Los Angeles or Santa Barbara?

Both have a good shore with cool water, but the beaches are different in kind. Los Angeles has length and variety: more than 100km from the Malibu coves through Santa Monica and Venice to the South Bay volleyball towns, with proper surf and a boardwalk scene.

Santa Barbara's coast faces south behind the Channel Islands, so the waves are gentler and the beaches smaller and calmer. Carpinteria's shallow sands suit young children especially well. The water there runs a degree or two colder, so swims are short in either place.

Here Los Angeles pulls well ahead. Its strength is breadth: Koreatown, Thai Town, Little Ethiopia, the San Gabriel Valley and the Oaxacan kitchens of Mid-City each cook their own cuisine, and you can eat superbly for very little.

Santa Barbara works on a narrower, local base: spot prawns and sea urchin off the harbour boats, rich farmers' markets, Santa Ynez wine poured in the Funk Zone, and solid taquerias on Milpas Street. Beyond Mexican there is little international or late-night food.

Los Angeles has the bigger cultural programme: the Getty Center and Villa, LACMA, the Broad and the Huntington, plus Hollywood and the Disney Concert Hall. Seeing it all means long drives between hilltops and districts.

Santa Barbara has something Los Angeles lacks, a consistent historic townscape. The white stucco centre, the County Courthouse tower and the Old Mission make a pleasant two or three days on foot, but its museums are modest next to Los Angeles.

Los Angeles gives you a real choice of night out: guest-list clubs in Hollywood, the gay strip of West Hollywood, downtown cocktail bars and Silver Lake dives. Expect a 2am close and a ride between districts.

Santa Barbara's evenings are tasting rooms and brewery taprooms in the Funk Zone, then the student bars of lower State Street. There are no clubs to speak of, so it suits dinner and one drink.

Both put serious country right behind the city, and both send boats to the Channel Islands and out to watch whales. The Los Angeles side is bigger and higher, from Griffith Park to the San Gabriel Mountains above 3,000m, which hold snow in winter, but reaching the trailheads often means time in traffic.

Santa Barbara's advantage is how close it all is. Trails such as Rattlesnake Canyon and Seven Falls start from suburban streets, Los Padres National Forest lies beyond the ridge, and Rincon's point break is just east of town.

The two are close here and overlap a good deal: Santa Barbara is Los Angeles' best day out, and Ojai is within reach of both. From Los Angeles the spread is wider, with Catalina by ferry, Laguna Beach, San Juan Capistrano and, at a stretch, San Diego, though traffic can turn any of them into a slog.

Santa Barbara has one excellent outing close by: the Santa Ynez Valley wineries and Danish Solvang, under an hour over the mountains. After that its list thins out quickly.

Los Angeles is one of the strongest family destinations anywhere: Disneyland, Universal, Knott's and Magic Mountain, plus a space shuttle, dinosaurs and the La Brea fossil pits. The cost is long drives between outings.

Santa Barbara offers a smaller, calmer version, with a hillside zoo, the touch tanks on Stearns Wharf, MOXI and safe shallow beaches. It is easier with toddlers, but older children wanting big rides will be pointed back towards Los Angeles.

Santa Barbara is clearly easier to get around. The flat downtown runs straight down State Street to a level shoreline path, a shuttle and buses cover the core, and the train drops you near the beach. You only need a car for the wine country and the trailheads.

Los Angeles is a basin of separate cities joined by jammed freeways. Metro lines help for the trips between downtown, Hollywood, Pasadena and Santa Monica, but most visitors hire a car or rely on ride-hailing.

Los Angeles is a real shopping destination: luxury houses on Rodeo Drive, streetwear and vintage on Melrose, independents on Abbot Kinney, and the Rose Bowl flea market for serious hunting.

Santa Barbara is a pleasant browse rather than a shopping trip, with galleries in the paseos off State Street, upmarket boutiques in Montecito and design shops in the Funk Zone. Its best buys are wine and farmers' market produce.

Neither is cheap, but Santa Barbara is the harder on a budget. Its beach and Montecito rooms are among the dearest on the coast, and wine tastings and tours are priced for a wealthy crowd.

Los Angeles adds hire car and parking costs, but it has a far deeper supply of cheap good food in Koreatown, the San Gabriel Valley and the taco trucks, and free sights such as Griffith Observatory and the Getty. In Santa Barbara, staying in Goleta or Ventura and visiting midweek are the main savings.

Los Angeles plays in a different league: the Philharmonic at the Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, LA Opera, Broadway tours, rock rooms on the Sunset Strip, comedy and improv in Hollywood, and jazz in Leimert Park.

Santa Barbara does well for a small city. It has symphony, opera and ballet in the restored Granada, chamber music at the Lobero, big touring bands at the canyon Bowl and the summer Music Academy concerts, but its seasons are short.

Los Angeles has the edge through Koreatown's Korean bathhouses, with hot and cold pools, scrubs and heated floors open late, which Santa Barbara has no equivalent to. The city around them is anything but restful.

Santa Barbara relaxes you by its pace, with Montecito resort spas and a hike to the hot pools above town. From both, the serious retreat is the drive to Ojai, which is closer to Santa Barbara.