Big Bear Lake or Palm Springs?

Neither town is a beach destination, but Big Bear Lake at least lets you swim in open water. In summer you can take a cool dip off the rocky, partly sandy lakeshore, and Meadow Park has the one supervised swim beach. Most time on the water is spent in kayaks, on paddleboards or in boats.

In Palm Springs, swimming means the pool. That is no hardship, because nearly every place to stay is built around one, but the ocean is about two hours away over the mountains.

Palm Springs eats noticeably better. You get long brunches on shaded patios, cocktails by the pool and a dependable run of restaurants on Palm Canyon Drive. Out in the valley there are date shakes from the Indio groves and honest taquerias further east. Even so, serious dining is thin.

Big Bear Lake serves mountain comfort food: diner breakfasts, burgers, barbecue and a brewpub pint after the slopes. Many visitors cook in their cabins instead.

Palm Springs has a real sight in its mid-century modern architecture, from Albert Frey's tramway station to the Alexander homes in Twin Palms and Vista Las Palmas. The art museum and the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum add depth.

Big Bear Lake offers the Discovery Center, a small history museum and a dirt-road drive past gold-rush remains in Holcomb Valley. That is about it.

Palm Springs at least has evenings worth going out for. The LGBTQ bars around Arenas Road have patios and drag nights, there are retro cocktail lounges and there are weekend pool parties, though few places stay open late.

In Big Bear Lake, the night out is a few après-ski drinks and a sports bar, followed by the hot tub and bed.

Both are excellent outdoor bases, but for different landscapes. Big Bear Lake is alpine country, with pine forest, a lake for fishing and paddling, two ski areas in winter, mountain-bike runs and the Pacific Crest Trail in summer, and bald eagles in the colder months.

Palm Springs is desert at the foot of a mountain. You can walk to palm oases in the Indian Canyons, ride the tramway up to pine forest on San Jacinto, and drive to Joshua Tree's boulders and night skies in about an hour. Its outdoor season runs from autumn to spring, the opposite of Big Bear Lake's.

From Big Bear Lake, every outing begins with slow, winding mountain roads. The lakeside village at Lake Arrowhead and the Oak Glen orchards are about an hour away. Riverside's old citrus-era streets and Palm Springs itself mean a long day, so most visitors stay up the mountain.

Palm Springs has more worth the drive, and more of it close by. Palm Desert and La Quinta are short hops along the valley. Pioneertown's lived-in Western film set and Salvation Mountain by the Salton Sea each make an odd, memorable day out. Idyllwild's pine village needs its own winding climb into the mountains, and a car is essential for all of them.

Big Bear Lake is built around families. Snow is a thrill for Southern California children, and the town adds the Alpine Zoo with its rescued bears and bobcats, summer go-karts and the alpine slide, plus cabins with room to spread out.

Palm Springs works with children as a pool trip broken up by outings to the Living Desert, the tramway and the Air Museum. However, many of its boutique hotels are adults-only, and the social life is aimed at grown-ups.

You will need a car in both, but Big Bear Lake is slightly easier once you arrive. The Village is walkable, and a local bus and a seasonal trolley run to the ski areas. The catch is the steep drive up, which can mean snow chains and crawling weekend traffic.

Palm Springs has a compact, flat downtown and an airport on its edge. Beyond that, the canyons, the valley and Joshua Tree all need a car, and summer heat makes walking at midday impossible.

Palm Springs has a real reason to shop. Its vintage clothing and mid-century furniture and lighting fill the consignment shops of the Uptown Design District, and El Paseo and the Cabazon outlets are nearby.

Big Bear Lake has a few blocks of fudge shops, bear-themed souvenirs and outfitters renting ski and lake gear. You can browse for an hour, and that is all.

Both are pricey at their peak and cheaper out of it, but their seasons run in opposite directions. Big Bear Lake is most affordable midweek and in the shoulder seasons, especially for a group sharing a cabin and cooking. Winter weekends, with lift tickets and gear hire, are expensive.

Palm Springs is dearest from winter into spring and turns into a real bargain in high summer, if you can live with the heat.

Palm Springs is well ahead here. Coachella and Stagecoach come to Indio each April, the McCallum Theatre brings touring shows, and the casinos book well-known acts. In town, drag cabaret and piano bars give evenings a local flavour.

Big Bear Lake has community theatre, free summer concerts by the lake and the brass bands of its autumn Oktoberfest.

This is where the two differ most. Palm Springs grew up around a hot spring. You can soak in the Agua Caliente bathhouse, try the spa motels of Desert Hot Springs that draw mineral water straight from the ground, or book a treatment at a resort spa, and the town's unhurried pace makes switching off easy.

Big Bear Lake has a few day spas and the private hot tub that comes with many cabins. Its calm is real on quiet midweek days but disappears on busy winter weekends.