Anaheim or Los Angeles?

Los Angeles has the coast right on its doorstep. More than 100km of shore runs from the Malibu coves past Santa Monica and Venice to the South Bay towns, with volleyball nets, a bike path along the sand and plenty of people-watching on the boardwalk.

Anaheim is inland, and its beaches at Huntington, Newport and Laguna are about half an hour's drive away. They are good beaches, but most visitors fit them in as a half-day break between park days. The water is just as cool at both, so expect to wear a wetsuit outside late summer.

Around Anaheim's resort district, food means park counters, hotel restaurants and chains. The interesting eating is a drive away, in the Middle Eastern bakeries and grills of Little Arabia on Brookhurst Street and in Little Saigon's pho and banh mi.

Los Angeles has much more of this kind of food, spread over a far bigger area. There are taco stands across the Eastside, charcoal barbecue in Koreatown, regional Chinese cooking in the San Gabriel Valley, plus Thai Town and Little Ethiopia. On top of that it has a strong chef-led dining scene and Grand Central Market for grazing.

Anaheim's main cultural landmark is Disneyland itself, the first Disney park. Beyond it there is little: a few old blocks from the citrus era and the Mother Colony House, plus the Bowers Museum and the Nixon Library a drive away.

Los Angeles has a serious modern art circuit, with the Getty Center and Getty Villa, LACMA, the Broad and the Huntington's library and gardens. Add Griffith Observatory, the old movie palaces of Hollywood and the Art Deco buildings of downtown. Neither city has an old town to wander through, but Los Angeles gives a culture-minded visitor days of things to see.

An Anaheim night usually ends with the fireworks, then a drink on the promenade or at a brewpub, and the bars only fill up when there is a game at the stadiums. Los Angeles has a proper night out in several different styles: velvet-rope clubs in Hollywood, the gay strip along Santa Monica Boulevard, rooftop bars downtown and dive bars in Silver Lake and Echo Park.

Even so, Los Angeles does not party all night. Bars stop serving at 2am, so most evenings stay within one neighbourhood.

Los Angeles has wild country inside the city. You can hike up Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park, walk the ridge trails of the Santa Monica Mountains above Malibu, and drive up to pine forest and winter snow in the San Gabriel Mountains, which rise above 3,000m. Boats also run out to the Channel Islands.

From Anaheim, the outdoors means a drive to the chaparral trails of the Santa Ana Mountains or the tide pools at Crystal Cove. These are pleasant outings, but gentler ones. Whale watching from Newport and Dana Point is the highlight.

Anaheim's central position gives it the edge. Los Angeles, Long Beach, Catalina, Laguna Beach, Mission San Juan Capistrano and Temecula are all within easy reach, and the train runs to San Diego as well as Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles, the trip people make the most is up the coast to Santa Barbara and the Santa Ynez vineyards, with Ojai inland. The southern sights are further away, and traffic can stretch a two-hour drive into three.

Both cities are excellent for children, but Anaheim is the more relaxed choice because everything is close together. The Disney parks are within walking distance of family hotels, and Knott's Berry Farm is ten minutes away, so many families never need to go further.

Los Angeles has a wider range: Universal Studios, the space shuttle at the California Science Center, the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum and the fossils at the La Brea Tar Pits. You pay for that with a drive and time in traffic for every outing.

Both cities are built for the car, and the difference is in where you can manage without one. In Anaheim it is the compact resort district, where you walk or take a shuttle to the parks, and the trains for days out in Los Angeles or San Diego.

In Los Angeles the Metro rail links downtown with Hollywood, Pasadena, Long Beach and Santa Monica, and those neighbourhoods are pleasant on foot. Between them, though, you face jammed freeways.

Anaheim's shopping is malls and Disney merchandise, and its biggest draw is the luxury mall in nearby Costa Mesa. There are hardly any independent shops.

Los Angeles has shopping streets with real character: the luxury houses of Rodeo Drive, streetwear and vintage on Melrose, independent boutiques on Abbot Kinney, and records and design pieces in Silver Lake. The Rose Bowl flea market is a serious hunting ground for vintage.

Neither city is cheap, but the money goes on different things. In Anaheim the cost is concentrated on park tickets, hotels near the gates and food inside the parks. Motels a short drive out and the restaurants of Little Saigon cut costs.

Los Angeles is expensive in every direction, from hotels in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills to car hire, parking and tips. It is easier to save on outings there, though, because the beaches, Griffith Observatory and the Getty cost nothing, and taco trucks feed you well for little.

Anaheim's evening entertainment is the parks' well-produced parades and water shows. For a formal night out you drive to the Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa for the Pacific Symphony or a touring musical.

Los Angeles is one of the great music cities. The Philharmonic plays at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and in summer at the Hollywood Bowl, and LA Opera performs at the Music Center. There are also rock rooms on the Sunset Strip, comedy and improv in Hollywood, and jazz in Leimert Park.

Long days in the parks make Anaheim a tiring stay. The usual rest is a day at the hotel pool, or a drive to the clifftop spas around Laguna Beach and Dana Point.

Los Angeles has Koreatown's large cluster of Korean bathhouses, many open late, as well as yoga studios everywhere and spas in Beverly Hills. For real quiet, the retreats of Ojai and the desert springs of Palm Springs are within driving distance.