Anaheim or Mammoth Lakes?

Anaheim has no beach of its own, but Huntington's wide surf beach, Newport's harbour and Laguna's coves are all about half an hour away by car. Most people treat them as a half-day break from the parks, and you will want a wetsuit outside late summer.

Mammoth Lakes is a mountain town far from any coast. The nearest thing to a swim is a cold dip in Horseshoe Lake or Crowley Lake in high summer, and most people sit on the shore or paddle instead.

Neither town is a dining destination, but Anaheim has more to offer once you get away from the resort counters and chains. Little Arabia on Brookhurst Street, Little Saigon's pho and banh mi a short drive away, and good taquerias give the area real depth.

Mammoth Lakes has ski-town food: big breakfasts, burgers, steakhouses and locally brewed beer. It is filling after a day outdoors, but there is no local cuisine and not much variety, and some kitchens cut back in the quiet seasons.

Disneyland was the first of the Disney parks and the only one Walt Disney saw finished, so Anaheim's best-known landmark is also a real piece of American history. A little of the town's German-settler and citrus past survives in the Mother Colony House and the old packing houses. A drive brings you to the Bowers Museum's world and Native American art, the Nixon Library and the glass Christ Cathedral.

Mammoth Lakes has a single small museum in a log cabin that tells the mining and settler story. Beyond that the town is modern lodges and condominiums, and its heritage lies an hour or more down the highway. A visitor who wants a lot of culture will find little in either place, but Orange County gives you far more to fill a day.

Both are early-night places, though Anaheim has slightly more on offer: bars along the resort promenade, brewpubs downtown and busy sports bars on game nights. A real night out still means driving to Long Beach or Los Angeles.

In Mammoth Lakes the evening happens at après-ski time in the Village and in brewery taprooms. It can run late on winter long weekends, but the rest of the year the town is quiet well before midnight.

This is where Mammoth Lakes wins outright. One of North America's largest ski areas rises above the town, and in summer it becomes a bike park. The Lakes Basin, Devils Postpile, Rainbow Falls, Mono Lake's tufa towers and the Yosemite high country are all close at hand.

Anaheim has gentler outdoor options: chaparral trails in the Santa Ana Mountains, tide pools at Crystal Cove and whale-watching boats from Newport. They are pleasant and usable all year, but they are suburban in scale, and you need a car to reach them.

Anaheim sits in the middle of Southern California, so with a car you can reach a great deal: Los Angeles and the Getty, the Queen Mary in Long Beach, the ferry to Catalina, Mission San Juan Capistrano and the Temecula wineries.

Mammoth Lakes has only a few outings along the highway below the Sierra. The best are the ghost town of Bodie and the Manzanar historic site, and both are long drives. In winter the closed passes cut the choice further.

For a family vacation Anaheim is clearly the stronger choice, because everything there is designed with children in mind. Hotels, shuttles and walkways all lead to the park gates, so pushchairs, tired legs and an afternoon nap back at the room are easy to manage. Even the time off from the rides has places meant for children. The cost is waiting in long queues in the busy weeks, and every outing beyond the resort means getting the car out.

Mammoth Lakes suits a different kind of family, one that wants to spend the days outdoors together. Small children can join ski lessons on gentle slopes, older ones can ride the gondola to the summit or try the bike park, and long summer days by the lakes cost little and keep everyone busy. What it lacks is a backup plan: when a storm keeps you inside there is nothing aimed at children, and at about 2,400m the thin air can leave the youngest listless for the first day or two.

Mammoth Lakes is slightly easier without a car. Free winter shuttles and the Village gondola cover a ski trip, and a summer trolley and the Reds Meadow shuttle reach the lakes. You still need to drive to see the wider Eastern Sierra, sometimes with snow chains.

Anaheim's resort district is walkable and linked by shuttles. Beyond it, Orange County is built around freeways, and buses are slow, although the trains from the stadium transit centre are handy for Los Angeles and San Diego.

Anaheim has more shopping, nearly all of it in malls. There is Disney merchandise by the parks, a huge luxury mall in Costa Mesa and outlet centres for the mid-range, but few independent boutiques.

Shopping in Mammoth Lakes is practical: good ski, climbing and fly-fishing shops, a few landscape photography galleries and souvenir T-shirts. Anyone who wants to shop should wait for a city.

Both are costly, and Mammoth Lakes is slightly harder on the budget. In winter, lift tickets, ski rental and lodging all carry peak ski-resort prices, while a summer of hiking and lakes costs far less.

In Anaheim the expense comes from multi-day park tickets and hotels near the gates. Chain motels a short drive out and the suburban Vietnamese and Middle Eastern restaurants bring costs down, but you still have to pay for a car.

Anaheim has the stronger offer for a night out. Apart from the polished shows inside the parks, the Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa hosts the Pacific Symphony, touring Broadway productions and ballet, and the arena books major tours.

Mammoth Lakes has a community theatre company on the college campus. In summer there is a jazz festival, a chamber music series and outdoor concerts with the mountains behind the stage. These make good evenings, but they are small and local.

Mammoth Lakes is the more restful place to stay. Its volcanic ground feeds simple hot springs out in the sagebrush, and the lodges have hot tubs and massage for tired legs. Outside the busiest ski weeks the slow pace does the rest.

A typical Anaheim stay means early starts and crowded park days. Relaxing there means a hotel pool day, a Korean-style day spa or a drive to the clifftop resorts at Laguna Beach and Dana Point.