Newport Beach or San Diego?

On the beach the two are close, and the difference is in the layout. Newport gives you one long, continuous strand down the Balboa Peninsula, with surf by the piers, the notorious Wedge at the tip, and quieter coves at Corona del Mar and Crystal Cove. It all sits within one easy stretch.

San Diego spreads its sand across a far longer coastline, and each beach has its own character: Coronado's wide, flat strand, the boardwalk scene at Mission and Pacific Beach, beginner surf at La Jolla Shores and the cliff-backed beaches of North County. For small children, Newport's harbour beaches and Mission Bay do the same job.

San Diego eats better, mainly because it has a food identity of its own. The border gives it Baja fish tacos, late-night taco shops and the California burrito, and its craft-beer scene, built on West Coast IPAs, is among the densest in the country. Convoy Street adds a long run of Asian kitchens.

Newport is comfortable rather than distinctive: waterfront seafood with harbour views, brunch in Corona del Mar and frozen bananas on Balboa Island. For range and value you head to Costa Mesa or the Vietnamese food of Little Saigon, and meals here cost more for what you get.

There is a real gap here. San Diego has Balboa Park, a whole district of Spanish Colonial Revival buildings holding the city's art, natural history, anthropology and aviation museums. It adds the USS Midway, the historic ships of the Maritime Museum, the adobes of Old Town and the first of California's missions.

Newport offers an afternoon rather than an itinerary. You get the 1905 Balboa Pavilion, the island ferry, Schindler's Lovell Beach House for architecture fans and the Sherman gardens. Beyond that, the harbour and the yachts are the sights.

San Diego has more nightlife and more kinds of it. The Gaslamp Quarter has rooftop bars and actual dance clubs, Pacific Beach has a rowdy student strip, and North Park and Hillcrest offer cocktail bars, taprooms and the city's gay scene.

Newport has no clubs at all. Your choice is between the loud dive bars by the piers and the wine bars and hotel lounges around the harbour, and the town goes quiet early outside summer. Locals wanting a big night drive elsewhere.

Both are good for the outdoors, but San Diego has more variety within reach. Torrey Pines, the sea lions and sea caves at La Jolla Cove and the Cabrillo tide pools cover the coast. Inland, about an hour away, are mountain forests above 1,800m and the canyons of Anza-Borrego desert.

Newport's best asset is Upper Newport Bay, a tidal estuary full of wintering birds, with a cycling loop around it. Add the trails of Crystal Cove and kayaking or whale-watching from the harbour, and it makes a strong but smaller outdoor base.

Newport's central position gives it the better list of outings. Laguna Beach and Mission San Juan Capistrano are within half an hour, a ferry from Balboa reaches Catalina Island, Los Angeles is about an hour away, and you can even reach San Diego in a day.

San Diego is further from the rest of Southern California, but it has something Newport lacks: Mexico. You can cross on foot to Tijuana or drive to the vineyards of the Valle de Guadalupe, and Temecula and Julian are closer to home. In both places most trips mean freeways and traffic.

San Diego is one of the best places in the country for children. The zoo and its Safari Park, SeaWorld on Mission Bay and Legoland in Carlsbad give you several full days of big attractions. The Birch Aquarium and science centre cover the cooler days.

Newport works well too, with the Fun Zone ferris wheel, the island ferry and shallow harbour water, and it is a calm, tidy place to stay. Its biggest draw, Disneyland, still means half an hour on the freeway each way.

Neither works well without a car, but San Diego gives you more options. Downtown, Little Italy and the waterfront are walkable, the trolley reaches Old Town and the border, and coastal trains run north. Newport has no real transit worth planning around. Only the flat Balboa Peninsula and Balboa Island, linked by the little ferry, are easy on foot or by bike.

For luxury shopping, Newport wins. Fashion Island's open-air centre is in town, and the huge designer mall in Costa Mesa is ten minutes away, with most of the big fashion houses under one roof. The Corona del Mar boutiques and Marine Avenue's nautical shops cover the smaller end.

San Diego has fewer big names but more independent browsing. You will find vintage and design shops in North Park and Little Italy, galleries in La Jolla, Mexican crafts in Old Town and an outlet centre by the border.

Both are expensive, and Newport is the harder on your budget. Its beachfront and harbour hotels charge resort prices, and its restaurants charge for the view. Your best way to save is to sleep inland in Costa Mesa or Irvine.

San Diego is still costly, and the admissions to its big attractions add up quickly for families. But it has more cheap ways to fill a day: taco shops, brewery taprooms and the free gardens of Balboa Park.

San Diego has the stronger stage of its own. The Old Globe in Balboa Park and the La Jolla Playhouse both produce shows that have gone on to Broadway, and the symphony plays summer concerts on the bay.

Newport has little live performance in town. What it has is the Segerstrom Center and South Coast Repertory ten minutes away in Costa Mesa, with touring musicals, ballet and the Pacific Symphony. That gives a short drive to a good programme, but anything bigger means Los Angeles.

Neither has thermal baths, and both rely on mild weather and an unhurried pace. In Newport that means luxury hill resorts with full spas, bluff-top walks and harbour sunsets in a town that is calm away from the summer peninsula. San Diego spreads its resort spas across La Jolla, Coronado and Carlsbad, and it adds the long-standing yoga and meditation scene of Encinitas, though its downtown is never quiet.