Anaheim or Monterey?

Anaheim has the better beach trip, even though it is inland. Within half an hour by car you reach the long surf beach and pier at Huntington, the harbour and Balboa Peninsula at Newport and the coves of Laguna, and by late summer the water is warm enough to swim without a wetsuit.

Monterey's beaches are more striking to look at, with the cypresses at Carmel and the dunes at Asilomar, but the bay stays cold all year and rip currents are common. They are places for a walk or a picnic, not a swim.

Anaheim eats better, but you have to drive away from the parks for it. Once you leave the resort's counters and chains, Little Arabia on Brookhurst Street and the large Vietnamese community of Little Saigon give you a range of food that a small coastal town cannot match.

Monterey's strength is narrower and more local: squid, Dungeness crab and sand dabs from the bay, produce from the Salinas Valley, and Pinot Noir from Carmel Valley. Skip the chowder bowls on the wharf and look for the better kitchens in Old Monterey and Pacific Grove.

Monterey has much more history you can actually walk through. The adobes of the old Alta California capital, including the Custom House and Colton Hall, stand close together, and the Carmel Mission and Steinbeck's Cannery Row are nearby. None of it is on a grand scale, but it gives the town a past you can see.

Anaheim's German and citrus past has mostly disappeared, so Disneyland itself is the city's main landmark. For museums you drive to the Bowers in Santa Ana or the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda.

Neither place is for a big night out, and in both you will probably be in bed early. In Anaheim the evening usually ends with the park fireworks and a drink on the resort promenade, and the bars near the stadiums only get lively on game nights. In Monterey it is dinner, then perhaps a pint on Alvarado Street among students from the language and naval schools. For clubs, you would have to drive to Los Angeles from one and Santa Cruz from the other.

Monterey is one of the finest stretches of wild coast in the country. The deep submarine canyon brings whales close to the harbour, otters float beside the waterfront trail, and Point Lobos and the redwood canyons of Big Sur are a short drive south. You can kayak, dive in the kelp or cycle to Lovers Point without leaving town.

Anaheim is flat suburbia, and its outdoors take a car. Once you have one, there are chaparral trails in the Santa Ana Mountains, tide pools at Crystal Cove and whale-watching boats from Dana Point, all pleasant rather than dramatic.

Anaheim is the better base for exploring, as long as you can cope with the freeways. Los Angeles, the Queen Mary at Long Beach, the ferries to Catalina, Mission San Juan Capistrano and Temecula wine country are all within about an hour, and San Diego is a longer outing.

Monterey's best outings are on its doorstep: Carmel, Pacific Grove, Steinbeck's Salinas and the plaza at San Juan Bautista. After Santa Cruz the options thin out quickly, and San Francisco is a long round trip.

Anaheim keeps children busy for longer and with less planning. A family can spend a whole week in the resort district on foot and by shuttle, moving from rides to parades to the hotel pool, and when everyone wants a change, the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach makes an easy outing. What it costs you is patience. Queues are long at peak times, and anything beyond the resort means getting everyone into a car.

Monterey suits curious children more than thrill-seekers. Watching the jellyfish galleries and the kelp forest at the aquarium, spotting otters from the waterfront path and poking around the tide pools at Pacific Grove make for slower, hands-on days in a small, safe town. If the children start asking for rides, the Santa Cruz boardwalk is under an hour north. The cold sea keeps beach time to building sandcastles.

Monterey is easier on foot. The flat recreation trail links the wharf, downtown, Cannery Row and the aquarium, and a hired bike takes you on to Pacific Grove, so most of a visit needs no car until you head for Big Sur or Carmel Valley.

Anaheim's resort district is compact and has shuttles to the parks, but beyond it Orange County is built around freeways and slow buses. The trains from the stadium are handy for Los Angeles and San Diego, but nearly everywhere else needs a car or ride-hailing.

Anaheim offers more, though nearly all of it is in malls. Fans come for the Disney merchandise in the resort, and the vast luxury mall in Costa Mesa has most of the big fashion houses, with outlets nearby for the mid-range.

Monterey itself sells mostly taffy and sea-otter souvenirs. The more rewarding browsing is in the galleries and independent boutiques of Carmel and the antique shops of Pacific Grove, smaller but more personal than anything in Orange County.

Both are expensive, though Anaheim is a little easier to bring down to size. Most of its cost is in park tickets and the hotels by the gates, so a motel a short drive away and meals in the Vietnamese or Middle Eastern districts make a real difference.

In Monterey the expense is spread across everything, from peninsula rooms priced for Californian weekenders to dinners in Carmel and the aquarium ticket. The way to save is to come midweek or in winter, stay inland in Seaside or Marina, and fill your days with the coast's free wildlife.

Anaheim has more to see on any given night. Besides the polished shows inside the parks, the Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa has the Pacific Symphony, ballet and touring Broadway, and the arena hosts the big pop tours.

Monterey depends on its calendar. The Jazz Festival each September, the Carmel Bach Festival in summer and plays at the open-air Forest Theater are well worth planning around, but outside those seasons there is little more than the local symphony and the Golden State Theatre.

Monterey is the place to slow down. Fog lifting off the bay, evening walks along the Pacific Grove shore and the resort spas among the vineyards of Carmel Valley make a restful stay easy, especially midweek.

Anaheim's early starts and crowded park days are the opposite of relaxing. Apart from hotel pools and a few Korean-style day spas, real calm means driving to the clifftop resorts at Laguna Beach or Dana Point.