Los Angeles or Sun Valley?

Los Angeles has more than 100km of real beach, from the coves of Malibu through Santa Monica and Venice to the South Bay. It has volleyball, surf breaks and a bike path along the sand. The Pacific is cool, though, so it is better for an afternoon out than a swimming vacation.

Sun Valley is a mountain town far from any coast. Summer swimming means the cold water of Redfish Lake or a river eddy on the Big Wood, and a heated pool is the most reliable place for a swim.

Food is one of the main reasons to go to Los Angeles. The city's immigrant communities each cook their own food at full strength, from Oaxacan kitchens in Mid-City to Thai Town and Little Ethiopia, and there is a serious chef-driven dining scene alongside them. The price of all this is the time spent driving between neighbourhoods.

Ketchum has more good restaurants than most towns its size, and Idaho trout, lamb and elk are worth trying. Still, it offers the range of a small resort town, with little street food and few cheap options.

Los Angeles has no old quarter, but its modern culture runs deep. The Getty Center and Getty Villa, LACMA, the Broad and the Huntington could fill several days, and Hollywood's movie palaces and the Art Deco downtown add architecture and film history.

Sun Valley's story is interesting but short to tell: the 1936 resort with the world's first chairlifts, the Sun Valley Lodge's photographs of film stars and Hemingway's grave in Ketchum. An afternoon covers it.

For a night out, Los Angeles is far ahead. Hollywood has velvet-rope clubs, West Hollywood has a famous gay strip, and Silver Lake and Echo Park have dive bars. Bars close at 2am, and a night tends to stay in one district.

In Sun Valley, going out means après-ski in Ketchum's saloons and hotel lounges, with perhaps a band on a busy winter weekend. Outside the main seasons, evenings end soon after dinner.

Los Angeles has a surprising amount of wild country for a city of its size. There are trails up Mount Hollywood, canyon walks in the Santa Monica Mountains, snow on Mount Baldy and surf at Malibu, with winter whale watching besides. Getting to all of it means time in traffic.

In Sun Valley the outdoors is the whole point, and it starts at the edge of town. Bald Mountain rises straight out of Ketchum, the Sawtooths are an hour north, and there is fly fishing on Silver Creek and rafting on the Salmon River. Wildflowers fill early summer and the aspens turn gold in autumn.

From Los Angeles you can reach Santa Barbara's mission and red-tile streets, Avalon on Catalina Island, Laguna Beach, Ojai and the wine country of the Santa Ynez Valley and Temecula. Traffic decides how far you get in a day.

The country around Sun Valley has few towns. Hailey's main street, the log-cabin outpost of Stanley and Shoshone Falls are about all there is, so most days out are spent in the mountains rather than in other places.

The difference is how much has been built for children. In Los Angeles there are the rides at Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain, a space shuttle at the California Science Center and the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum. The beaches and the mild weather help, but every outing means a long drive with children in the back.

Sun Valley's appeal is that it is safe and simple. It has a gentle hill and a well-run ski school for beginners, and in summer there are an outdoor ice rink and horse rides. There is no zoo, aquarium or theme park, though, and teenagers who don't ski may find it quiet.

Getting around is easier in Sun Valley, but only because there is so much less ground to cover. Ketchum is small and flat, a free bus links the town with the lift bases, and many skiers never drive all week. The Sawtooths and the hot springs still need a car.

Los Angeles spreads across a whole basin of separate cities, with jammed freeways between them. Metro lines help between downtown, Hollywood, Pasadena and Santa Monica, but most visitors hire a car or use ride-hailing and plan each day around one area.

Shopping in Los Angeles covers the full range. Rodeo Drive has the luxury houses, Melrose Avenue has streetwear and vintage, Abbot Kinney has independent shops and the Rose Bowl flea market is a serious hunt for vintage. The local style is surf, denim and relaxed Californian labels.

Sun Valley's shops fill a few blocks of Ketchum. There are western art galleries, very good ski and fly-fishing gear shops and a few cashmere and home-decor boutiques for second-home owners. The selection is narrow and prices are high.

Neither place is cheap, but Los Angeles is easier on the wallet. Its taco trucks, Koreatown restaurants and market stalls feed you well for little, and the beaches, Griffith Observatory and the Getty's collections cost nothing to enjoy.

In Sun Valley, a wealthy second-home community sets the price of rooms, meals and lift access, and there is almost no budget lodging. Coming in spring or autumn and staying further down the valley helps a little.

In Los Angeles you can see live performance in any month, while Sun Valley's season is mostly summer. In LA the Philharmonic moves between Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, LA Opera plays at the Music Center, bands play the Sunset Strip rock rooms, Hollywood has improv and comedy clubs, and Leimert Park has jazz.

Sun Valley's main event is its free summer music festival. A full orchestra plays in the pavilion by the lodge while people picnic on the lawn, and figure skaters perform on the outdoor rink. For the rest of the year there is very little on.

Los Angeles has the more developed wellness culture, centred on Koreatown's bathhouses with their hot and cold pools, body scrubs and late hours. Add yoga studios everywhere and the luxury spas of Beverly Hills, although the city itself is not restful.

Sun Valley offers a different kind of rest. It comes from mountain quiet, a soak in a heated pool while snow falls, and rough natural hot springs beside the creek up Warm Springs. There is no bathing tradition behind it, but the pace slows once the lifts close.