Las Vegas or Santa Barbara?

Las Vegas has no coast at all. The nearest place to swim outdoors is Boulder Beach on Lake Mead, a gravel shore in a shadeless desert basin, and in practice the swimming happens in resort wave pools and lazy rivers.

Santa Barbara has real beaches: East and West Beach either side of Stearns Wharf, Arroyo Burro and Leadbetter to the west, and Carpinteria's long, shallow shore. The Channel Islands keep the surf gentle. The Pacific is cool, though, and the Strip's pools are warmer than any of it.

Las Vegas has a slightly stronger and much wider food scene. Celebrity-chef outposts, steakhouses and tasting menus fill the Strip, and the long Chinatown on Spring Mountain Road serves Sichuan, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese food late into the night. Almost none of it is local, though.

Santa Barbara's cooking has more sense of place. There are spot prawns and sea urchin from the harbour boats, farmers' markets and pinot noir from the Santa Rita Hills, tasted on foot around the Funk Zone. Outside its taquerias the range is narrow, and there is little to eat late.

Santa Barbara has more to see. Its centre was rebuilt in white stucco and red tile after 1925, the County Courthouse tower looks over the town, and the Old Mission stands above it on the hill. That makes two or three days of unhurried sightseeing.

In Las Vegas, the sights are mostly the spectacle of the Strip: replica skylines, the fountain show and the canopy over Fremont Street. Real history comes down to the Neon Museum's yard of old signs and the Mob Museum in the old federal courthouse, and you can see both in a day.

Las Vegas is built for nights out. The resort clubs book world-famous DJs, pool parties fill the afternoons, and the Strip is still busy at three in the morning. For something cheaper and less dressed-up, there are dive bars and cocktail lounges around Fremont Street and the arts district.

Santa Barbara is a city of early evenings: Funk Zone tasting rooms and brewery taprooms, then student bars on lower State Street at weekends. It suits a long dinner and a last glass of wine, not a night that ends at dawn.

Both cities have serious landscape close by, but Santa Barbara's is easier to use. Trails start at the end of residential streets and climb through oak canyons to Inspiration Point and Seven Falls. Boats leave the harbour to watch whales, and Rincon's point break, kayaking and the Channel Islands round out the time on the water.

Around Las Vegas the scenery is more dramatic: the sandstone cliffs and climbing routes of Red Rock Canyon, the flame-coloured rock of Valley of Fire, and pine forest on Mount Charleston. But every one of them needs a car, and in summer the heat confines hiking to spring, autumn and winter.

Santa Barbara has the better range of short outings. Its best day out crosses the mountains to the Santa Ynez Valley for wineries, Solvang's Danish streets and the restored mission at La Purisima. Ojai and Ventura are also within easy reach.

From Las Vegas, the one classic close-in trip is Hoover Dam with Boulder City. The Grand Canyon and Zion trips sold on the Strip mean long drives across empty desert, so the city's isolation is the limit.

Santa Barbara is far easier with children. It has a small zoo on a hill above the beach, the Sea Center's touch tanks and the whale skeleton at the Natural History museum. The beaches are calm, the shoreline bike path is flat and the weather is mild all year.

Las Vegas has bigger thrills: the indoor roller coasters, a shark aquarium and the rides on top of the observation tower. But the casino floors are the way through almost every resort, and in summer it is too hot to walk anywhere with small children.

Neither city works well without a car once you leave the centre, but Santa Barbara's core is easier on foot. State Street runs flat and straight down to the water, a level path links the wharf and harbour, and the coastal train stops near the beach.

The Strip only looks walkable. The resorts are so large that the hotel next door can be twenty minutes away, and footbridges route you through casinos. The monorail and the round-the-clock buses help, but most visitors end up taking taxis.

Las Vegas has the bigger shopping scene, all of it indoors: the Roman-themed arcade at Caesars Palace, the Venetian's canal-side shops, the Fashion Show mall and two large outlet centres, all open late. You won't find much that is local.

Santa Barbara is smaller and quieter. It has boutiques and galleries in paseo courtyards such as La Arcada, upmarket shops in Montecito and design shops in the Funk Zone. The things most worth taking home are wine and produce from the farmers' markets.

Neither is cheap, but Las Vegas gives more room to save. A midweek stay, especially downtown, can be inexpensive, and Chinatown meals cost much less than eating on the Strip. Weekends, resort fees and nightlife soon push the bill up.

Santa Barbara is expensive whenever you go. Beachfront and Montecito rooms are among the dearest on the coast, and dining and wine tastings are priced for wealthy visitors. The savings come from taquerias, free trails and beaches, and staying in Goleta or Ventura.

Shows are one of the main reasons to go to Las Vegas. Water-based acrobatics, magicians and comedians play in purpose-built resort theatres every night, and big stars take residencies you would rarely catch on tour.

Santa Barbara is quieter but more classical. The restored Granada hosts the local symphony, opera and ballet companies, the historic Lobero has chamber music and jazz, and the Bowl brings touring bands into its canyon amphitheatre from spring to autumn.

Santa Barbara is the more restful place overall, mostly because of its slow pace and mild mornings. Montecito's resort spas and the hike up to the hot pools above town add to that, and the spa resorts of Ojai are an hour away.

The spas in Las Vegas are bigger and better equipped, with thermal circuits and salt rooms, and on a quiet weekday morning they are genuinely calm. Outside them, the noise of the casinos makes it hard to switch off.