Carmel-by-the-Sea or Palm Desert?

Neither is a swimming destination, but Carmel at least has a beach worth the walk. It is a long curve of white sand under the cypresses, and the coves of Monastery Beach and Carmel River lie to the south. The water stays cold and the surf is rough, so the beach is for sunset strolls, dogs and wetsuit surfers.

Palm Desert has no shore at all, and the Pacific is two hours away over the mountains. What it has instead is the heated resort pool under the palms, which is where visitors actually get into the water.

Carmel eats better. It has French and Italian dining rooms in cottages, Dungeness crab and sand dabs from the bay, Castroville artichokes, and tasting rooms a few steps apart pouring Pinot Noir from the Santa Lucia Highlands. Dinner is refined and early, and there is little that is casual.

Palm Desert's steakhouses and resort patios along El Paseo are dependable, but the menus are much alike. Its real flavour is at the eastern end of the valley, in the taquerias of Indio and Coachella and the date groves with their date shakes.

Neither will fill a long stay with sights, but Carmel has more of a story. It has the 1771 mission where Junípero Serra is buried, the 1920s storybook cottages and Robinson Jeffers' hand-built Tor House.

Palm Desert is a post-war resort town with a branch of the Palm Springs Art Museum and its sculpture garden. The mid-century modern architecture the valley is known for is twenty minutes west in Palm Springs.

An evening in Carmel finishes well before one in Palm Desert. It usually means a glass in a tasting room, a long dinner and perhaps a nightcap in a hotel lounge, and the streets are quiet by ten. If you want more, the nearest option is the modest bars on Monterey's Alvarado Street.\n\nPalm Desert has more going on after dinner, though still not much. There are happy hours on restaurant patios along El Paseo, and the tribal casinos have lounges open into the small hours. Palm Springs, twenty minutes west, has the valley's busiest bars, including its well-known gay scene.

Carmel has the finer landscape on its doorstep, and you can explore it in any month. Point Lobos is five minutes away, with otters and seals in its coves and grey whales passing offshore in winter and spring. Bixby Bridge and the Big Sur redwoods are within an hour, and the bay adds kayaking and kelp-forest diving.\n\nIn Palm Desert, mountain trails climb straight out of town. There are palm oases in the Indian Canyons, the tramway goes up to pine forest, and the boulders of Joshua Tree are an hour away. It is superb from October to May, but in summer the heat limits you to the hours around dawn.

Carmel has the better range of outings close by. Monterey's Cannery Row and adobe buildings are a short drive away, along with Victorian Pacific Grove and the Carmel Valley tasting rooms. Steinbeck country in Salinas and the Santa Cruz boardwalk make longer days out.

Palm Desert has fewer outings, but they are odder. Palm Springs is next door, and further out are Pioneertown's old Western film set, Salvation Mountain near the Salton Sea, cool Idyllwild and the Temecula wineries. From either town, the big cities are too far for an easy day.

These two are level for families, and each has one standout: the Monterey Bay Aquarium near Carmel and the Living Desert zoo in Palm Desert itself.

The difference is in everything else. Carmel has tide pools and wildlife but cold water and restaurants suited to quiet adults. Palm Desert has resort pools, slides and lawns, but the summer heat makes the middle of the day unwise for small children.

Carmel's village is a square mile you can walk, from Ocean Avenue down to the sand, although the hill is steep and the residential lanes are unlit at night. Beyond the village you need a car for Point Lobos, Big Sur and the aquarium.

In Palm Desert you need a car from the start. Resorts and malls are spread along wide boulevards, and only a few blocks of El Paseo are pleasant to walk. Uncongested roads and easy parking make up for some of this.

Palm Desert is the better place to shop. El Paseo, a palm-lined boulevard of boutiques, jewellers and galleries, is bigger than anything in Carmel. A large indoor mall, the designer outlets half an hour west and the vintage furniture shops of Palm Springs add range.

Carmel is a place for browsing. It has an unusual number of galleries for its size, full of plein-air painting and photography, and cashmere and jewellery shops tucked into courtyards. A keen shopper covers it in an afternoon.

Carmel costs noticeably more to stay in and eat in than Palm Desert. Its boutique inns are priced as luxury all year and there is little cheap food, so many visitors sleep in Monterey or Seaside to keep costs down.\n\nPalm Desert has chain hotels and rentals at gentler rates, and its resort rooms get much cheaper from June to September for anyone who can take the heat. In both towns the best things are free: the coastal walks in Carmel and the desert trails in Palm Desert.

Palm Desert has the stronger regular programme. The McCallum Theatre puts on touring Broadway shows, ballet and orchestras through the winter, the casinos add big-name concerts, and Indio hosts Coachella and Stagecoach each spring.

Carmel's arts are older and more intimate. The Bach Festival has filled its summers since 1935, the Sunset Center hosts concerts, and the Forest Theater stages plays outdoors among the pines. The Monterey Jazz Festival is nearby each September.

Palm Desert was built for unwinding. It has resort spas and long afternoons by the pool, and in Desert Hot Springs, half an hour north, small hotels fill their pools straight from natural mineral springs.

Carmel's calm comes from misty mornings, fireside rooms and the spas of Pebble Beach and Carmel Valley, but it has no bathing tradition. It suits a slow weekend for a couple, while Palm Desert suits a proper retreat.