Anaheim or Laguna Beach?

Laguna Beach is the beach destination of the two. A string of coves runs from Crescent Bay and Shaw's Cove in the north to Victoria Beach and Aliso in the south, many of them reached by steep stairs, and the water around the reefs is clear enough for snorkelling.

Anaheim has no shore of its own. The nearest sand is half an hour away by car, at the long surf beach in Huntington or at Newport, which makes the coast a day out rather than the setting of the trip. The water is equally cool off both, and only in late summer can you swim without a wetsuit.

Anaheim eats better, but only once you leave the counters and chains of the resort district. Little Arabia's Lebanese and Yemeni bakeries on Brookhurst Street, the pho and banh mi of Little Saigon next door and the food hall in the old packing district give it real range.

Laguna's strength is the setting rather than the depth: fish tacos, breakfast cafés for surfers and seafood dining rooms on the cliffs, with the sunset view priced into the bill. Visitors staying there drive inland for the variety that Anaheim has close by.

Neither is a place to come for culture, but Laguna has a slightly stronger identity. Its past as an art colony shows in the Laguna Art Museum's California collection and in the galleries along Coast Highway and Forest Avenue, which together fill a pleasant morning.

Anaheim's one real landmark is Disneyland itself, the only park Walt Disney saw completed, along with a few old blocks and the Mother Colony House. Its museums, such as the Bowers in Santa Ana and the Nixon Library, all take a drive.

Evenings are quiet in both, but Anaheim has a little more to do after dark. Bars on the promenade stay open after the parks close, central Anaheim has brewpubs and cocktail bars, and on hockey and baseball nights the bars near the stadiums fill up.

In Laguna a night out means a drink after dinner in an old beach bar, a wine bar or on a hotel terrace above the ocean, and the village is asleep before midnight. From either place, a proper night out means driving to Long Beach, Costa Mesa or Los Angeles.

Laguna Beach sits right in its landscape. The Laguna Coast Wilderness and Aliso and Wood Canyons ring the town with ridge trails. The whole shoreline is a marine protected area for tide pooling, kayaking and shore diving over kelp, so you can walk from your room to a trailhead or a reef.

Anaheim can reach the same coast and the Santa Ana Mountains, but from its flat suburbs they are up to about 45 minutes away by car. The Santa Ana River cycle trail is the main outdoor option near the hotels.

With a car, both make a good base for exploring Southern California, and the difference is which way you face. Anaheim is about an hour from Los Angeles, Hollywood and the Getty, with the Queen Mary and the aquarium at Long Beach closer still, and its station has trains to Los Angeles and San Diego.

Laguna sits further south. Mission San Juan Capistrano is twenty minutes away, the ferry from Dana Point crosses to Catalina, and San Diego's Balboa Park and Old Town are about an hour and a half's drive.

Anaheim suits almost any age, because the whole trip can revolve around the parks. With the hotel a short walk from the gates, toddlers can go back for an afternoon nap while older children stay on for the fireworks. Knott's Berry Farm, which is older than Disneyland, gives them a second park when one is not enough.

Laguna is better for families whose children can handle steep stairs and changing surf. Rock pooling at low tide, snorkelling in the clear coves and the Main Beach playground fill the days well. Still, it is a seaside vacation with costly family rooms, and the theme parks are a forty-minute drive away.

Both need a car once you leave a small walkable core, and each makes it awkward in its own way. In Anaheim the core is the resort district, where hotels are a walk or a shuttle ride from the parks, and the station near the stadium has trains to Los Angeles and San Diego.

Laguna's core is the village around Main Beach and Forest Avenue, with a free trolley along Coast Highway. Beyond it there is no rail service, the town is long and hilly, and parking runs out on summer weekends.

Anaheim shops in malls, Laguna in galleries and boutiques. Around the parks it is Disney merchandise, which many children see as the whole point. The county's outlets and the large luxury mall in Costa Mesa are a short drive away.

Laguna has the independent shops that Anaheim lacks. The galleries on Coast Highway and the North Laguna gallery row sell plein air landscapes and glass, and Forest Avenue has jewellery and beachwear. At the summer art festivals you buy crafts directly from the people who made them.

Neither is cheap, but Laguna Beach costs noticeably more. In Anaheim the park tickets and the hotels by the gates push the bill up. Chain motels a short drive away and the ordinary restaurants of Little Arabia and Little Saigon bring it back down.

Laguna offers few ways to save like that. Even simple motels charge high rates, meals with an ocean view are expensive and paid parking adds up. The free beaches, trails and trolley help, and many travellers on a budget stay inland and visit for the day.

The two are level here, and both rely on the Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa for symphony concerts and touring Broadway shows. It is about twenty minutes from Anaheim and half an hour from Laguna. Anaheim's own evenings bring Disney's water shows, parades and musicals, plus big pop and rock tours at its arena.

Laguna's offer is more distinctive. On summer evenings at the Pageant of the Masters, performers recreate famous paintings in a canyon amphitheatre, and the long-running Laguna Playhouse stages plays all year.

Laguna Beach is the restful one. Clifftop walks, yoga studios in the village and resort spas on the bluffs with ocean views set an unhurried pace. There is no bathing tradition, though, and most spa treatments mean booking into an expensive resort.

A stay in Anaheim built around early starts and park crowds is rarely calm. The choice is limited to resort hotel pools and a few Korean-style day spas in the suburbs, and visitors who want real rest drive down to Laguna and Dana Point.