Cotswolds or Devon?

There is no real contest here. The Cotswolds sit inland above the muddy Severn Estuary, and their only beach is the sandy lake shore at the Cotswold Water Park near Cirencester.

Devon has two proper coasts. The north has Atlantic surf and dunes at Woolacombe and Croyde. The south has sheltered estuary sand at Bantham and Bigbury and the red-cliffed resort beaches of Torbay. The sea is chilly, but from June to September a beach day is easy to plan.

Both regions eat well, but from different larders. Cotswold cooking is inland and pastoral. The draw is a long meal in a stone inn, with lamb from the surrounding hills and game once autumn comes, and the best of these inns are in the villages around Stow and Chipping Campden. Cheltenham is the place for a more ambitious dinner or a change of cuisine. In the most visited villages menus slip, so it pays to eat a little off the main route.

Devon looks to the sea. Brixham's catch, crab from Salcombe and Dartmouth and mussels from the estuaries set the menu, and Dartmouth's harbourside is the easiest place to find a special dinner. Clotted cream and farmhouse cider are Devon's own. In both regions, a trip to a farm shop or market will stock the kitchen of a rented cottage well.

The Cotswolds are the stronger choice for sightseeing because the whole landscape is the sight. There are the golden-stone streets of Chipping Campden and Burford, the great wool churches and Blenheim Palace, a World Heritage site. Roman Cirencester and Chedworth add another layer.

Devon's highlights are Exeter Cathedral and Plymouth's Barbican, with country houses such as Castle Drogo and Greenway in between. They are worth seeing, but they are more spread out and less of a set piece than a day among the Cotswold villages.

Neither is a place for a big night out, though Devon has a little more going on. Exeter and Plymouth have student-led weekend scenes, busiest around Plymouth's Barbican, and Torquay keeps a few seaside bars and clubs open in summer.

In the Cotswolds, Cheltenham's bars around the Promenade and Montpellier are the only real option, and the villages are asleep by eleven. Both regions are at their best with a pint by a pub fire.

Devon has the wilder outdoors. Dartmoor's granite tors and open moor, Exmoor's high sea cliffs and the South West Coast Path along both shores make for big, varied walking. There is also surfing at Croyde and sailing on the Dart and Salcombe estuaries.

The Cotswolds are gentler, with rolling wolds, beech woods and small river valleys. The Cotswold Way follows the escarpment, with views over the Severn Vale. The short walks between villages are the real pleasure here, but there is no coast and no open wild country.

The Cotswolds are the better base for days out. Oxford, Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick are each within an hour by car. Gloucester, Worcester and Bristol are close too, and several of these places can be reached by train.

Devon's best outings are mostly within the county or across the border in Cornwall. You can take a boat down the Dart from Totnes to Dartmouth, visit cobbled Clovelly, sail to Lundy or drive to the Eden Project. Bath and Wells are possible from Exeter, but they make a much longer day.

Devon is the easier choice with children, mainly because of its beaches. Woolacombe and Bigbury have lifeguarded sand, rock pools and gently shelving water, and Paignton Zoo and the National Marine Aquarium make big days out.

The Cotswolds offer a calmer family trip. There is the Cotswold Wildlife Park, Bourton-on-the-Water's model village and shallow river, several farm parks, and Warwick Castle just to the north. Children who love the seaside will miss it, though.

In both regions you will want a car, the lanes are narrow and summer parking is a chore. The difference is what you can do without one. The Cotswold villages sit close together, so a walking trip along footpaths from one to the next is entirely realistic, and trains from London stop at Moreton-in-Marsh and Kingham.

Devon is more spread out. Main-line trains link Exeter, Plymouth and Torbay, running along the sea wall at Dawlish, but the moors and most beaches are hard to reach without driving. Single-track lanes mean regular reversing to passing places.

The Cotswolds are clearly better for browsing. Tetbury and Stow-on-the-Wold are known for antique dealers, and Burford and Chipping Campden for galleries and homeware. Cheltenham has Regency arcades and independent boutiques.

Devon's shopping is smaller in scale. Totnes's independent high street and Honiton's antiques are the highlights, and Exeter and Plymouth have chain stores. Many visitors go home with cheese and cider rather than anything else.

Neither is cheap, but the Cotswolds cost more. Inns, manor-house hotels and stone cottages there are priced above most of rural England, and each great house or garden charges full admission.

Devon is expensive in the summer school break, especially in Salcombe and the north coast surf villages. Torbay, Plymouth and the inland villages give more for the money, and the beaches, moors and coast path cost nothing.

The Cotswolds have the edge, mostly thanks to Cheltenham's jazz, classical music and literature festivals, its Everyman Theatre and summer opera in a barn at Longborough. The Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford is an easy evening out from the northern villages.

Devon's main stage is Plymouth's Theatre Royal, which hosts large touring productions. Exeter has the Northcott Theatre and choral music in the cathedral, and Dartington has a long tradition of summer music.

The Cotswolds are better for a restful trip. Country-house hotels with serious spas are a core part of the local trade, the villages are quiet after dark, and Bath's rooftop thermal pool is easy to reach from the southern wolds.

Devon's way of restoring you is outdoors and bracing. There is cold-water swimming in south-coast coves and at Plymouth's Art Deco Tinside Lido, along with cliff-top spa hotels and long days on the coast path. It is calming, but it offers less pampering.