Anaheim or Napa?

Neither city is a beach town, but Anaheim is much closer to one. The surf beach at Huntington, the Balboa Peninsula at Newport and the small coves of Laguna are about half an hour's drive away, and the water is good for swimming in late summer.

Napa's nearest coast, around Bodega Bay, is over an hour away and too cold and rough to swim in. In the summer heat, swimming means a resort pool or a drive to Lake Berryessa.

Napa is the place to go for eating. Its cooking grows out of the vineyards and kitchen gardens, the restaurants of Yountville and St Helena draw diners from across the country, and the Oxbow Public Market covers everyday eating with bakers, oysters and cheese.

Anaheim's best food is in its immigrant districts rather than in fine dining. Little Arabia on Brookhurst Street and Little Saigon in Westminster offer cheaper and more varied meals than anything in the valley, but around the parks it is mostly chains and counters.

Neither is a city for museums or historic streets, and a day covers the essentials in both. The difference is the kind of heritage. In Anaheim it is Disneyland itself, the first Disney park, with the Bowers Museum and the Nixon Library a drive away. In Napa it is the 1880 Opera House, the Victorian buildings of First Street and the old stone wineries up the valley, with contemporary art at the di Rosa estate in Carneros.

Both are early-night places, but Anaheim has a little more going on after dark. The bars on the promenade between the parks stay open after the fireworks, central Anaheim has brewpubs and cocktail bars, and on game nights the bars near the stadiums fill up.

In Napa an evening means a long dinner and perhaps a glass at a wine bar on First Street, and the valley is quiet by late evening. For a bigger night out, you drive to Long Beach or Los Angeles from Anaheim, or to San Francisco from Napa.

Napa's landscape is part of the reason to go. A floor of vineyards runs between the Mayacamas range and the Vaca hills, with mustard flowers in early spring and balloons rising at dawn. There are redwood groves in Bothe-Napa Valley State Park and wide views from the top of Mount St Helena.

Anaheim itself is flat suburbia. A drive gets you to chaparral trails in the Santa Ana Mountains, the tide pools at Crystal Cove and whale-watching boats from Newport and Dana Point. Whale-watching is something the valley cannot offer, but the scenery is pleasant rather than striking.

Both make good bases if you have a car, but Napa's day trips are closer together and more varied. Yountville, St Helena and Calistoga are up the valley, Sonoma is half an hour over the Carneros hills, and Healdsburg and the Russian River are beyond it. San Francisco is an hour away and can also be reached by ferry from Vallejo.

From Anaheim, Los Angeles is about an hour away, Catalina is a boat ride out, and Mission San Juan Capistrano and Laguna's galleries are to the south. Most of it comes with long stretches of freeway traffic.

This is the widest gap between the two. Anaheim is built for children: the two Disney parks stand side by side, Knott's Berry Farm is ten minutes away and family hotels are within walking distance of the gates. Long queues at busy times are the main drawback.

Napa is a valley for adults, built around tasting rooms and long dinners. The animal park in Vallejo, the geyser near Calistoga and the hotel pools fill a day or two, but the summer heat and the drives between wineries wear out young children.

You need a car in both once you leave the centre, but Anaheim is a little easier. Its resort district works on foot and by shuttle, and trains from the station by the stadium go to Los Angeles and San Diego. Napa's walkable downtown is small, the wineries are spread over some 50km of road, and since tasting and driving do not mix, a day in the valley often means paying for a driver or a tour.

Anaheim has more shopping, though nearly all of it is in malls. There is Disney merchandise around the parks, a large luxury mall full of fashion houses twenty minutes south in Costa Mesa, and outlets and open-air centres in Orange and Newport.

In Napa, shopping mostly means wine shipped home from the cellars you tasted at. Add food gifts and olive oil at the Oxbow market and the cookware and design shops on St Helena's main street. Neither city has much in the way of markets or local crafts.

Anaheim is not a cheap trip, and the parks are the main reason. Multi-day tickets, hotels within walking distance of the gates and food inside the parks all carry a premium. Away from the resort the bill is more moderate, though still not low. Chain motels a short drive out, supermarkets and the restaurants of Little Saigon and Little Arabia charge ordinary Southern California prices, and car hire, fuel and parking come on top.

Napa still costs more overall, because nearly every part of the stay is priced for luxury travel: resort and boutique rooms, especially at weekends and during harvest, tastings at the well-known estates, the celebrated dinners and a driver for the tasting day. Chain hotels further south, the taquerias, the market hall and smaller cellars bring the cost down a little, but they do not make it a cheap trip.

Anaheim has more on stage, although many visitors never get past the Disney parades and water shows. The Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa has the Pacific Symphony, ballet and touring Broadway shows, and the city's arena hosts the major pop and rock tours.

Napa has the restored Opera House and an Art Deco theatre with touring bands. It also has two seasonal festivals: classical music in the wineries in summer and a rock festival at the fairgrounds in late spring. Between them there is little on.

Napa is by far the better place to unwind. Calistoga's volcanic mud baths and mineral pools have drawn visitors since the nineteenth century, the resorts in Carneros and the hills have large spas, and the whole day runs at a slow pace.

Anaheim's park days start early and are crowded and tiring. Rest there means the hotel pool, a Korean-style day spa in the suburbs or a drive to the clifftop resorts at Laguna Beach and Dana Point.