Los Angeles or Monterey?

Los Angeles has much the better beach, with more than 100km of shore running from the coves of Malibu past the volleyball sands of the South Bay to Long Beach. It has surf breaks, the bike path along the sand and boardwalk life. The water is cool, but by late summer it is fine for a wade or a bodyboard.

Monterey's bay stays several degrees colder, so the white sand of Carmel Beach and the Asilomar dunes are for walks and picnics rather than swims. A beach afternoon here usually means watching kayakers and divers set off near the wharf.

Los Angeles is one of the best eating trips in the country. Taco stands on the Eastside, charcoal barbecue in Koreatown, regional Chinese cooking in the San Gabriel Valley, Thai Town and Little Ethiopia all sit alongside a strong chef-led scene. The drawback is the driving between them.

Monterey eats from the bay and the Salinas Valley, with squid, Dungeness crab, sand dabs and artichokes, plus Pinot Noir from Carmel Valley. Skip the chowder bowls on the wharf for Old Monterey's side streets or Pacific Grove, but expect a narrow range at resort prices.

The culture in Los Angeles is modern and large in scale. The Getty Center and Getty Villa, LACMA and the Broad, the Huntington's library and gardens, Griffith Observatory and Hollywood's movie palaces could fill a week, and the architecture runs from Disney Concert Hall to Art Deco downtown.

Monterey has the older layer Los Angeles lacks, but only on a small scale. The adobes of the State Historic Park, the Custom House, Colton Hall and the Carmel Mission tell the story of Spanish and Mexican California in a compact walk. Beyond that there is Steinbeck's Cannery Row and no major museum.

Los Angeles offers a real night out in several styles: velvet-rope clubs in Hollywood, the gay strip on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, rooftop bars downtown and dive bars in Silver Lake. Last orders at 2am and rides between districts keep most nights in one neighbourhood.

Monterey barely competes. A few pubs, wine bars and brewpubs on Alvarado Street fill with locals and students, the town is quiet before midnight, and anyone after clubs has to drive to Santa Cruz.

Both have outstanding nature, but of different kinds. Los Angeles has mountain country on its edge: trails in Griffith Park, ridge walks in the Santa Monica Mountains and the pine forests of the San Gabriels, with winter snow on Mount Baldy and surf at Malibu.

Monterey's strength is wildlife and wild coast. Humpbacks and orcas pass close above the submarine canyon, otters float in the kelp beside the trail, and Point Lobos and the redwood canyons of Big Sur are a short drive away. Here nature starts at the hotel door, while in Los Angeles traffic usually stands between you and the trailhead.

The two have similarly modest lists of outings, set at different distances. From Los Angeles the best trips are long ones: Santa Barbara's mission and the Santa Ynez vineyards, the ferry to Catalina, Laguna Beach and Ojai. Traffic decides how much of the day you spend on the road.

Monterey's outings are mostly close: Carmel fifteen minutes away, Victorian Pacific Grove next door, the wineries of Carmel Valley, Steinbeck's Salinas and the mission at San Juan Bautista. There is less driving but less choice, and once you have done the Santa Cruz boardwalk the list runs out.

Los Angeles can keep children busy for a fortnight. Disneyland, Universal Studios, Knott's Berry Farm and Magic Mountain come first, then the space shuttle at the Science Center, the fossils of the La Brea Tar Pits and the Aquarium of the Pacific.

Monterey rests on one exceptional attraction, the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Tide pools at Pacific Grove, whale-watching boats and Dennis the Menace Park round it out, and the small, calm town suits a few days rather than a long stay.

Monterey is the easier place to move around. The flat coastal trail links the wharf, downtown, Cannery Row and the aquarium on foot or by hired bike. You only need the car for the 17-Mile Drive, Point Lobos or Big Sur.

In Los Angeles the car is hard to avoid. Metro rail reaches Hollywood, Pasadena, Long Beach and Santa Monica, but most trips mean jammed freeways or ride-hailing, and walking only works within places like Santa Monica, Venice or Old Pasadena.

Los Angeles is a shopping destination in its own right. It has the luxury houses of Rodeo Drive, streetwear and vintage on Melrose, independent boutiques on Abbot Kinney, and the Rose Bowl flea market for serious vintage hunting.

Monterey itself sells mostly saltwater taffy and sea-otter souvenirs. The galleries and boutiques of Carmel-by-the-Sea and the antique shops of Pacific Grove make a pleasant afternoon, not a reason to travel.

Both are expensive, and what differs is where the money goes. In Los Angeles it goes on the hire car, parking, theme park tickets, and the tax and tip on top of meals. Taco trucks, Koreatown and the free Getty collections give real relief.

Monterey's rooms are priced for the Californian weekend market and rise further on summer weekends and during the Pebble Beach car week in August. Even casual seafood is dear. Saving here means staying midweek or in winter, sleeping in Seaside or Marina, and filling the days with the free trail and tide pools.

Los Angeles has music and stage every night of the year. The Philharmonic plays at Disney Hall and in summer at the Hollywood Bowl, there is LA Opera, rock rooms on the Sunset Strip, Hollywood's comedy and improv theatres, and jazz in Leimert Park.

Monterey's music comes in festivals: the Monterey Jazz Festival every September since 1958, the fairground that hosted the 1967 Pop Festival, and the Carmel Bach Festival in summer. Outside those weeks the offer is modest, so time a trip around them.

For actual treatments Los Angeles has more. The Koreatown bathhouses offer hot and cold pools, scrubs and heated floors late into the night, and there are spas in Beverly Hills and yoga studios everywhere, though the city itself is not restful.

Monterey has no bathing tradition. Its calm comes from the slow pace, fog lifting off the bay and evening walks along the Pacific Grove shore, with resort spas in Carmel Valley and at Pebble Beach for something more organised.