Page, Arizona or Santa Monica?

Santa Monica has the better beach overall. It is a wide band of pale sand with lifeguard towers and a beach path, and the quieter Malibu coves are further north. The drawback is the Pacific, which stays cool enough that many people only wade in.

Page has no seaside, but in midsummer Lake Powell is warmer for swimming than the Pacific is. Lone Rock has open sand, and from a boat you can jump off sandstone into deep water. The shoreline moves as the lake level changes, there are no lifeguards, and the water is too cold for most people for half the year.

In Page you eat to refuel between outings. The main strip has diners, barbecue, Mexican places and chains, and the kitchens close early. Its one dish worth looking for is the Navajo taco, frybread piled with beans and meat, sold at casual places and roadside stands on the reservation. You won't find it on the coast.

Santa Monica is where food becomes part of the trip. Its kitchens take their cue from the Wednesday market, so menus follow the California seasons, and Main Street and Montana Avenue have neighbourhood restaurants worth booking for dinner, things Page cannot offer. Even here, though, the cheap taco trucks and Korean barbecue of Los Angeles are a long drive east.

Neither town is a place for sightseeing, but Santa Monica has more to see close by. It has the early twentieth-century pier at the end of Route 66 and the galleries at Bergamot Station. Above all, both Getty museums are a short drive away, with their European art and Greek and Roman antiquities.

Page dates only from the 1950s and was built for the Glen Canyon Dam. Its sights are the dam visitor centre and the small Powell museum. Its deeper culture lies outside town in the Navajo Nation.

Evenings in Page come down to a beer at the brewpub or one of a few bars, and the town is asleep long before midnight because the canyon tours leave at dawn. The best thing to do after dark is drive away from the town lights and look up at the stars.

Santa Monica gives you a real evening out, though it is built around drinks rather than dancing. There are hotel rooftops facing the ocean, a run of pubs along Main Street and a looser, more local crowd in Venice. There are hardly any clubs, so a big night means a long taxi ride to Hollywood.

This is where Page leads clearly. Within minutes of town are the red-walled slot canyons of Antelope Canyon and the drop to the river at Horseshoe Bend. There is a lake of flooded canyons to explore by houseboat or kayak, and Lees Ferry is the starting point for Grand Canyon rafting. The Wave and Buckskin Gulch are not much further.

Santa Monica is still a good outdoor base. You can hike chaparral ridges in Topanga and Temescal Canyon, cycle the 35km beach path, take surf lessons and watch whales in winter, and you can be outside almost every day of the year. It is gentler, more everyday country than Page's.

From Santa Monica there are real places within a day. Santa Barbara has its mission and nearby wine country, and Laguna Beach was an art colony. Avalon on Catalina Island is a ferry ride away, and inside Los Angeles there are the Huntington gardens in Pasadena, all of them depending on traffic.

Around Page the trips are to landscapes rather than towns. There are the pioneer buildings at Lees Ferry, the cliff dwellings at Betatakin, the small Western town of Kanab and the long drive to Monument Valley.

Page works for families who like the outdoors, and the motel pools help at the end of a hot day. A beach day at Lone Rock is easy, and the Antelope Canyon tours are short enough to hold children's attention. Some of these tours climb steep ladders, though, so check which one suits small legs. Beyond the lake and canyons there is nothing in town built for children.

Santa Monica gives families more to fill a week. The flat beach path suits family bike rides, Montana Avenue has children's shops, and Universal Studios is about an hour away for a theme-park day, with Disneyland further still. The visible homelessness around downtown unsettles some parents.

In Santa Monica you can manage a stay without a car. The centre, the pier and Main Street are walkable, the blue buses cover the rest of town and the E Line light rail runs to downtown Los Angeles. You will still need ride-hailing or a car to reach the Getty Center or the Malibu canyons.

In Page a car is essential from the moment you arrive. There is no useful public transport, the major airports are hours away and every sight beyond the motel strip is a drive away.

Santa Monica has proper shopping. The Promenade has chain stores and flagships, Montana Avenue has boutiques, Main Street has surf shops, and Abbot Kinney in Venice has design-led stores. Rodeo Drive is a slow drive away for luxury labels.

Page sells supplies and souvenirs. Its one real draw is Navajo silver, turquoise, rugs and pottery, bought at trading posts or directly from the maker.

Neither is cheap, but Page is easier on the wallet. Meals and fuel cost what they would in any small town. Camping at Lone Rock or Wahweap, or coming in winter, keeps costs down. The paid canyon tours and boat hire are what push the bill up.

Santa Monica is expensive even for California. Rooms near the ocean, restaurant bills and parking all add up. The beach, the trails and the bike path are free, though, and staying inland saves money.

Santa Monica has a modest stage of its own. The Broad Stage puts on chamber music and dance, there is a long-standing folk scene in small rooms, and free concerts run on the pier in summer. The Hollywood Bowl and Walt Disney Concert Hall are across the city.

Page has little beyond Navajo dance shows put on for visitors and the odd local band in a bar.

Page's calm comes from the desert itself, with its wide views, silent evenings and very dark skies. There are no spas beyond a few hotel offerings. Most stays are a run of early starts and long drives, so this is not a place to slow down.

Santa Monica's yoga culture makes it easier to unwind. There are classes on the sand, juice bars, morning runs along the ocean, polished spas in the beachfront hotels and plenty of day spas. Like Page, it has no thermal springs or public baths, so you plan the rest yourself.