, boutiques and antiques around Saint-Étienne, and the big Sunday market at Saint-Sernin.

San Sebastian is smaller in scale: boutiques in the Centro, espadrilles and berets in the Parte Vieja, surf shops in Gros. In both cities the best things to take home are edible: anchovies and Idiazabal cheese against violet sweets and Armagnac.

Toulouse is the cheaper stay. Its hotels cost far less than the big French destinations except during trade fairs, and the set lunch and the student bars keep everyday costs down.

San Sebastian is one of Spain's most expensive cities for a room, especially in summer, and its famous restaurants are a real splurge. Visiting out of season and sticking to careful pintxo evenings are what bring it down to earth.

Toulouse has a full season all year. The Théâtre du Capitole stages opera and ballet with its own company, the Orchestre National du Capitole plays in the round Halle aux Grains, and Rio Loco and the Jacobins piano festival add summer highlights.

San Sebastian's music is concentrated in summer: Jazzaldia in July and the Quincena Musical in August, at the Kursaal and on Zurriola beach. The rest of the year is quieter, centred on the Kursaal and the Victoria Eugenia.

San Sebastian is the better choice for a restful stay. The historic bathing pavilion on La Concha is a seawater thalassotherapy spa looking onto the bay, and the calm promenade evenings suit a slow trip.

Toulouse has only hotel spas, a few hammam-style day spas and summer open-air pools. For genuine thermal bathing you have to go into the Pyrenees to Luchon or Ax-les-Thermes, which works best as an overnight trip.