Toulouse or Zaragoza?

Neither city is a place to swim in the sea, and both send you a long way for the coast. Toulouse at least has an option close by: the leisure lakes at Sesquières and La Ramée have supervised swimming in summer, and the Mediterranean at Gruissan is a feasible if long day out. In Zaragoza the Ebro is not for swimming and the coast is well over 200km away, so cooling off means municipal and hotel pools.

Both cook hearty regional food, but Toulouse has the slight edge. Its cassoulet, duck confit, foie gras and Fronton reds are classics of French cooking, and the Victor Hugo market, with its lunch counters upstairs, is a destination in itself.

Zaragoza is about how you eat rather than what. El Tubo's single-speciality tapas bars, ternasco lamb and generous Aragonese reds make an evening of grazing, though like Toulouse it is thin on fine dining and international choice.

These two are evenly matched, and the difference lies in the layers of history. Toulouse gives you a medieval and Renaissance brick city: Saint-Sernin, the Jacobins with its palm-tree vault and the woad merchants' mansions, plus aircraft museums and the space centre for something unexpected.

Zaragoza reaches further back. Roman Caesaraugusta survives in underground museums and an open theatre, the Aljafería is a rare Islamic palace this far north, and the Pilar basilica carries early Goya ceilings. Toulouse's old centre feels more uniform, while Zaragoza turns modern once you leave the old core.

Both are student cities with a friendly night out rather than a clubbing scene, so the difference is in rhythm. Toulouse centres on the riverside terraces of Place Saint-Pierre and goes quiet in July and August. Zaragoza starts later, flows from tapas in El Tubo into the bars around Plaza San Felipe, and comes alive most during the Fiestas del Pilar in October.

Neither city has much scenery on its doorstep, but the countryside differs sharply. Toulouse sits in green farmland with the shaded Canal du Midi towpaths for long, flat rides, and the Pyrenees within two hours for hiking and skiing.

Around Zaragoza the plain is dry steppe swept by the cierzo wind, and the drama lies further out: the beech woods of Moncayo, the red towers of the Mallos de Riglos and the badlands of the Bardenas Reales. You will need a car for most of it.

Both make excellent bases, with different strengths. From Toulouse the big names come by train within an hour, Carcassonne's walled Cité and brick Albi, with Moissac's cloister close behind.

Zaragoza's trump card is the high-speed line, which makes Madrid or Barcelona a realistic day out. Closer to home, Loarre castle, Mudéjar Tarazona and the ruins of Belchite are rewarding, though they are mostly car trips.

Both are calm, flat and easy with children, but they appeal differently. Toulouse has the stronger single attraction in the Cité de l'espace, where children can walk through a Mir module and stand under an Ariane rocket, with a Concorde to board near the airport.

Zaragoza leans on everyday ease instead: a large river aquarium, open space in the Parque del Agua, and a Spanish evening culture where families stay out together. Both get very hot in July and August, Zaragoza more so.

Both have flat, walkable centres where a visitor rarely needs transport. Toulouse adds two automated metro lines and trams on one ticket, though its aerospace sights and lakes sit out on the edges. Zaragoza manages with a single north-south tram and buses, and its Delicias station sits a short ride from the centre, which matters if you plan train trips.

Neither is a shopping destination, and both offer mainstream chains around a central avenue. Toulouse has a little more for browsers, with independent boutiques and antiques in the lanes of Saint-Étienne and a sprawling Sunday market at Saint-Sernin. Zaragoza's character lies in old shops and pastry makers on Calle Alfonso I, with candied fruit and Muel ceramics as the souvenirs, against violet sweets and Armagnac in Toulouse.

Zaragoza is clearly the cheaper stay. Hotels, tapas and the local Aragonese wines cost little, and sightseeing is modest, with the Pilar free to enter; only the October fiestas push room prices up.

Toulouse is reasonable for France, and its set lunch menu is excellent value, but dinners out and bottles of wine soon add up, and trade fairs can make rooms scarce.

Toulouse has the stronger stage by some way. The Théâtre du Capitole runs a full season of opera and ballet with its own company, the Orchestre National du Capitole is among France's best, and the Jacobins piano festival and Rio Loco on the riverside add summer highlights.

Zaragoza relies on the modern Auditorio and the Teatro Principal for touring productions, so check the programme. Its distinctive offering is the jota, Aragon's leaping folk dance, seen at its best during the Fiestas del Pilar.

Neither city has its own bathing tradition, but Zaragoza is the easier place to unwind. It has Arab-style bathhouses alongside hotel spas, and the thermal waters of Alhama de Aragón are a little over an hour away, close enough for a day.

Toulouse offers hotel spas and summer open-air pools, and its real hot springs at Luchon and Ax-les-Thermes are far enough into the Pyrenees to need a night away. What it does well is slow time on the Canal du Midi, with milder summers than Zaragoza's heat and wind.