Newport Beach or Santa Barbara?

Newport Beach has more beach and more of a beach culture. Ten kilometres of sand run along the Balboa Peninsula, with surf by the piers, the notorious Wedge, and calmer coves at Corona del Mar and Crystal Cove. Its water is also a couple of degrees warmer in late summer.

Santa Barbara's south-facing shore is sheltered by the Channel Islands, so the surf is gentler, and Carpinteria's shallow state beach is ideal for toddlers. But the sea is colder, and the beaches are a pleasant part of the town rather than the reason to come.

Santa Barbara eats better because it has local produce to draw on. Spot prawns and sea urchin come off the harbour boats, the farmers' markets are well stocked, and wine from the Santa Ynez and Santa Rita Hills is poured in the Funk Zone tasting rooms. The long-established Eastside taquerias give it a cheaper, everyday side.

Newport is comfortable rather than distinctive, with harbour-view dining rooms, fish tacos on the peninsula and frozen bananas on Balboa Island. Its best food is a drive away, in the Vietnamese kitchens of Little Saigon in Westminster.

This is where the two differ most. After the 1925 earthquake, Santa Barbara's centre was rebuilt in Spanish Colonial Revival style and is now a sight in itself. The County Courthouse, the Old Mission and the restored Presidio fill two or three unhurried days.

Newport has nothing like that. The Balboa Pavilion, Schindler's Lovell Beach House and Sherman Library & Gardens are each worth an hour, and the area's main art museum is in Costa Mesa.

Neither town is made for late nights, and neither has a real club scene, so what differs is the crowd. Newport splits between loud beach and dive bars by the piers and dressier lounges around the harbour. Santa Barbara's evenings centre on wine tasting rooms and brewery taprooms in the Funk Zone, with students filling the bars on lower State Street at weekends.

Santa Barbara has the edge because the mountains start where the town ends. Trails such as Rattlesnake Canyon and Seven Falls climb from residential streets to ridges with views over the channel, and Los Padres National Forest lies beyond. The Rincon point break and the sea caves of the Channel Islands add surfing and kayaking.

Newport's outdoors are flatter and gentler. There is the cycling loop and winter birdlife of Upper Newport Bay, the bluffs and canyons of Crystal Cove, and calm paddling in the harbour. Both towns run whale-watching boats, but from Newport real mountains are an hour's drive inland.

Newport sits in the middle of Southern California, so there is more to choose from. Laguna Beach and Mission San Juan Capistrano are within half an hour, a ferry crosses to Catalina, and both Los Angeles and San Diego are close enough for a day, freeway traffic permitting.

Santa Barbara has one outstanding day out: the Santa Ynez Valley wine country, with Solvang and its Danish streets. Ojai and the mission at La Purisima follow, but Los Angeles is too far for a comfortable day, so the list runs out sooner.

Newport is the stronger family base, largely because Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm are half an hour inland. Santa Barbara's nearest theme parks are two hours away. Closer to home, Newport has the Fun Zone rides, the island ferry and the tide pools.

Santa Barbara is gentler and smaller in scale. It has a hillside zoo, touch tanks at the Sea Center, the MOXI science museum and a planetarium, plus Carpinteria's shallow water for small children. It suits younger children better than older ones who want big rides.

Santa Barbara is the only one of the two where you can skip the car for part of your stay. Downtown is flat and compact, a shuttle and buses cover the centre, and the train stops near the beach. You need a car only for trailheads and the wine country.

In Newport you should plan on a car. The Balboa Peninsula and Balboa Island are walkable and linked by the little ferry. Everything else means freeways, and parking is hard to find on summer weekends.

Newport is the place for serious shopping. There is an open-air centre above the harbour with department stores and designer names, and one of the country's largest luxury malls is ten minutes away in Costa Mesa.

Santa Barbara has more charm but less choice. It has galleries and boutiques in the paseos off State Street, upmarket shops in Montecito and design stores in the Funk Zone, but no department store of any depth. The best things to buy are local wine and produce from the farmers' markets.

Neither is cheap, and there is little to choose between them. In Newport, car hire, fuel and parking come on top of resort hotel rates. In Santa Barbara, rooms by the beach and in Montecito are among the most expensive on the coast, and wine tastings and tours add up.

The ways to save are different. Near Newport, stay inland in Costa Mesa or Irvine. For Santa Barbara, look at Goleta or Ventura, and visit midweek or in the cooler months.

The two are close, but their arts are set up differently. Newport relies on Costa Mesa, ten minutes away, where the Segerstrom Center hosts touring Broadway shows, ballet and the Pacific Symphony, and South Coast Repertory stages new American plays.

Santa Barbara keeps its performances in town, in historic halls. The restored Granada has symphony, opera and ballet, the Lobero has chamber music and jazz, and the Santa Barbara Bowl, an outdoor amphitheatre in a canyon, draws big touring bands in the warmer months. In summer, the Music Academy of the West fills the town with concerts.

In both towns the relaxation comes from the slow pace rather than from a bathing tradition: there are resort spas and yoga studios but no public bathhouses. Santa Barbara is a little ahead thanks to the hike up to natural hot pools above Montecito and the long-established spa resorts of the Ojai Valley an hour away. Newport's calm comes from walks on the bluffs and sunsets over the harbour, and it is easiest to find away from the crowded summer weekends.