Devon or Lake District?

Devon is a real beach destination and the Lake District is not. Devon gives you a choice of coasts: wide Atlantic sand and surf around Woolacombe, Saunton and Croyde, or calmer estuary beaches and coves in the south from Bantham to Blackpool Sands. The sea is cold, but from June to September a beach day is a normal part of a stay.

In the Lakes, swimming means lakes and tarns reached from shingle shores and jetties, and it comes as a short, chilly break in a day of walking. The Cumbrian coast has empty sands, but they are better for a walk than a swim.

The two are on a par at the table, but they eat differently. Devon's strength is the sea and the dairy: Brixham fish, Salcombe and Dartmouth crab, estuary mussels and the cream tea, at their best in the South Hams harbour towns.

The Lake District cooks for people coming off the fells: Herdwick lamb, Cumberland sausage, local ales and sticky toffee pudding in slate-floored inns. At the top end, the country-house kitchens around Cartmel and Windermere are more of a destination than anything scattered across Devon.

There is little to choose between them, but the heritage differs. Devon has real cities to explore, with Exeter's Gothic cathedral inside its Roman walls and Plymouth's Elizabethan Barbican, as well as country houses such as Castle Drogo and Agatha Christie's Greenway.

The Lakes are about writers and the land itself. Wordsworth's Dove Cottage, Beatrix Potter's Hill Top and Ruskin's Brantwood are the highlights, alongside Castlerigg stone circle. In both places the sights are small and spread out, so plan to drive between them.

Neither is a place for late nights, but Devon at least has its cities. Students keep Exeter and Plymouth's Barbican and Union Street busy at weekends, and Torquay has a few summer bars and clubs. In the Lake District the evening is a pint by the fire with other walkers in Ambleside or Keswick, and most people are in bed early for the next day on the fells.

Both are fine walking country, but the Lake District is the bigger draw for anyone who wants mountains. Its fells rise straight from the lakes, with serious routes onto Helvellyn and Scafell Pike, crags where British rock climbing began, and sailing and paddling on Windermere and Ullswater.

Devon's outdoors is gentler and more varied. You get open granite moor on Dartmoor, Exmoor's sea cliffs, the coast path along both shores, surf at Croyde and easy cycling on the Tarka Trail. It suits mixed days of coast and moor rather than hard mountain days.

Devon offers more and wider outings. Bath, Wells and the Dorset coast are within reach from Exeter, and Cornwall opens up from Plymouth. Inside the county there is the river boat down the Dart, cobbled Clovelly and a sail to Lundy.

From the Lakes, the best trips are Carlisle's castle and cathedral, Hadrian's Wall, Furness Abbey and the Yorkshire Dales, with the Ravenglass railway into Eskdale closer to hand. These are good days out, but there are fewer of them.

Devon is the easier family destination. Gently shelving, lifeguarded beaches, rock pools, Paignton Zoo, the National Marine Aquarium and steam railways give younger children plenty to do, and there are farm and adventure parks for wet days.

The Lake District works best for children who like the outdoors. They will enjoy lake steamers, the Beatrix Potter connection, Tarn Hows and canoeing or ghyll scrambling for older ones. When it rains, which it often does, the indoor fallbacks run out quickly.

The two are broadly level, but they are awkward in different ways. Devon's trains serve Exeter, Plymouth and Torbay and run along the sea wall at Dawlish, yet buses in the countryside are few, so the moor and most beaches mean driving. That brings single-track lanes between high hedges, where you often have to back up to a passing place.

The Lake District is easier without a car if you stay in the middle of it. The branch line to Windermere, buses through Ambleside, Grasmere and Keswick, and the lake steamers will take you from village to fell, which Devon's coast and moor rarely allow. Its hard driving lies further west, on the steep mountain passes over to Wasdale and Eskdale rather than on hedged lanes. In both, summer weekends bring queues and full car parks.

Neither is a shopping trip, and the small difference is in kind. Devon has more interesting towns to browse, with Totnes's independent and alternative high street, Honiton's antiques and the galleries of Dartmouth and Salcombe. The Lake District's speciality is practical: Ambleside and Keswick are full of outdoor kit, along with Herdwick wool and slate crafts.

Both are expensive in the summer school break, and neither has a real cost advantage. The savings come from different places. In Devon, Torbay, Plymouth and inland villages give far more for the money than the harbour and surf towns. In the Lakes, the long tradition of youth hostels, bunkhouses and campsites keeps budget walkers going. In both, the coast, moor and fells are free.

Devon has the larger stages. Plymouth's Theatre Royal brings touring musicals, opera and ballet, Exeter adds the Northcott and choral evensong in the cathedral, and Dartington keeps up its summer music.

The Lake District has nothing on that scale. It offers Theatre by the Lake's repertory season in Keswick, Kendal's arts centre and its November mountain festival, and folk sessions in pubs.

The two are level, and both offer slow days and cold water rather than thermal baths. Devon's version is coastal, with cliff-top spa hotels, the Art Deco Tinside Lido and year-round swimmers in south-coast coves. In the Lakes, a weekend of walking followed by a lakeside spa on Windermere or Ullswater is the classic stay, and the swimming happens in tarns.