Monterey or Newport Beach?

This is the widest gap between the two towns. Newport is built around its beaches: kilometres of sand along the Balboa Peninsula, surf by the piers, calmer coves at Corona del Mar and shallow harbour strips for toddlers. In late summer the water is mild enough for a real swim, even if many people still wear wetsuits.

Monterey's beaches at Del Monte, Carmel and Asilomar are lovely to look at, but the bay stays cold all year and rip currents are common. Expect to walk, picnic and watch the surf rather than swim.

Newport eats a little better overall, mostly thanks to range: harbour dining rooms with yacht views, brunch in Corona del Mar, fish tacos on the peninsula, and Costa Mesa and Little Saigon close by for variety. It has no cuisine of its own, though.

Monterey's cooking is tied more closely to where it is: local squid, Dungeness crab and sand dabs, Salinas Valley produce and Pinot Noir from the Santa Lucia Highlands. The choice is narrower, and the good tables are in Old Monterey, Pacific Grove and Carmel rather than on the wharf.

Monterey has real history to walk through. The adobes of the state historic park, including the Custom House and Colton Hall, the Royal Presidio Chapel and the Carmel Mission recall its time as capital of Alta California, and Cannery Row keeps Steinbeck's canneries. None of it is grand, but it fills a couple of good days.

Newport has the 1905 Balboa Pavilion, Schindler's Lovell Beach House and a garden in Corona del Mar, and little else. Here the harbour itself is the sight.

Neither town has clubs, but Newport has more going on after dark. Its pier bars fill with a young crowd on summer weekends, and the harbour has wine bars and lounges for a dressier evening. Monterey's evenings mostly stop at a drink on Alvarado Street or a hotel bar on Cannery Row, and the town is quiet well before midnight.

Monterey is the stronger choice outdoors. The submarine canyon brings humpbacks, grey whales and orcas close to the harbour, otters float beside the shoreline trail, and Point Lobos and Big Sur add coastal walking and redwood canyons that are among the best in California.

Newport has good outdoor options of its own, quieter in scale: birdlife on the Upper Newport Bay estuary, bluff and canyon trails at Crystal Cove, paddleboarding in the harbour and whale boats in all seasons. Real mountains are an hour inland.

Newport has more places to reach. Laguna Beach, Mission San Juan Capistrano, the ferry to Catalina's Avalon, Los Angeles and San Diego are all within a day's return, though freeway traffic can stretch every journey.

Monterey's outings are closer and quieter: Carmel, Pacific Grove, the Carmel Valley wineries, Steinbeck's Salinas and Santa Cruz's boardwalk. After that the options thin out, and San Francisco is a long way for one day.

Both are safe and relaxed with children, but Newport has more for them to do. Shallow harbour water, the Balboa Fun Zone, the little island ferry, and Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm half an hour inland make it an easy base for a longer family stay.

Monterey's trump card is the aquarium, with its kelp forest and otters, backed by tide pools, whale boats and Dennis the Menace Park. The cold sea means beach days are for sandcastles rather than swimming.

Monterey is easier without a car, at least around the waterfront. The flat coastal trail strings together the wharf, downtown, Cannery Row, the aquarium and Pacific Grove for walkers and cyclists, although Big Sur and Point Lobos still need wheels.

Newport spreads along freeways and up hillsides, and its buses are of little use to visitors. Only the Balboa Peninsula boardwalk and Balboa Island really work on foot or by bike.

Newport is far better for shopping, especially if you want luxury brands. There are designer names in the open-air centre above the harbour, a huge luxury mall ten minutes away in Costa Mesa, and boutiques along Coast Highway.

Monterey itself sells mostly taffy and otter souvenirs. The browsing worth doing is in Carmel's galleries and independent shops and Pacific Grove's antique dealers, which is also the kind of small-scale shopping Newport lacks.

Both are expensive, and neither suits a tight budget. The costs fall differently, though. In Monterey the pressure comes from weekend room rates on the peninsula and the price of the aquarium, and you can cut back with motels in Seaside or Marina and free days on the trail.

Newport adds car hire, fuel and parking to resort hotel prices. Staying inland in Costa Mesa or Irvine helps only a little.

Newport has more on throughout the year, because the Segerstrom Center and South Coast Repertory sit ten minutes away in Costa Mesa, offering touring musicals, ballet, the Pacific Symphony and new plays.

Monterey's strength comes in festival season. The Monterey Jazz Festival, running since 1958, and the summer Carmel Bach Festival are worth timing a trip around. Outside those, there is little beyond the Golden State Theatre and the local symphony.

Neither town has a bathing culture, so relaxation in both comes from the slow pace and the sea. Monterey's version is cooler and more reflective: fog over the bay, walks along the Pacific Grove shore, and vineyard spas in the sunnier Carmel Valley. Newport's is sunnier and more polished, with hilltop resort spas, yoga studios around Corona del Mar and sunsets over the harbour.