Cotswolds or Scottish Highlands?

The Highlands come out ahead here, though neither is a swimming destination. Morar, Arisaig, Achmelvich and Sandwood Bay have pale sand and clear turquoise water worth a long walk, but the sea stays cold enough that a swim is a quick dip, often in a wetsuit.

The Cotswolds have no coast of their own. The Severn Estuary below the escarpment is mudflat and fierce tide, so the closest thing to a beach is the lake shore at the Cotswold Water Park near Cirencester, open for swimming in summer.

The two are close in quality but differ on the plate. The Cotswolds eat in stone country pubs, with local lamb, autumn game and Cotswold cheeses, backed by farmers' markets in Stroud and Cirencester and a wider choice of restaurants in Cheltenham.

The Highlands are at their best on the west coast, with langoustines, scallops and oysters on the quays of Oban, Ullapool and Portree, plus venison, smoked salmon and distillery tastings. Away from that coast, village kitchens close early and choice thins out quickly.

The Cotswolds have the richer sightseeing, and it is close together. Chipping Campden, Burford and Stow are sights in themselves, the wool churches are among England's finest, and Blenheim, Sudeley and Hidcote lie a short drive apart.

The Highlands' history is spread thinly across a vast map: Culloden, Urquhart Castle above Loch Ness, Eilean Donan and the empty townships left by the Clearances. Each is moving, but you spend more of the day driving than looking, and Inverness has no old centre to fill a day.

Neither is a place for a night out, and both go quiet before midnight. The difference is in kind: Cheltenham gives the Cotswolds a cluster of cocktail bars around the Promenade and Montpellier, busiest on race weekends, while Highland evenings mean a dram and a fiddle session among walkers in the pubs of Fort William, Aviemore or Portree.

Here the Highlands are in another league. Glencoe, Ben Nevis, the Cuillin, Torridon and the Cairngorm plateau give serious hillwalking and scrambling, with golden eagles, red deer, otters and the dolphins off Chanonry Point.

The Cotswolds offer something milder: rolling wolds, beech woods and the Cotswold Way along the western edge, with long views from Cleeve Hill and Broadway Tower. It is lovely walking from village to village, but there is nothing wild about it.

The Cotswolds have an exceptional ring of neighbours. Oxford, Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick, Gloucester and Worcester are mostly within an hour, several by train, so a week can mix quiet villages with some of England's finest cities.

Highland outings are fewer and slower: the ferry from Oban to Mull and Iona, the steam train over the Glenfinnan Viaduct to Mallaig, or Loch Ness and the Speyside distilleries from Inverness. They are worth doing, but single-track roads stretch the distances and the places at the end are small.

The Cotswolds make the gentler family base. The wildlife park near Burford, Bourton-on-the-Water's model village and shallow river, farm parks with spring lambs and Warwick Castle are all near one another, and pubs welcome children.

The Highlands reward outdoorsy families, especially around Aviemore with its wildlife park, reindeer herd and forest trails, and castles and rock pools further west. Rain and long distances, though, make it harder work with small children.

Both really need a car, but it matters less in the Cotswolds. Villages lie under half an hour apart, the London line stops at Moreton-in-Marsh, Kingham and Charlbury, and footpaths make walking between villages a genuine way to travel, even if summer parking in Bourton and Bibury is a trial.

In the Highlands the distances are far greater, and much of the west and north runs on single-track roads with passing places. Scenic railways reach Inverness, Fort William and Mallaig, but not the trailheads and beaches, and island ferries need booking in summer.

The Cotswolds have more to browse. Tetbury and Stow are known for antique dealers, Burford and Chipping Campden for galleries and homeware, and Cheltenham's Regency arcades and Montpellier boutiques add a proper high street.

Highland shopping is narrower and rooted in local making: tweed, knitwear and tartan, whisky from the distillery, and studio pottery on Skye. Beyond Inverness's Victorian market and the outdoor-gear shops of Aviemore, many villages have only a general store.

Neither is cheap, but the Highlands are a little easier on the budget. Hostels, campsites, bothies and self-catering cottages give real alternatives, the hills and beaches cost nothing, and spring and autumn are noticeably cheaper, though fuel and car hire add up.

The Cotswolds charge a premium for their inns, manor-house hotels and stone cottages, and the better pubs and stately homes add more. Sharing a cottage or staying in Cheltenham or near Gloucester helps.

The Cotswolds have more on stage. Cheltenham's Everyman Theatre and its jazz, classical and literature festivals, summer opera in a barn at Longborough and the Royal Shakespeare Company half an hour from the northern villages give a real programme.

The Highlands' strength is traditional music rather than theatre: fiddle and pipe sessions in pubs, ceilidhs in village halls, Gaelic song in the west and Highland games in summer. Apart from the theatre in Inverness, classical music and opera are rare.

The Cotswolds are better set up for pampering. Country-house hotels across the region run full spas with pools and saunas, and Bath's rooftop thermal pool, fed by Britain's only natural hot springs, is an easy trip from the southern wolds.

The Highlands offer stillness instead of treatments: a cottage at the end of a single-track road, an open fire and a cold dip in a loch for those who like it. Spas are limited to a handful of lodges and hotels, so it suits switching off more than being looked after.