San Diego or San Jose?

This is San Diego's strongest card. Its shoreline runs from Coronado's broad strand past the Mission Beach and Pacific Beach boardwalk to the cliff-backed beaches of North County. You can choose between surf, families paddling in Mission Bay and gentle waves at La Jolla Shores, and in late summer the water is warm enough to swim properly.

San Jose has no beach of its own. Santa Cruz and Capitola are a drive over the mountains that can drag on summer weekends, and the water there stays cold enough that most people paddle or stay on the sand. It is a day out, not the base for a beach vacation.

The two eat quite differently, and San Diego is slightly ahead. Its strengths are casual and local: Baja-style fish tacos eaten by the water, late-night taco shops, a dense craft-beer scene in North Park and along the coast, and the Asian kitchens of Convoy Street.

San Jose's best cooking is Vietnamese, and it is very good, but it is spread across east-side strip malls and suburban plazas, so you need a car and some local knowledge. Downtown dining is fairly generic. The wineries and smarter restaurants of Los Gatos and Saratoga add a slower, more polished option.

San Diego has more to see. Balboa Park gathers a whole day's worth of museums in its Spanish Colonial Revival buildings, and the USS Midway, the historic ships, Old Town's adobes and the first California mission add plenty of history around the city.

San Jose has a few memorable oddities instead: the Winchester Mystery House with its staircases to nowhere, the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, and the Silicon Valley story at the Computer History Museum. Beyond these the historic core is thin, and a couple of days covers it.

A night out in San Diego starts with choosing a neighbourhood, because each has its own scene. The Gaslamp has rooftop bars and dance clubs, Pacific Beach is a young, beery strip by the sand, and North Park has cocktail bars and taprooms, with Hillcrest as the centre of gay nightlife. Away from the Gaslamp and Pacific Beach, most places wind down well before last call.

San Jose's night out fits into a few downtown blocks: the pubs and covered market of San Pedro Square before arena events, and the SoFA bars along South First Street. It fills up on Fridays and Saturdays and is quiet the rest of the week, so anyone after a bigger night takes the train to San Francisco.

Both are good bases for the outdoors, but the settings are different. San Diego's nature is mostly on the coast: the sandstone bluffs of Torrey Pines, the sea lions and kayak caves of La Jolla, the tide pools at Cabrillo, surfing everywhere, with the mountains and the Anza-Borrego desert about an hour or more inland.

San Jose looks to the hills. The redwood groves of Big Basin and Henry Cowell, the ridge trails at Castle Rock and the foothill parks on the city's edge are the draw, and Monterey Bay's sea otters and Pinnacles are further out. Almost all of it needs a car, while much of San Diego's coast can be reached by bike path.

San Jose clearly has the better excursions. San Francisco is an easy train ride away, Stanford and Berkeley are close, and Monterey, Carmel and Santa Cruz make full days out. Napa and Sonoma are also within reach, which puts some of California's best-known sights inside a day.

San Diego's list is shorter but more unusual. You can walk across the border to Tijuana or drive to the Valle de Guadalupe vineyards, and Temecula, Julian and the coastal towns by train are also options. Los Angeles is a long day rather than an easy one.

San Diego is one of the best places in the country to take children. The zoo and the Safari Park, SeaWorld on Mission Bay, Legoland in Carlsbad and the calm bay beaches mean a whole week can go by without repeating anything. Restaurants and hotels expect children.

San Jose works for families on a smaller scale. Great America and the gentle Happy Hollow zoo are good for an outing, but its standout attractions, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, are long drives away.

Both are car cities, and San Diego is a little easier. Its walkable downtown and Little Italy connect by trolley to Old Town and the border, and coastal trains reach the beach towns. La Jolla and the theme parks still mean driving or ride-hailing.

San Jose's light rail and Caltrain cover a north-south line well, and the train to San Francisco is reliable. Almost everything else, from the mansion to the foothills and the coast, sits across freeways that clog at rush hour.

Neither is a reason to travel for shopping, and the difference is in kind. San Jose concentrates its strengths in one place: a huge regional mall on the west side next to an open-air street of brand boutiques, which is convenient if you want international labels.

San Diego spreads things out more, but it has more character. Little Italy and North Park have vintage and design shops, La Jolla has galleries, Old Town sells Mexican pottery and crafts, and there is an outlet centre at the border.

In San Diego the big costs are the headline attractions. The zoo, the Safari Park, SeaWorld and Legoland all charge high admission, and hotels near the beaches and downtown are at their dearest in summer. Free beaches, the gardens of Balboa Park and the taco shops bring a day's spending down, which leaves San Diego a little easier on the wallet.

In San Jose the hotels cost the most, because they are priced for business travel. They are dearest midweek and noticeably cheaper at weekends, so it is worth timing a stay to include a weekend. Car hire, fuel and parking are hard to avoid. Meals stay reasonable in the Vietnamese and Mexican eateries in the suburban plazas.

San Diego has the stronger stage. The Old Globe and the La Jolla Playhouse are serious producing theatres that have sent shows to Broadway. Add the symphony's summer concerts on the bay and free organ recitals in Balboa Park, and an evening at the theatre is easy to fit in.

San Jose's calendar is more modest. Opera in the restored California Theatre and the summer jazz festival are its highlights, but on an ordinary weeknight the choice is thin, and serious arts lovers head to San Francisco.

San Diego is the easier place to slow down. Resort spas in La Jolla, Coronado and Carlsbad, the yoga culture of Encinitas and unhurried beach-town mornings set a relaxed pace that San Jose lacks.

San Jose does have something San Diego does not: Korean-style bathhouses with saunas and soaking pools in the valley towns. For calm, though, you need the Japanese gardens at Hakone and Kelley Park or the quiet streets of Los Gatos, because the rest of the city runs on the working week.