Mammoth Lakes or San Diego?

There is no real contest here. Mammoth Lakes is a mountain town far from the sea, and its version of swimming is a short, chilly dip in Horseshoe Lake or Crowley Lake in July and August. Most people at the lakes are there to paddle or fish, not to swim.

San Diego has a whole coast to choose from. There is the wide sand at Coronado, the boardwalk scene of Mission and Pacific Beach, the gentle surf at La Jolla Shores and the quieter cliff-backed beaches to the north. Mission Bay's sheltered water suits small children. The Pacific stays cool, but the beaches themselves are the main reason many people come.

San Diego eats much better. The border shapes its cooking: Baja fish tacos, carne asada burritos and late-opening taco shops are everywhere. Convoy Street runs to Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese kitchens, and Little Italy has its farmers' market.

Mammoth Lakes serves ski-town food, such as big breakfasts, burgers, steaks and pizza. It is satisfying after a day outside but has little range. Both places brew their own beer, but in very different amounts: Mammoth has a taproom or two in town, while San Diego has a whole county of West Coast IPA breweries to tour.

Mammoth Lakes has almost nothing to visit in town apart from a small mining and settler museum in a log cabin. Its buildings are mostly modern lodges and condominiums.

San Diego has plenty to fill a few days. Balboa Park's exposition buildings house art, natural history and air and space collections, the Midway and the old sailing ships line the waterfront, and Old Town and the first California mission tell the Spanish and Mexican story. None of it is world class, but it is far more than the mountains offer.

Evenings in Mammoth Lakes revolve around après-ski. The Village bars fill in the late afternoon in winter, and the town is mostly asleep before midnight because everyone has an early start.

San Diego offers real choices. The Gaslamp Quarter has rooftop bars and dance clubs, Pacific Beach has a rowdy beach-town strip, and North Park and Hillcrest have cocktail bars, taprooms and the city's gay scene. It is still not a city people visit for its nights out, but it is a good deal livelier than a ski town.

Mammoth Lakes is built around its landscape. The big ski mountain becomes a bike park in summer, the Lakes Basin sits just above town, and the trails lead into the Ansel Adams and John Muir wildernesses. Devils Postpile, Mono Lake's tufa towers and Tuolumne Meadows are all within reach. At about 2,400m, this is high, raw country.

San Diego's outdoors is gentler and closer to the sea. You can walk the bluffs at Torrey Pines, kayak to the La Jolla sea caves among sea lions, surf all year and watch grey whales in winter. It also has mountains and the Anza-Borrego desert an hour or two inland. It is very good, but less dramatic than the Sierra.

San Diego has the more varied list, largely because Mexico is so close. Tijuana is a trolley ride and a walk away, and the Valle de Guadalupe vineyards are a long day out. Temecula's wine country, apple-pie Julian, the North County beach towns by train and even Los Angeles also make day trips.

From Mammoth Lakes, the outings are few and spread along one highway. The Bodie ghost town and the Manzanar internment camp are both worth the drive, while Bishop and Lee Vining are smaller stops. In winter the closed passes shorten the list further.

San Diego is one of the easiest family destinations anywhere. It has a world-class zoo with a skyfari ride, the Safari Park, SeaWorld and Legoland, plus an aquarium and science centre for cooler days and a mild climate that keeps outdoor plans on track.

Mammoth Lakes is good for active families. It has a big ski school, a tubing hill, rowing boats and trout fishing in the Lakes Basin, and condominiums with kitchens. However, there is nothing indoors for children on a stormy day, and the altitude can tire young children for the first day or two.

Getting around is similar in both places, though in different ways. In Mammoth Lakes, a ski vacation works without a car thanks to the free winter shuttles and the gondola from the Village, and in summer a trolley serves the lakes. Anything further afield in the Eastern Sierra means driving, sometimes with snow chains.

San Diego's centre, Little Italy and the waterfront are easy on foot, and the trolley and coastal trains are useful. La Jolla, the beaches and the big theme parks are spread far apart, though, so most visitors end up hiring a car.

San Diego clearly has more for shoppers. Fashion Valley has the department stores and luxury brands, there is a large outlet centre at the border, and Little Italy, North Park and La Jolla have independent boutiques and galleries. Old Town sells Mexican pottery and crafts. Mammoth's shops are for gear: skis, climbing equipment, fly-fishing tackle and framed landscape photographs.

Neither is cheap, and San Diego is only slightly easier on the wallet. In Mammoth Lakes, the season decides the cost: winter lift tickets and peak-week lodging are steep, while a summer of hiking and lakes costs little beyond a park pass.

In San Diego, the big attractions are what drive up a family's budget, with high admission at the zoo, SeaWorld and Legoland. Taco shops, free beaches and Balboa Park's gardens help balance that out.

San Diego has a real theatre city. The Old Globe, with its outdoor Shakespeare stage, and the La Jolla Playhouse both produce their own shows and have sent productions to Broadway. The symphony also plays summer concerts on the bay.

Mammoth Lakes has a community theatre on the college campus, and in summer a jazz festival and chamber concerts held in meadows with the peaks behind. That is enough for a pleasant evening, but not enough to plan a trip around.

Both are easy places to slow down, in different ways. In Mammoth Lakes, the classic way to relax is a soak in a primitive hot spring out in the sagebrush with the Sierra on the skyline. After skiing, the lodge hot tubs and massage are the comfortable alternative.

San Diego has no thermal bathing at all. Instead it has polished resort spas in La Jolla, Coronado and Carlsbad, the long-standing yoga culture of Encinitas, and slow mornings in its beach towns.