Palm Springs or San Diego?

This is the starkest difference on the page. Palm Springs has no beach at all. Its water is the hotel pool, and the Salton Sea is a curiosity, not somewhere to swim.

San Diego is built around its shoreline. It runs from the wide sand at Coronado and the boardwalk at Mission and Pacific Beach to the gentle surf of La Jolla Shores and the cliff-backed coves of North County. The Pacific stays cool, though, and early summer mornings are often grey.

San Diego eats noticeably better. The border shapes it, with fish tacos, carne asada and the fries-stuffed California burrito, and it adds a deep craft-beer culture and the Asian kitchens of Convoy Street.

Palm Springs offers patio brunches, poolside cocktails and dependable American cooking on Palm Canyon Drive. Its genuine local tastes are the date shake from the Indio groves and the taquerias further down the valley. Some kitchens also cut back in the summer heat.

San Diego has more to see, with Balboa Park's cluster of museums, the USS Midway, Old Town's adobes and California's first mission, though none of it is world class.

Palm Springs has narrower but more distinctive culture: a whole townscape of mid-century modern architecture by Frey, Neutra and the Alexander tract homes, best seen by bike or car. The art museum and the Cahuilla story at the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum complete a short list.

San Diego has more nights out and more variety. There are clubs and rooftops in the Gaslamp, a student bar strip at Pacific Beach, taprooms in North Park and the gay scene of Hillcrest.

Palm Springs is smaller and more singular. Its evenings centre on the LGBTQ patio bars and drag nights of Arenas Road and retro cocktail lounges, there are almost no clubs, and things end early.

The two are equally strong outdoors, but the settings could hardly be more different. Palm Springs is about mountain and desert: the tramway lifts you from the valley floor into the pine forest and wilderness trails of San Jacinto, and the Indian Canyons and Tahquitz Canyon hide palm oases and a waterfall at the foot of the range. Joshua Tree's boulder piles, climbing routes and night skies are an hour away, and cycling and golf fill the cooler months.

San Diego's outdoors is the ocean edge. There are the sandstone bluffs of Torrey Pines, sea lions and kayak routes into the sea caves at La Jolla Cove, tide pools at Cabrillo, surf breaks all along the coast and grey whales offshore in winter. Mission Bay adds paddleboarding and sailing, and inland the Cuyamaca mountains and the wildflower canyons of Anza-Borrego give it a desert of its own.

San Diego has the richer choice, largely because of the border. Tijuana is reachable by trolley, and the Valle de Guadalupe vineyards are a longer drive. The coastal train serves the North County beach towns, and Temecula and Julian are both within reach.

Palm Springs shares those last two at a longer distance. Otherwise it offers quirky small outings: Idyllwild in the pines, the lived-in film set of Pioneertown and the eerie Salton Sea shore with Salvation Mountain. All of them need a car.

San Diego is one of the best family cities anywhere. The zoo, the Safari Park, SeaWorld, Legoland and the Birch Aquarium can fill a week, and the mild climate and casual restaurants make everyday life easy.

Palm Springs manages a few good outings, such as the Living Desert, the tramway to winter snow and the Air Museum. But many hotels are adults-only and midday heat rules out much of the year, so families do better in the big resorts down the valley.

Neither works well without wheels, but San Diego is easier. The trolley connects downtown, Old Town and the border, and coastal trains reach the beach towns, though La Jolla and the big parks still mean driving.

Palm Springs has a walkable downtown strip and an airport on the edge of town. Beyond that, the canyons, the tramway and Joshua Tree all require a car, and valley buses are sparse.

The two are evenly matched but specialise differently. Palm Springs has a real niche in mid-century furniture, lighting and vintage clothing along the Uptown Design District, with El Paseo and the Cabazon outlets nearby.

San Diego spreads its shopping across malls like Fashion Valley, boutiques in Little Italy and North Park, La Jolla galleries and Mexican crafts in Old Town, with no single shopping street to aim for.

Both are expensive, but Palm Springs gives a little more room to save. Winter and spring are pricey, yet the summer heat empties the town and rooms become a bargain, and simple motels are an option all year.

San Diego has no comparable cheap season. Beach and downtown hotels cost a lot and the big attractions charge high admission, though taco shops, free beaches and Balboa Park's gardens help.

San Diego is ahead on the strength of its theatre. The Old Globe and La Jolla Playhouse produce work that reaches Broadway, and the symphony's open-air bay stage and a short opera season add to it.

Palm Springs relies on drag cabaret, piano bars and touring acts at the McCallum Theatre and the casinos. Its big moments are the Coachella and Stagecoach festivals in Indio each April.

Palm Springs is the far better place to switch off. It was founded on a hot spring, Desert Hot Springs pipes mineral water straight into spa motel pools, and the whole rhythm of a stay is pool, late breakfast and sunset over the mountains.

San Diego has no bathing tradition. It offers resort spas in La Jolla and Coronado and the yoga culture of Encinitas instead, and its busier districts are rarely quiet.