Los Angeles or South Lake Tahoe?

These are two very different kinds of beach, and neither is warm. Los Angeles has more than 100km of Pacific shore, from Malibu's coves to the South Bay. That means surf breaks, volleyball and boardwalk life, in ocean water that most people enter in a wetsuit.

South Lake Tahoe has pine-shaded lake beaches such as Pope and Baldwin, and the clear turquoise shallows of Sand Harbor. There are no waves or rip currents to worry about, but swimming is limited to July and August, and the shallows warm up only briefly.

Food is one of the main reasons to choose Los Angeles, and hardly a factor at Tahoe. In Los Angeles whole communities cook their own food: Koreatown, Thai Town, Little Ethiopia, the San Gabriel Valley and the taco stands of South LA. Grand Central Market and the farmers' markets are on top of that.

South Lake Tahoe feeds skiers and hikers with casino steakhouses, pizza, brewpubs and breakfast diners along Highway 50. Its local craft beer is the one thing worth seeking out, and many visitors end up cooking in their cabin.

Los Angeles has far more to see. The Getty Center and Getty Villa, LACMA, the Broad, the Huntington and Griffith Observatory make a strong modern circuit, and there is Hollywood itself, Art Deco downtown and mid-century houses for architecture fans.

South Lake Tahoe's sights come down to the old summer estates at the Tallac Historic Site, Vikingsholm at Emerald Bay and a small history museum. That fills an afternoon, not a trip.

Range against late hours is the trade-off here, and Los Angeles has the range. Hollywood has clubs with guest lists, West Hollywood has the gay bars of Santa Monica Boulevard, downtown has rooftop and cocktail bars in old banks, and Echo Park and Highland Park have dive bars, so each district gives a different kind of night. Bars stop serving at 2am, though, and the distances mean you usually spend the whole night in one area.

At South Lake Tahoe, going out depends on which side of the state line you are on. On the California side it means brewpubs, ski bars and après-ski at the gondola base, followed by an early night. A short walk into Nevada, the Stateline casinos keep their bars open all night, but there is no bar district to wander and little choice of where to go.

This is the one area where South Lake Tahoe clearly wins. The lake and Emerald Bay are among the great views of the West, the Desolation Wilderness begins minutes from town, and the year runs from deep-snow skiing at Heavenly and Kirkwood to summer mountain biking on the Flume Trail and paddling on calm morning water.

Los Angeles has a lot of wild country for a city of its size. There are trails in Griffith Park and the Santa Monica Mountains, surfing at Malibu, winter whale watching and boats out to the Channel Islands. But the traffic between them and the city cuts into every outing.

Los Angeles has slightly better day trips. Santa Barbara, with its mission and the Santa Ynez vineyards behind it, Catalina Island by ferry and the galleries of Laguna Beach give more variety, as long as you leave early to beat the traffic.

From Tahoe the drives head into Gold Rush and silver-boom country: the boardwalks of Virginia City, Coloma where gold was found, the Amador wine country and Reno's casinos. They are pleasant ways to spend a stormy day rather than reasons to come.

Los Angeles gives children much more to do. Disneyland, Universal Studios, Knott's Berry Farm, the space shuttle at the California Science Center, the La Brea Tar Pits and the Aquarium of the Pacific fill a week easily, if you can handle the driving.

Tahoe works for outdoor families, with shallow lake beaches, bike paths, the salmon at Taylor Creek in autumn and ski schools in winter. With no zoo, aquarium or theme park, though, a snowbound day has little to fall back on.

You will want a car in both places, for different reasons. In Los Angeles the problem is scale: dozens of separate cities spread across the basin, freeways that jam, and Metro lines that only reach some of the places visitors want to go.

In South Lake Tahoe the town itself is small, with a walkable core at Stateline and free shuttles to the slopes. The difficulty is mountain roads, from weekend crawls around Emerald Bay to chain controls and pass closures in winter storms.

Los Angeles is a real shopping city. It has the luxury houses of Rodeo Drive, streetwear and vintage on Melrose, independent shops on Abbot Kinney and serious flea markets at the Rose Bowl.

South Lake Tahoe has ski and outdoor gear, rental shops, a few galleries of lake photography and souvenirs around the gondola base. That covers what you need, but there is nothing to plan a day around.

Both are expensive, in different ways. In Los Angeles the costs come from hotels in the coastal and Westside areas, tips and tax on meals, a hire car and parking, and theme park tickets. Cheap tacos, Koreatown meals, free beaches and the Getty soften it.

At Tahoe prices depend on the season. Ski weeks, Christmas and high summer are steep, but casino hotels on the Nevada side drop their rates midweek and in spring and autumn, and a cabin kitchen keeps food costs down.

Los Angeles is one of the great music cities, and Tahoe cannot compete. There is the Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall and under the stars at the Hollywood Bowl, LA Opera at the Music Center, rock rooms on the Sunset Strip, jazz in Leimert Park and top improv and comedy in Hollywood.

At Tahoe the live entertainment comes from casino showrooms with touring acts and tribute shows, plus summer evenings of Shakespeare at Sand Harbor and concerts at the Tallac estates.

Los Angeles has more to offer here, mainly because of the Korean bathhouses of Koreatown, with their hot and cold pools, scrubs and heated floors, some open around the clock. Add yoga studios and Beverly Hills spas, though the city itself is far from restful.

Tahoe is the reverse: few spas beyond the casino and lodge ones, but a calm setting of quiet lake mornings and cabins in the pines. The mineral pool at Grover Hot Springs and the Carson Valley springs are an easy afternoon away.