Saint-Tropez or Toulouse?

This is the widest gap between the two cities. Saint-Tropez has about 5km of fine sand at Pampelonne, small town beaches such as Les Graniers for a quick dip, and quieter coves further down the peninsula, all with clear summer water.

Toulouse sits on the Garonne, about two hours from the Mediterranean at Gruissan or Narbonne. Swimming in the city means the supervised lakes at Sesquières and La Ramée or a hotel pool.

Toulouse eats better and more easily. Cassoulet, duck confit and foie gras are its daily fare, the Victor Hugo market shows it all under one roof, and a good set lunch is an ordinary part of the day.

Saint-Tropez offers Provençal cooking with polish: grilled fish, aïoli and rosé on the sand, plus serious hotel dining rooms. Simple, good meals are hard to find, many quayside places trade on the view, and much of the town shuts in winter.

Toulouse has far more to see. The rose-brick Basilica of Saint-Sernin, the palm-tree vault of the Jacobins and the painted rooms of the Capitole are major sights. Merchant mansions, the Augustins and the aerospace museums add enough for two full days.

Saint-Tropez's heritage fits into a single day. The Musée de l'Annonciade, with the pointillist harbour scenes of Signac's circle, is the highlight, followed by the citadel's maritime museum and a wander through La Ponche.

The two are broadly level, but the nights are very different and peak at opposite times of year. Saint-Tropez is a summer spectacle: afternoon beach-club parties at Pampelonne, champagne on the harbour and a few famous clubs with table service and a dress code. After October it falls quiet.

Toulouse is a student city that goes out all year. It has cheap, crowded terraces on Place Saint-Pierre, wine bars around Carmes and a solid electronic scene. It is quietest in July and August, just when Saint-Tropez is loudest.

Saint-Tropez has the better outdoors on its doorstep. The Sentier du Littoral leads past pine-backed coves to the capes of Camarat and Taillat. The Massif des Maures has forest trails, and the gulf is good for sailing and snorkelling, with the national park islands of Port-Cros and Porquerolles within reach.

Around Toulouse the land is flat farmland, best enjoyed by bike along the Canal du Midi towpaths. Its big asset is the Pyrenees, with high hiking and skiing, but they are one and a half to two hours away.

Toulouse has the stronger excursions, and they are easy by train. Carcassonne's walled Cité and Albi's fortress cathedral are each about an hour away, and Moissac's Romanesque cloister and hilltop Cordes-sur-Ciel are within reach too.

Saint-Tropez's outings are short and pretty rather than important. You can visit the hill villages of Ramatuelle, Gassin and Grimaud, take a boat to the canals of Port Grimaud, or spend a day on Porquerolles. In high summer the gulf road jams on almost every trip.

Toulouse is much easier with children. At the Cité de l'espace they can walk through a Mir module beside a full-size Ariane rocket. They can climb inside a Concorde near the airport and watch giant mechanical creatures in Montaudran, and the flat centre suits pushchairs.

Saint-Tropez gives families gently shelving sand at Pampelonne and Gigaro, and not much else. The harbour and beach clubs are aimed at adults, and many families stay in Sainte-Maxime instead to save money.

Toulouse is easy to get around without a car. The compact centre inside the boulevards is flat and walkable, and two automated metro lines, trams, buses and a bike scheme cover the rest. The main station is a short walk away.

Saint-Tropez is a few minutes across on foot but awkward beyond that. It has no railway, slow buses and beaches several kilometres out. A single gulf road jams for hours in summer, so the passenger boats from Sainte-Maxime are often the best way in.

For clothes and style, Saint-Tropez is the stronger stop, which is surprising for a place of its size. Designer labels open summer branches in the old lanes near the harbour and around the Place de la Garonne. The thing to take home is a pair of Tropézienne sandals, cut and stitched in small workshops in the old town. The drawback is range: there is little beyond resort clothes, swimwear and jewellery, and much of it closes for the winter.

Toulouse is the opposite, with a wide but ordinary choice. Chains and a department store on Rue d'Alsace-Lorraine, plus independent boutiques and antiques in the Saint-Étienne lanes, cover everyday needs all year, but nothing there matches the Riviera labels. Where it does better is food to carry home, such as violet sweets, Armagnac and jars of cassoulet. There is also Sunday's bric-a-brac market around Saint-Sernin.

Here the gap is stark. Saint-Tropez is one of the most expensive stops on the Mediterranean. Rooms, loungers and even a coffee on the port are priced for the yachting crowd, and taxis or parking add to the bill.

Toulouse is a normal Western European city. Hotels cost far less than on the Riviera, set lunches and student bars keep eating cheap, and some museums are free on certain days. A good dinner with wine still adds up.

Toulouse has a proper season. The Théâtre du Capitole stages opera and ballet with its own company, and the Orchestre National du Capitole plays in the round Halle aux Grains. Summer brings a piano festival in the Jacobins cloister and the Rio Loco world-music festival on the river.

Saint-Tropez offers a few open-air summer concerts on the citadel and the musket-firing Bravade procession each May. Otherwise, opera or theatre means a long drive to Toulon or Nice.

Neither has a bathing culture of its own, but Saint-Tropez is the better place to switch off, as long as you avoid high summer. In May, June and September its polished hotel spas, quiet morning walks and pétanque under the plane trees make for a truly restful stay.

Toulouse offers hotel spas, a few hammam-style day spas and big open-air municipal pools. Real thermal bathing means an overnight trip to Luchon or Ax-les-Thermes in the Pyrenees.