San Francisco or South Lake Tahoe?

Neither place is a warm-water beach destination, but only South Lake Tahoe gives you real swimming. In midsummer, the shallows off Pope, Baldwin and Kiva beaches or the boulder coves of Sand Harbor are clear enough and just warm enough for a swim, with the pines right behind the sand.

San Francisco's shore is better for looking at than for getting into. Ocean Beach has rip currents and Baker Beach is good mainly for its views of the Golden Gate. Only wetsuited regulars swim at Aquatic Park, so a day at the beach here means a walk or a sunset bonfire.

San Francisco is far ahead on food, and eating is a reason to go in its own right. Expect Mission burritos, sourdough, Dungeness crab, dim sum in the Richmond, Italian bakeries in North Beach, the farmers' market at the Ferry Building and an excellent fine-dining scene.

South Lake Tahoe has resort food: casino steakhouses, brewpubs and diners for skiers along Highway 50, with local craft beer as the highlight. Most visitors end up cooking in their cabin, which is not a hardship when the days are spent outdoors.

San Francisco gives you several days of sightseeing, and South Lake Tahoe gives you a morning. The city has Alcatraz, Coit Tower, the Palace of Fine Arts, the Legion of Honor and the mural-covered alleys of the Mission. Since the 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed so much, most of what you see dates from the early twentieth century rather than older times, but three or four days pass easily.

South Lake Tahoe has only a handful of things to see indoors or out. The Tallac Historic Site keeps the pine-shaded summer estates that wealthy San Franciscans built by the shore, Vikingsholm's Scandinavian-style mansion sits at the bottom of a steep path above Emerald Bay, and a small museum covers the Washoe people and the logging years. After that, it's the landscape you've come for.

San Francisco offers more choice of where to go. Mission cocktail and mezcal bars, the old saloons of North Beach, the Castro's gay bars and the warehouse clubs of SoMa make a decent night out, though last orders are at 2am.

South Lake Tahoe works the other way round. The casino floors at Stateline stay open all night, but there is almost nothing else after dark, and the friendliest hour of the day is après-ski at the foot of the gondola.

Both places are very good for the outdoors, but South Lake Tahoe works on a larger scale. San Francisco's nature is coastal and starts in the city itself, with the clifftop path at Lands End, the woods of the Presidio and Golden Gate Park running out to the ocean. The Marin Headlands and the redwoods of Muir Woods are within half an hour across the bridge, and Point Reyes, with its elk and elephant seals, is a separate full-day outing. Expect fog and sea wind more often than summit views.

South Lake Tahoe is a true alpine base. Emerald Bay and the deep blue lake are right next to town, the granite basins and lakes of the Desolation Wilderness begin a few minutes away, and the Flume Trail and the Tahoe Rim Trail are there for longer days out. In winter there is proper skiing, which San Francisco cannot offer.

San Francisco has the better day trips. Napa and Sonoma are about an hour away, ferries cross to Sausalito and Tiburon, and the coast road leads to Santa Cruz, Monterey's aquarium and Carmel.

From South Lake Tahoe, the outings are Gold Rush and silver boom history: the boardwalks of Virginia City, the gold discovery site at Coloma and Genoa's old settlement, plus Reno's casinos. They make a good rainy-day alternative, but you wouldn't plan a trip around them.

San Francisco has the edge with children because it has things to do whatever the weather. The Exploratorium and the California Academy of Sciences can each fill a day, and the sea lions at Fisherman's Wharf and the cable cars are easy treats. The drawbacks are the steep hills with a pushchair and some downtown streets you may prefer to avoid on foot.

South Lake Tahoe is a fine outdoor playground, with shallow beaches and bike paths in summer and ski schools and sledding hills in winter. But a stormy day leaves little to do indoors, and almost everything needs a car.

San Francisco is the easier place to be without a car. It is a compact city, and Muni, BART, the streetcars, the cable cars and the bay ferries all take a single Clipper card, though the hills turn short walks into climbs.

In South Lake Tahoe, only the area around Stateline and the gondola is walkable. Beaches, trailheads and the other ski areas are spread out, traffic around Emerald Bay crawls on summer weekends, and winter storms can bring chain controls on the roads in.

San Francisco is pleasant for browsing. Union Square has the department stores and flagship brands, while the more individual shopping is in Hayes Valley's boutiques, the bookshops and vintage stores on Valencia Street, and Haight-Ashbury.

In South Lake Tahoe, shopping means buying or renting ski gear, stocking up at the supermarket and picking up a souvenir sweatshirt near the gondola. A few galleries of lake photography are the only thing in town to browse for pleasure.

Both are expensive, but South Lake Tahoe is somewhat easier on the budget. Casino hotels on the Nevada side discount heavily midweek and in spring and autumn, and a cabin with a kitchen keeps food costs down, though peak ski weeks, lift tickets and high summer bring prices back up.

San Francisco is among the costliest cities in the country at any time of year, with tax and tips added to high restaurant bills. Taquerias, Chinatown dim sum, free museum days and walks across the bridge help, but only a little.

San Francisco is a real performing arts city. It has its own opera, the country's oldest professional ballet company, a full symphony season at Davies Hall, serious theatre at A.C.T., jazz at SFJAZZ and rock history at the Fillmore.

South Lake Tahoe relies on casino showrooms for touring acts and comedians, plus summer evenings outdoors, the best of them being the Shakespeare festival on the beach at Sand Harbor.

The two are broadly level for relaxation, but in different ways. In San Francisco you relax in town, in the Japantown bathhouse, at day spas and yoga studios or in the Japanese Tea Garden. The nearest real hot springs, the mud baths at Calistoga, are a long drive north.

South Lake Tahoe puts natural soaks closer. Grover Hot Springs and the Carson Valley resorts are an easy afternoon out, and quiet mornings by the lake do much of the rest, though the spas in town are mostly casino and lodge facilities for sore legs after skiing.