Napa or South Lake Tahoe?

South Lake Tahoe has real beaches right in town. Pope, Baldwin and Kiva sit under the pines, Zephyr Cove and Sand Harbor are a short way round the shore, and the water is turquoise over white sand. Swimming is cold, though, and really only possible in July and August.

Napa has no beach life at all. The Pacific at Bodega Bay is more than an hour away and too rough and cold for most people, so summer swimming means a resort pool or a drive out to Lake Berryessa.

Food is one of the main reasons to choose Napa. There are tasting rooms from grand estates to small family cellars, Cabernet in the valley and Pinot and sparkling wine in Carneros, and Yountville and St Helena hold some of the most celebrated restaurants in the country. The Oxbow Public Market and the taquerias cover the more casual end.

At South Lake Tahoe, meals are fuel between days outdoors. You get casino steakhouses and buffets, brewpubs and pizza along Highway 50, and local craft beer as the one distinctive thing. Many visitors end up cooking in the cabin.

Neither place gives a sightseer more than a day, but the sights are of a different kind. Napa's are in town: Victorian buildings on First Street, the 1880 Opera House, contemporary art at di Rosa in Carneros and old stone wineries up the valley. South Lake Tahoe's sit out in the landscape, with the lakeside summer estates at the Tallac Historic Site, the Scandinavian-style Vikingsholm at the head of Emerald Bay and a small museum on the Washoe people and the logging era.

South Lake Tahoe at least lets you stay out late. A short walk across the Nevada line, the Stateline casinos keep bars and gaming floors open all night, with a club or two that fill on peak weekends. Après-ski at the gondola base is the friendliest hour of a winter day, but there is no bar district to wander.

Napa's evening is a long dinner and maybe a glass in a downtown wine bar, and the town is quiet by late evening. For a proper night out, visitors go to San Francisco.

South Lake Tahoe is one of the great mountain bases of the West. Emerald Bay, the granite lake basins of the Desolation Wilderness and the Tahoe Rim Trail are all close to town. Winter brings deep snow at Heavenly, Kirkwood and Sierra-at-Tahoe, and summer brings mountain biking on the Flume Trail and paddling on glassy water.

Napa's landscape is gentler and cultivated: a vineyard valley floor for cycling and dawn balloon flights, redwoods in Bothe-Napa Valley State Park, and the climb up Mount St Helena for the views.

Napa is much better placed for days out. Sonoma's plaza and mission are half an hour over the hills, Healdsburg and the Russian River make a second wine country, and San Francisco is about an hour away by road or by ferry from Vallejo, with Sausalito and Berkeley close by.

From South Lake Tahoe the outings are smaller and mostly about mining history: Virginia City's boardwalks, Genoa and Carson City, Coloma where gold was found, and the Amador foothills. Reno is the nearest city, and these trips are mainly good for filling a stormy day.

South Lake Tahoe works for children in both seasons. In summer there are sandy, shallow lake beaches, bike paths and the salmon at Taylor Creek, and in winter ski schools, snow play areas and the gondola ride. The weak spot is a snowbound or rainy day, since there is nothing built for children indoors.

Napa is made for adults. The Vallejo theme park, the Calistoga geyser and the hotel pools help, but tasting rooms, long drives and summer heat wear younger children out.

You will want a car in both places, but South Lake Tahoe gives you a bit more help. Free shuttles run along the main highway and up to the ski areas in winter, and the core around Stateline is walkable. The catch is the winter roads, with chain controls and occasional closures on the passes in.

Downtown Napa is easy on foot, but the wineries spread over some 50km of road and the buses are too infrequent to rely on. Because tasting and driving do not mix, many visitors pay for a driver or a tour.

Napa has more to browse, though most of it comes back to wine: cases shipped home from the cellars, olive oil and kitchenware at the Oxbow Public Market, St Helena's cookware and design shops, and an outlet mall for the familiar brands. Shopping at South Lake Tahoe is practical, mostly ski and outdoor gear, rentals and souvenirs at the gondola base, plus a few galleries of lake photography.

Neither is cheap, but South Lake Tahoe leaves more room to save. Casino hotels on the Nevada side discount midweek and in the shoulder seasons, a cabin kitchen cuts food costs, and the beaches and trails are free. Peak ski weeks and lift tickets are still steep.

Napa is among the most expensive places to stay in the United States. Luxury hotel rooms, estate tasting fees, special-occasion restaurants and a driver for the day all add up. Staying in chain hotels further south and eating at taquerias softens the cost without making it a budget trip.

The two are about level, but the shows are of a different kind. Napa's are tied to historic halls and seasonal festivals: the 1880 Opera House, a restored Art Deco theatre, summer classical concerts at wineries and a big rock and pop weekend at the fairgrounds in late spring.

South Lake Tahoe's year-round offer comes from the casino showrooms and arena, which bring touring rock and country acts and comedians. Summer adds Shakespeare on the beach at Sand Harbor and concerts at the Tallac estates.

Napa has a real bathing tradition close by. Calistoga's volcanic mud baths and mineral pools have been the classic end to a tasting day since the nineteenth century, and the resorts in Carneros and the hills have large spas.

At South Lake Tahoe the calm comes from quiet lake mornings and cabins in the pines. The spas are mostly attached to casinos and ski lodges, and a proper soak means driving to Grover Hot Springs or the Carson Valley.