Carmel-by-the-Sea or Sun Valley?

Neither is a beach destination, but Carmel at least has one. Its long curve of white sand below Ocean Avenue, backed by cypress and dunes, is lovely for sunset walks and digging with children, even though the cold water and strong surf mean few people swim.

Sun Valley is far inland in the Idaho mountains, so a swim means heated outdoor pools or a summer drive of about an hour to the cold, sandy shore of Redfish Lake.

Carmel eats better and more interestingly. Its candlelit French and Italian rooms cook Dungeness crab, sand dabs and Castroville artichokes, and its tasting rooms pour wines from the valley next door, so dinner has a sense of place.

Ketchum's restaurants are more resort-minded: après-ski grills and pizza alongside a few serious kitchens doing Idaho trout, lamb and elk. Both are pricey and short on cheap, casual food, though Ketchum's summer farmers' market and patios are more relaxed than Carmel's early, formal dinners.

Carmel has the stronger sightseeing. Mission San Carlos Borromeo, founded in 1771 and the burial place of Junípero Serra, is one of the finest in California's chain, and the village adds Robinson Jeffers's hand-built Tor House and the whimsical cottages of the artists' colony.

Sun Valley's story is shorter and narrower: America's first destination ski resort, the first chairlifts, the film-star photographs in the lodge corridors and Hemingway's grave in Ketchum. It is interesting, but it is an afternoon, not a reason to come.

Sun Valley has more going on after dark, though neither place is for a big night out. In Ketchum, skiers come straight off the mountain into saloons and hotel lounges, a band may play on busy winter weekends, and a couple of old western bars stay loud until closing.

Carmel's evening is a wine bar before it shuts, a long dinner and a quiet nightcap, with the streets silent by ten. For anything livelier you have to drive to Monterey.

Both are superb for the outdoors, but the landscapes could hardly be more different. Carmel's is the sea edge: granite coves at Point Lobos with otters and seals, whales passing in winter and spring, the Big Sur cliffs and redwood canyons to the south, and kayaking or kelp diving in Monterey Bay.

Sun Valley's is the high mountains, and it is more active. You get steep skiing on Bald Mountain and backcountry touring in winter, then mountain biking, fly fishing on the Big Wood and Silver Creek, Sawtooth lakes and Salmon River rafting in summer, with golden aspens in autumn.

Carmel is far better placed for outings. Monterey's Cannery Row and old adobes, Victorian Pacific Grove, the wine lanes of Carmel Valley, Steinbeck country in Salinas and the boardwalk at Santa Cruz are all an easy drive.

From Sun Valley the roads lead mostly into wild country. Hailey's small main street, log-cabin Stanley and Shoshone Falls about two hours south are the options, and Boise is too far for a comfortable day.

Carmel has the edge, thanks to its neighbours more than the village itself. The Monterey Bay Aquarium can fill a whole day, and tide pools and Dennis the Menace Playground fill others, though the cold sea and grown-up restaurants are drawbacks.

Sun Valley is easy and safe for families who ski, with a gentle learners' hill and a good ski school, and in summer it has bike paths, horse rides and an outdoor rink. Without a zoo, aquarium or anything built for children, though, non-skiing teenagers and rainy days are harder work.

Sun Valley is simpler without a car, at least within the resort. A free bus links Ketchum, the village and the lift bases, a paved bike path runs down the valley, and many skiers manage a whole week on foot and by bus.

Carmel's square-mile village is walkable, if hilly and dark at night, but its buses are thin, and Point Lobos, Big Sur, the wineries and the aquarium all need a car. Both places rely on small regional airports.

Carmel offers the better browse. It has an unusual number of galleries of plein-air painting, photography and sculpture, tucked into courtyards and passageways between cashmere and jewellery boutiques, with two small open-air centres adding some fashion.

Ketchum's few blocks are more practical. The highlights are its ski, fly-fishing and outdoor gear shops, alongside western art and western wear. Neither has a department store or a proper market.

In Carmel the money goes on boutique inns and cottages, long dinners, wine tasting and spa time, while the beach, the village lanes and the coastal walks at Point Lobos cost nothing. Sun Valley's biggest outlay in winter is lift access, and its rooms and meals are priced for the second-home owners, with little budget lodging anywhere in the valley.

Neither is cheap, and the way round it is much the same: stay in Monterey or Seaside and drive into Carmel, or base yourself further down the valley from Sun Valley. Sun Valley eases off in its quiet spring and autumn months, whereas Carmel's inns keep luxury prices even outside summer.

Carmel's summer is Baroque music and theatre. The Bach Festival, running since 1935, fills the Sunset Center with concerts, plays and musicals go up on the Forest Theater's outdoor stage among the pines, and the Monterey Jazz Festival next door carries the season into September.

Sun Valley puts its summer into one big event: a full professional orchestra plays symphony and chamber concerts for free in an open-sided pavilion by the lodge, while people picnic on the lawn, and star figure skaters perform on the outdoor rink in the evenings. Out of season Carmel keeps a little more going, with touring acts at the Sunset Center and community theatre, while Sun Valley has almost nothing.

Both offer rest rather than a bathing culture, but Sun Valley has natural hot water. Its outdoor heated pools steam under falling snow, and rough creekside hot springs lie up the Warm Springs valley.

Carmel relies on its misty quiet, fireside inns and the polished spas of Pebble Beach and Carmel Valley, which makes it better suited to a slow, comfortable couples' weekend.