San Jose or Santa Monica?

This is Santa Monica's home ground. The pale sand begins at the edge of town, the pier sits in the middle, and Zuma, El Matador and Point Dume are a short drive north for quieter, more scenic coves. Swimming is possible in late summer, as long as you keep away from the pier.

For San Jose the beach is a day out over the Santa Cruz Mountains to Santa Cruz or Capitola, often slow on summer weekends, and the water there is colder still. Expect to paddle or surf in a wetsuit rather than swim.

The two eat about equally well, but in very different ways. San Jose's strength is immigrant cooking: one of the country's largest Vietnamese communities, good taquerias and Korean and Indian places, all spread across suburban plazas that you reach by car.

Santa Monica cooks around California produce, with the Wednesday farmers market feeding seasonal menus, seafood and brunch on walkable Main Street and Montana Avenue. It is more polished and much easier on foot, but the cheap, deep ethnic food San Jose does so well is a long drive east from here.

Neither is a sightseeing city, and both have a few hours of curiosities rather than a historic core. San Jose's oddities are its own, such as the Winchester Mystery House, the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum and the Computer History Museum's account of Silicon Valley.

Santa Monica's best culture lies just outside town: the Getty Center on its hilltop and the antiquities of the Getty Villa, both of a higher calibre than anything in San Jose but both reached by car.

Both are low-key places to go out and both send serious night owls elsewhere, San Jose's to San Francisco and Santa Monica's to Hollywood. San Jose has the edge for dancing, with a few weekend clubs in SoFA and the beer halls of San Pedro Square around arena events.

Santa Monica is about drinks with a view: rooftop bars over the ocean, Main Street pubs and the looser crowd in Venice. It is livelier on more nights of the week, but the evening tends to end early.

Both have excellent hills right on the doorstep, and the difference is in the scenery. San Jose has redwoods: Big Basin, Henry Cowell and Castle Rock in the Santa Cruz Mountains, with sea otters, kayaking and the headlands of Point Lobos on Monterey Bay further out.

Santa Monica swaps the forest for dry chaparral canyons in Topanga and Temescal and adds the sea at its feet, with a paved path along the sand, surf lessons and dolphins seen from the shore. Most of it can be reached without a long drive.

San Jose is clearly the better base for excursions. San Francisco is a train ride away, Stanford and Palo Alto are on the doorstep, and Santa Cruz, Monterey and Carmel make full, varied days with wine country in both directions.

Santa Monica has good options too, among them Santa Barbara's mission town, Laguna Beach, Catalina by ferry and the Huntington in Pasadena. They are spread further apart, however, and how many you manage depends on Los Angeles traffic.

Both work well with children, and Santa Monica is slightly easier day to day. Its lifeguarded sand, the pier's rides and small aquarium, and the flat bike path are all within walking distance, though visible homelessness downtown bothers some parents.

San Jose's attractions involve more driving: Great America in Santa Clara, Happy Hollow for little ones and a children's discovery museum downtown. The Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, however, give it two outstanding family days out.

Santa Monica is much easier without a car. Its core is walkable, the blue buses fill the gaps, and the E Line light rail runs all the way to downtown Los Angeles. The Getty, Malibu and the theme parks still need ride-hailing or a car.

In San Jose, only downtown is truly walkable. Caltrain is reliable for San Francisco, but the mansion, the foothills and the coast are scattered across the valley, so most visitors hire a car and plan around rush hour.

Santa Monica has more character. Montana Avenue's boutiques, the surf shops on Main Street and Abbot Kinney's design stores in Venice give you streets to wander, and Rodeo Drive is nearby for luxury.

San Jose does malls, and does them well, with the huge west-side mall and its open-air boutique street covering most big brands in one stop. Beyond that, browsing is limited to Japantown, Los Gatos and the Asian supermarkets.

Both are expensive, and Santa Monica is the more expensive. Beachfront hotels in summer and restaurant bills with tax and tip add up quickly, although the beach, trails and cheap local transit help.

San Jose's prices are driven by business travel, so a weekend stay can be noticeably cheaper, and the suburban Vietnamese and Mexican eateries keep meals reasonable. Car hire is the cost that is hard to avoid there.

The two are evenly matched on modest local stages, and each looks to a bigger neighbour for more. San Jose has its own opera company in the restored California Theatre and a summer jazz festival filling downtown, with San Francisco's programme a train ride away.

Santa Monica leans towards the intimate, with chamber music and dance at the Broad Stage, folk rooms and free summer concerts on the pier. The Hollywood Bowl and Disney Concert Hall are close on the map but a slow drive away.

Santa Monica is the better place to slow down. Yoga on the sand, morning runs along the ocean, beachfront spas and the daily sunset give the stay a restful rhythm, even without any bathing tradition.

San Jose offers it in small pockets: Korean-style bathhouses in the valley towns, the Japanese gardens at Hakone and Kelley Park, and the quiet streets of Los Gatos and Saratoga, all set within a busy, working city.