Anaheim or Newport Beach?

From Anaheim, a beach day is a half-day outing by car of about half an hour, usually to Huntington Beach or to the Balboa Peninsula at Newport itself. It fits between park days but is never the main event, and without a car it is awkward.

Newport is where that drive ends. Surf breaks by the piers, the notorious Wedge, the rockier coves at Corona del Mar and shallow harbour strips for toddlers are all on your doorstep. Volleyball and the boardwalk fill the summer days, and Crystal Cove's tide pools lie just south.

The two eat about equally well, in different ways. Anaheim's resort zone is chains and park counters, but Brookhurst Street's Little Arabia has Lebanese, Palestinian and Yemeni bakeries and grills, and the old packing district has a food hall.

Newport trades that for waterfront seafood, fish tacos by the sand and the frozen bananas of Balboa Island. The polished dining rooms are here too, at higher prices. Both towns are a short drive from the Vietnamese kitchens of Little Saigon.

Neither town is a sightseeing destination. Anaheim's citrus-town past survives in the Mother Colony House and a few blocks of packing houses, and the county's museums, such as the Bowers in Santa Ana and the Nixon Library, mean a drive. Newport's interest is in single buildings: the Balboa Pavilion of 1905, Schindler's modernist Lovell Beach House and the quiet Sherman Library & Gardens.

Newport has a little more going on after dark. Beach and dive bars by the Newport and Balboa piers fill with young locals on summer weekends, and wine bars and hotel lounges around the harbour suit a dressier, earlier evening.

In Anaheim, most nights end after the park fireworks, with a drink on the shopping promenade or at a central brewpub. The bars near the stadiums only fill up on game nights. Neither town has proper clubs, so a big night out means Los Angeles from either.

Newport has its best nature inside the town. The tidal estuary of Upper Newport Bay has a cycling loop and winter flocks of herons and shorebirds, and the harbour is good for kayaks and small sailing boats. Whale-watching boats leave from the harbour all year, and Crystal Cove's canyon trails start just south of town.

Anaheim is flat suburbia, and everything outdoors means driving. It is, though, a little closer to the chaparral trails of Santiago Oaks and the Santa Ana Mountains on the county's eastern edge.

Both make equally good bases, and the difference is which direction is easier. Anaheim has the Metrolink and Amtrak trains, so Los Angeles and San Diego can be done without a car, and Long Beach's Queen Mary and aquarium are close.

Newport faces south and out to sea. Laguna Beach is twenty minutes away, Mission San Juan Capistrano half an hour, and the Catalina ferry leaves from Balboa itself for Avalon. From either town, rush-hour freeway traffic decides how long a trip takes.

Anaheim is built for children in a way few places are. Two Disney parks stand side by side, Knott's Berry Farm is ten minutes away, and hundreds of family hotels sit within walking distance, so you can skip the car for days at a time.

Newport is a very good second choice, with its own gentler attractions. There are shallow harbour beaches, the Balboa Fun Zone's ferris wheel and the little car ferry to the island. Every park day, though, means half an hour each way on the freeway, plus parking.

Anaheim is easier, as long as you stay near the resort. Many hotels are a walk from the parks, and a shuttle network covers the rest. The train station by the stadium also links you to Los Angeles and San Diego.

In Newport, plan on a car from the start, and expect hard parking near the sand on summer weekends. You can still walk or cycle the flat Balboa Peninsula and its boardwalk, and the little ferry connects it to Balboa Island.

Newport has the better shopping, and it leans towards luxury. It has its own open-air centre of designer names above the harbour, boutiques along Coast Highway in Corona del Mar, and nautical gift shops on Marine Avenue. The big Costa Mesa luxury mall is ten minutes away.

From Anaheim, that mall is about twenty minutes south. Shopping close to the hotels mostly means Disney merchandise and the outlet centres in Orange. Independent shops and markets are thin in both.

Neither town is cheap, but Anaheim gives you more ways to save. Park tickets are the big cost there. Chain motels a short drive from the gates are much cheaper than the resort hotels, and the suburban restaurants and supermarkets charge ordinary regional prices.

Newport charges resort prices across the board, from its beachfront hotels to restaurants that charge for the view. The only real saving is to sleep inland in Costa Mesa or Irvine, which loses much of the point of staying by the sea.

Evenings in Anaheim mostly happen inside the parks: Disney's parades, night-time water shows and stage musicals, well made but still theme-park entertainment. The city's indoor arena books the major pop and rock tours. For a formal night out, the Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa is about twenty minutes' drive.

From Newport, that same complex is only about ten minutes away, so it is easier to fit in an evening with the Pacific Symphony, a touring Broadway show or the ballet. Next door, South Coast Repertory stages new American plays, and in summer there are concerts by the water, which give Newport the slight lead. From either town, opera and serious jazz mean the drive to Los Angeles.

Newport is far more restful. Walks on the bluffs, coffee by the harbour and sunsets over the water set the pace, and the hillside resorts have full spas. Corona del Mar adds day spas and yoga studios.

An Anaheim stay built around early starts at the parks rarely slows down. The resort hotel pools and a few Korean-style day spas in the suburbs are what it offers, and people who want real calm drive down to the coast.