San Diego or Santa Barbara?

San Diego has the stronger coast for a beach trip. There are more beaches and more variety, from Coronado's broad flat sand to the busy Mission Beach and Pacific Beach boardwalk and the beginner surf at La Jolla Shores. The water is also a degree or two warmer in late summer.

Santa Barbara's south-facing shore is sheltered by the Channel Islands, so the surf is softer and Carpinteria's shallow beach suits toddlers well. Still, its beaches are pleasant extras to a town visit rather than the main event.

The two are evenly matched at the table but eat in quite different ways. San Diego is casual and border-driven, with Baja fish tacos, late taco shops, the Asian kitchens of Convoy Street and a craft-beer scene built on West Coast IPAs.

Santa Barbara is more about produce and wine. Harbour spot prawns and sea urchin, excellent farmers' markets and pinot noir from the nearby hills shape the menus, and you can walk between Funk Zone tasting rooms. Choose San Diego for range and beer, Santa Barbara for wine and farm-to-table dining.

Both are worth a few days of sightseeing, and both lean on Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, but the experience differs. San Diego gathers its museums in Balboa Park and adds the USS Midway, Old Town's adobes and the first California mission.

In Santa Barbara the town itself is the sight. Its unified white-and-red-tile centre, the County Courthouse tower and the Old Mission on the hill are best enjoyed on a slow walk rather than a round of museums.

San Diego has the better nights out, with genuinely different scenes to choose from. There are rooftop bars and dance clubs in the Gaslamp, a young beach-bar strip in Pacific Beach, brewery taprooms in North Park, and Hillcrest's gay bars.

Santa Barbara has no real club culture. An evening there means a Funk Zone wine bar, a long dinner and an early night, with State Street's student bars the only rowdier option.

Both are excellent outdoor bases, and the difference is in the landscape. Santa Barbara has mountains right behind the town, with trails to Seven Falls and Inspiration Point starting from residential streets and Los Padres National Forest beyond the ridge. Whale-watching boats and the Channel Islands round it out.

San Diego is more coastal and more varied further afield. It has the bluffs of Torrey Pines, the sea lions and sea caves at La Jolla Cove, and tide pools at Cabrillo, with pine-covered mountains and the Anza-Borrego desert an hour or more inland.

The choice of outings is broadly similar in size but different in character. San Diego's border is its unusual card: Tijuana by trolley, plus the Valle de Guadalupe vineyards across in Mexico, with Temecula wine country, Julian and the North County beach towns also within reach.

Santa Barbara has one standout trip, over the mountains to the Santa Ynez Valley wineries and Danish-founded Solvang. After that, Ojai and Ventura are the main options.

This is where the two differ most. San Diego is one of the best family destinations anywhere, with its great zoo and Safari Park, SeaWorld on Mission Bay, Legoland for younger children and a casual style that welcomes noisy tables.

Santa Barbara is gentle and safe, and its small hillside zoo, the wharf touch tanks and MOXI make a pleasant few days. Older children wanting big rides, though, would need to go to Los Angeles.

Santa Barbara is the easier of the two without a car. Its flat downtown runs straight from State Street to the shoreline path, buses and a shuttle cover the core, and the train stops near the beach. You only need wheels for the wine country and the trailheads.

San Diego's walkable core of the Gaslamp, Little Italy and the waterfront is small next to the size of the county. La Jolla, the beaches, Legoland and the Safari Park are far apart, so most visitors hire a car.

Neither is a shopping destination, but they offer different kinds of browsing. San Diego has scale: Fashion Valley's luxury brands and department stores, a large outlet centre by the border, and Mexican crafts in Old Town.

Santa Barbara is smaller and more charming, with boutiques around fountain courtyards off State Street, upmarket Montecito shops, and wine and market produce as the best things to take home.

Both are expensive, but San Diego is the easier of the two on a budget. Taco shops, taprooms, free beaches and Balboa Park's gardens keep everyday costs down, even if the big attractions charge heavily.

Santa Barbara's beach and Montecito rooms are among the priciest on the California coast, and dining and tastings are pitched at a wealthy crowd. Staying in Goleta or Ventura and visiting midweek are the main ways to save.

San Diego has a slight edge, and its strength is theatre. The Old Globe and La Jolla Playhouse are serious producing companies whose shows have gone on to Broadway, and the symphony plays a summer season on the bay.

Santa Barbara does well for its size, but its draw is the venues more than new work. The restored Granada, the historic Lobero, the Santa Barbara Bowl in its canyon and the summer concerts of the Music Academy of the West are the highlights.

Neither has a bathing tradition, and both rely on mild weather and resort spas, so they are close here. Santa Barbara feels a little more restful as a whole. Its quiet mornings, the hike to the hot pools above Montecito and the Ojai Valley spa resorts an hour away suit a true retreat.

San Diego's calm is found in pockets, such as the yoga culture and clifftop gardens of Encinitas and the spas of Coronado and La Jolla. Downtown and Pacific Beach stay noisy.