San Francisco or Sedona?

Neither is a swimming destination, but San Francisco at least has a real shoreline. Ocean Beach gives you miles to walk, Baker Beach looks at the Golden Gate Bridge and China Beach is a small sheltered cove. The Pacific is cold and the currents are dangerous, so the shore is for sunsets and bonfires.

Sedona has no coast at all. Its version is Oak Creek, where the sandstone chute at Slide Rock and the pools at Grasshopper Point make a cold, crowded break after a summer hike, and nothing more.

This is one of the widest gaps between the two. San Francisco cooks with produce from Northern California farms and seafood from the bay. Expect Mission burritos, sourdough and Dungeness crab, the Ferry Building market, Cantonese cooking in Chinatown and the Richmond, Italian bakeries in North Beach and a serious fine-dining tier.

Sedona mostly means resort terraces facing the red rock, Southwestern plates of chilli and grilled meat, and plenty for vegetarians. The few good kitchens are soon exhausted, although the Verde Valley tasting rooms nearby add interest, and a big breakfast before a hike suits the town best.

San Francisco has far more to see. There is Alcatraz, the cable cars on Nob Hill and the Victorians of Alamo Square, museums such as SFMOMA, the de Young and the Asian Art Museum, and neighbourhood history in Chinatown, the Mission and the Castro.

Sedona's list is short: the Chapel of the Holy Cross built into a butte, a small heritage museum and many galleries of Western and Native American art. Its most striking history lies out of town, at the Sinagua cliff dwellings of Palatki and Honanki.

After dark the two could hardly be further apart. San Francisco gives you a real night out, though it is spread across several districts. There are mezcal and cocktail bars in the Mission, old saloons in North Beach, the Castro's gay bars and warehouse clubs in SoMa. Last orders come fairly early for a big city, and many neighbourhoods are quiet on weeknights.

Sedona barely has a night out at all. Visitors are on the trail at dawn, so a brewpub or resort lounge after dinner is about the limit. The better show is the star-filled sky over the canyon.

Both are superb for time outdoors, but in Sedona the landscape is the main event. Trails run straight from town to Cathedral Rock, Bell Rock and Devil's Bridge, the slickrock singletrack draws mountain bikers, Oak Creek Canyon climbs into pine forest, and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is about two hours away.

San Francisco's strength is variety right beside a city. Lands End, Golden Gate Park and the Presidio are inside the city, while Muir Woods and the Marin Headlands are just across the bridge. Sailing, kayaking and whale watching are all there too, though fog and wind come with them.

San Francisco has the richer choice. Napa and Sonoma wine country is about an hour north, ferries cross to Sausalito, the coast road leads to Santa Cruz, and Monterey and Carmel are two hours south.

Sedona's outings are smaller but older. There are the Sinagua sites of Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot, the mining town of Jerome on its mountainside and the Verde Canyon Railroad, and a few days covers them.

San Francisco gives children much more to do. The Exploratorium can fill a whole day, the California Academy of Sciences puts an aquarium, a planetarium and a rainforest under one roof, and the sea lions at Fisherman's Wharf and the cable cars are easy treats. Steep hills and some rough downtown streets are the drawbacks.

Sedona suits outdoorsy families for a few days in a small, safe town, with Slide Rock in summer, short trails around Bell Rock and jeep tours. There is no zoo or aquarium, and the heat and exposed trails need care with small children.

San Francisco is compact, about 11km across. Muni, BART, the cable cars and the ferries all run on one Clipper card, so a car is more trouble than help, although the hills make walking hard work.

Sedona is the opposite. Only Uptown is walkable, and the trailheads, the chapel and every day trip need a car. Most visitors drive up from Phoenix, about two hours away.

Only one of the two has fashion shopping. In San Francisco, department stores and flagship brands ring Union Square. Hayes Valley's independent boutiques and the vintage clothes and bookshops on Valencia Street and in Haight-Ashbury make for better browsing.

Sedona's shopping is narrower and more particular. It centres on the galleries and craft studios of Tlaquepaque, Native American jewellery, pottery and rugs, and the town's crystal and metaphysical shops. For clothes, visitors drive to Phoenix.

Neither is a cheap trip, and the gap between them is small. In San Francisco the money goes on hotels, sit-down meals with tax and tipping added, and drinks. Cheap taquerias and dim sum, inexpensive transport, free parks and free museum days soften the bill.

Sedona's costs come from resort lodging and paid extras such as jeep tours, balloon flights and spa treatments. Trails cost little beyond a parking pass, and staying in Cottonwood or Flagstaff brings the room bill down.

San Francisco has a full calendar. The War Memorial Opera House hosts the opera and the country's oldest professional ballet company, and the Symphony plays at Davies Hall. On top of that there is drama at the American Conservatory Theater, jazz at SFJAZZ and rock at the Fillmore.

Sedona offers occasional chamber concerts, local theatre, a long-running film festival in late winter and acoustic sets in resort bars. For anything bigger, people drive to Phoenix or Flagstaff.

Sedona is built for this. Destination spas look over the red canyons, yoga, meditation and breathwork sessions are everywhere, and sunrise walks to the vortex sites set a slow rhythm. Treatments come at resort prices, though, and there are no hot springs.

San Francisco moves at a work-driven pace. It has day spas, yoga studios and a Japanese-style bathhouse in Japantown, and the Japanese Tea Garden is good for a quiet hour. For a proper soak, Calistoga's mud baths are about two hours away.