Big Bear Lake or Napa?

Neither town is a beach destination, but Big Bear Lake at least lets you swim close to where you stay. The lake is cool, around 19°C in high summer, and the one supervised spot is the small beach at Meadow Park, which is good for children. Elsewhere you get a quick dip off a rocky or sandy patch between paddleboarding sessions.

In Napa, swimming means a hotel pool. Otherwise you drive out to Lake Berryessa in the eastern hills. The Sonoma coast is more than an hour away, and its Pacific water is too cold and rough for most people to swim.

This is where the two differ most. Napa's food grows out of its vineyards. You can taste Cabernet along Highway 29 and the Silverado Trail, try Pinot and sparkling wine in Carneros, and book the celebrated kitchens of Yountville and St Helena. The Oxbow Public Market and the taquerias cover cheaper meals.

Big Bear Lake serves mountain-resort food: hearty breakfasts in log-cabin diners, burgers, barbecue and a pint at a brewpub. Many visitors cook for themselves in their cabins. It feeds you well after a day outdoors, but nobody chooses it for the food.

Neither town has much to see, but Napa has a little more. It has Victorian buildings along First Street, the restored Opera House of 1880, the di Rosa art estate in Carneros and old stone wineries up the valley, which together fill about a day.

Big Bear Lake's history is the 1860s gold rush in Holcomb Valley, which you follow on a dirt-road drive past mining remains. Add the Discovery Center and a small museum, and the chalet-style Village is mostly modern.

Both towns are quiet by late evening, and neither has clubs. What you do differs with the season and the setting. In Big Bear Lake it means après-ski in the bars and pubs near the slopes in winter, followed by a hot tub back at the cabin. Napa's evenings are a long dinner and then a wine bar or a cocktail bar by the river. San Francisco is about an hour away if you want a real night out.

Big Bear Lake is the stronger outdoor base. It has two ski areas in winter, mountain-bike trails on the same slopes in summer, and a lake for kayaking, sailing and fishing. The Pacific Crest Trail runs along the north shore, and the San Gorgonio Wilderness, with Southern California's highest summit, is close by. Bald eagles spend the winter around the lake.

Napa's landscape is gentler and more cultivated. There are dawn balloon flights over the vineyards and a paved cycle trail along the flat valley floor. Bothe-Napa Valley State Park has redwood groves, and Mount St Helena gives wide views. Point Reyes and Muir Woods are within reach on a longer day.

From Napa, the day trips are short and varied. Yountville, St Helena and Calistoga are each a short drive away, Sonoma's plaza and mission are about half an hour over the hills, and Healdsburg is about an hour. San Francisco is about an hour by car, or by ferry from Vallejo, and Sacramento's state capitol is a little further east.

Big Bear Lake sits at the end of slow, winding mountain roads. Lake Arrowhead and the orchards of Oak Glen make pleasant outings. Riverside's Mission Inn is about an hour and a half away, and most other destinations mean a long day on the road.

Big Bear Lake is set up for families. Children from the lowlands come for the snow, the sledding hills and the beginner ski lessons. In summer there are pedal boats, mini-golf and the Alpine Zoo's rescued bears and bobcats. Families should keep the thin air and the cold nights in mind.

Napa is first of all a place for adults. Families can visit the animal park in Vallejo or the geyser near Calistoga, and use hotel pools, but tasting rooms, long drives and summer heat wear young children out.

You need a car in both places, but Big Bear Lake is a little easier once you have arrived. A local bus and a seasonal trolley link the walkable Village with the ski areas, although the mountain highways can crawl on busy weekends and may require snow chains in winter.

Napa's downtown is easy to walk, but the wineries are spread along some 50km of valley road, and the buses run too rarely to rely on. Since a tasting day and driving don't mix, many visitors hire a driver or join a tour.

In Napa, most of the shopping is wine, often shipped home by the case from the cellars you visited. You can also buy olive oil and kitchenware at the Oxbow Public Market and browse the cookware and design shops on St Helena's main street, and there is an outlet mall at the edge of town. Big Bear's Village has fudge shops, bear-themed souvenirs and outfitters for ski and lake gear, which fill an hour of browsing at most.

Neither is cheap, but Big Bear Lake costs noticeably less. A shared cabin midweek or in spring and autumn is fairly economical for a group that cooks its own meals, and hiking and sledding cost little. Costs climb on winter weekends, when you pay for lift tickets and equipment hire.

Napa is among the most expensive places to stay in the United States. Hotels, estate tastings, celebrated dinners and drivers all add up. Even a careful trip, with a chain hotel to the south, taqueria lunches and small cellars, is not a cheap one.

Napa has more on stage, though not much. The Opera House stages concerts and comedy, and a 1930s Art Deco theatre hosts touring bands. In summer a classical festival plays in winery and resort venues, and a large rock and pop festival fills the fairgrounds in late spring.

Big Bear Lake has local theatre at a small community arts centre, free summer concerts by the lake and the Bavarian bands of its long-running Oktoberfest.

Napa is made for unwinding. Calistoga has been a hot spring town since the nineteenth century, with mud baths and mineral pools, and the resorts in Carneros and the hills nearly all have large spas. The slow pace of tastings and long lunches helps too.

Big Bear Lake has no hot springs and no destination spa. Relaxing there means a private hot tub and a wood stove at your cabin, and it works best on quiet midweek days rather than crowded winter weekends.