Palm Desert or Santa Monica?

This is the widest gap between the two. Palm Desert has no beach at all. Swimming means a heated resort pool, and nobody bathes in the Salton Sea to the south-east.

Santa Monica is built around its shore: a very wide stretch of pale sand with lifeguards and the pier, and quieter beaches such as Zuma and El Matador further up the Malibu coast. The cool Pacific is the one drawback, so expect to wade about as often as you swim.

Santa Monica eats better. Its kitchens buy from the Wednesday farmers market for seasonal Californian cooking and seafood, Main Street and Montana Avenue have the neighbourhood places, and Venice next door has more casual food.

Palm Desert's dining is mostly resort steakhouses and patio bistros on El Paseo, comfortable but much alike. Its most local flavours are out east in Indio and Coachella, in the taquerias, the bakeries and the date shakes sold at the groves.

Neither is a sightseeing destination, but Santa Monica has more within reach. Besides the pier and the galleries of Bergamot Station, both Getty museums are a short drive away: the Center with its European art and gardens, and the Villa with its antiquities in a reconstructed Roman house.

Palm Desert is a post-war resort town and has little to show beyond a branch of the Palm Springs Art Museum with its sculpture garden. The valley's real cultural interest is the mid-century modern architecture of Palm Springs, twenty minutes west.

Both are early-to-bed towns, but Santa Monica stays up a little longer, with rooftop and wine bars around the Third Street Promenade, pubs on Main Street and a looser crowd in Venice. Palm Desert's patio lounges on El Paseo close early and fill mainly with golfers and retirees, so a late night means driving to the casinos or to the bars of Palm Springs.

Both have mountains rising straight behind town and both make strong outdoor bases, but the settings could hardly be more different. Palm Desert is desert: steep trails into the Santa Rosa Mountains, palm oases in the Indian Canyons, the tramway up to pine forest, and the boulders of Joshua Tree about an hour away, all best between October and May.

Santa Monica pairs chaparral canyons such as Topanga and Temescal with the sea, so the hikes come with views over the bay and the days can end with cycling the beach path, a surf lesson or watching dolphins offshore. Its mild climate keeps all of this open year-round.

Santa Monica has the wider choice. Along the coast there is Malibu, Santa Barbara with its mission, Laguna Beach and the ferry to Catalina, and Los Angeles adds the Huntington in Pasadena and Hollywood, although traffic decides how far each outing gets.

From Palm Desert the range is narrower but unusual: Palm Springs next door, the tasting rooms of Temecula, cool Idyllwild up in the mountains, the old film set at Pioneertown and the painted hillside of Salvation Mountain near the Salton Sea.

Santa Monica is easier with children. The lifeguarded beach, the pier's Ferris wheel and small aquarium, the beachfront playgrounds and a flat bike path are all in one compact, mild town, though visible homelessness downtown puts some parents off.

Palm Desert has one excellent outing in the Living Desert zoo and gardens, plus the Palm Springs tramway and the big resort pools. Beyond those the valley is geared to adults, every trip needs the car, and summer middays are too hot for small children.

In Palm Desert a car is essential. The town is a spread of resorts and shopping centres along wide boulevards, the buses are sparse, and only El Paseo is pleasant on foot. The consolation is quiet roads and easy parking.

Santa Monica's centre is walkable, its blue buses cover the town, and the E Line light rail runs to downtown Los Angeles. The Getty, the Malibu canyons and the theme parks still need a car or ride-hailing, on freeways that are jammed for much of the day.

The two are fairly close, with Santa Monica slightly ahead for variety. Palm Desert's shopping is focused on El Paseo, a single polished boulevard of boutiques, jewellers and galleries. A mall in town and a large designer outlet half an hour west fill in the rest.

Santa Monica spreads its shopping across streets that each have their own character: chains on the Third Street Promenade, upmarket boutiques on Montana Avenue, surf shops on Main Street and concept stores on Abbot Kinney in Venice.

Neither is cheap, but Palm Desert is easier on the wallet. Resort rooms are dear in winter and spring, yet from June to September they drop to a fraction of that, and chain hotels and rentals are reasonable all year. Golf and spa treatments are where the costs climb.

Santa Monica is expensive even for California, with costly hotels by the ocean, high restaurant bills and parking on top. The free beach, trails and bike path, and the cheap buses, only soften the total a little.

The two are broadly level here, but their offer differs in kind. Palm Desert has one comfortable, well-run venue, the McCallum Theatre, with touring Broadway shows, ballet and well-known singers in winter. It also has casino concerts and, in spring, the Coachella and Stagecoach festivals in nearby Indio.

Santa Monica's own scene is smaller and more intimate: the Broad Stage for chamber music and dance, small playhouses, folk and acoustic rooms and free summer concerts on the pier. Its bigger asset is Los Angeles, with Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, though each is a long drive at rush hour.

Palm Desert is the more restful choice. Resort spas, pools and a rhythm of golf and early nights are what the town exists for, and Desert Hot Springs, half an hour north, has spa hotels that fill their pools straight from natural mineral springs.

Santa Monica takes an active approach, with yoga on the sand, juice bars and runs along the ocean. It has polished hotel spas but no thermal baths, so it suits people who unwind by moving.