San Jose or Sun Valley?

Neither place is for a beach vacation, but San Jose at least has the ocean within a drive. Over the Santa Cruz Mountains, Santa Cruz, Capitola and the Monterey Bay coves give you a real beach-town day, even if the cold water means wetsuits or paddling.

Sun Valley is hundreds of kilometres from any coast. The swimming options are Redfish Lake under the Sawtooths in high summer, which is cold and an hour away, river eddies on the Big Wood and the heated pools.

San Jose has the much richer table, as long as you drive to it. The east side and Little Saigon serve some of the best Vietnamese food in the country, and there are serious taquerias, Indian and Korean corridors and old family places in Japantown, though they are spread across suburban plazas rather than walkable streets.

Sun Valley's eating is concentrated in Ketchum. That means après-ski grills, early breakfast spots and a few ambitious kitchens cooking local trout, lamb and elk. It is pleasant but narrow, with little that is cheap and quieter kitchens in the off-season months.

San Jose has more to see, though neither is a sightseeing destination. The Winchester Mystery House, the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, Mission Santa Clara and the Computer History Museum will fill a couple of days of distinctly Californian curiosities.

Sun Valley's story is short. The lodge was built in 1936 as America's first destination ski resort, and Hemingway spent his last years in Ketchum and is buried there. With a small museum and some galleries, it all fits into an afternoon.

San Jose gives you more choice after dark. San Pedro Square has pubs and beer halls around game and concert nights, and SoFA on South First Street has cocktail bars, dive bars and a few weekend dance clubs. Even so, the city goes quiet early and San Francisco is where the big nights are.

In Sun Valley, a night out means après-ski in Ketchum's saloons, wine bars and hotel lounges, with perhaps a band on a winter weekend. There are no clubs, and out of season the evening ends soon after dinner.

Sun Valley is the place for serious mountain time. Bald Mountain's long, steep runs start in Ketchum, and there is Nordic and backcountry skiing in winter. Summer brings mountain biking, fly fishing on Silver Creek, rafting on the Salmon and alpine lakes in the Sawtooths, all close at hand.

San Jose has real outdoor rewards too, though they are gentler and need a car. There are redwood groves at Big Basin and Henry Cowell, foothill walks in Alum Rock Park, sea otters and whales on Monterey Bay and the headlands of Point Lobos.

For day trips, the two are worlds apart. From San Jose you can reach San Francisco by Caltrain in about an hour, and Stanford, Berkeley, Santa Cruz, Monterey and Carmel and the wine country are all within a day. It is one of the best-placed bases on the West Coast.

From Sun Valley the outings head into empty country rather than to other places. Hailey's small main street, log-cabin Stanley and Shoshone Falls two hours south are about the extent of it.

San Jose has far more that is built for children. There is a theme park next door in Santa Clara, a small zoo at Happy Hollow, the children's discovery museum and the IMAX dome downtown, and the Boardwalk rides and Monterey Bay Aquarium are within a day. The trade-off is long hours in the car.

Sun Valley is safe, quiet and easy for families who ski or hike, and it has a separate beginners' hill and a good ski school. Without a zoo, aquarium or rides, though, wet days and teenagers who don't ski are harder to keep happy.

Sun Valley is the easier place to get around during a resort stay. Ketchum is small and flat, a free bus links the town, the village and the lift bases, and a bike path runs down the valley, so a ski week without a car is realistic. Trailheads and the Sawtooths still need one.

San Jose has a walkable downtown, light rail and the Caltrain line to San Francisco. The sights, malls and parks are spread across a freeway valley, though, so most visitors hire a car or use ride-hailing and plan around rush hour.

San Jose is the better place to shop, mostly because of its big west-side mall and the open-air boutique street beside it, where nearly every international and luxury brand is in one place. Willow Glen, Los Gatos, Japantown and the Asian supermarkets add some independent browsing.

Sun Valley's few Ketchum blocks have a narrow focus: western and fine art galleries, excellent ski and fly-fishing gear, and pricey cashmere and home decor for second-home owners.

Neither is cheap, but San Jose has more ways to spend less. The hotels are priced for business travel and drop at weekends, and the Vietnamese and Mexican plaza eateries remain fair value. Car hire and parking do add up, though.

Sun Valley's prices are set by a wealthy second-home crowd and by lift access, and budget beds are scarce. Staying down the valley, using the free buses and coming in spring or autumn helps a little.

The two are broadly level, but their calendars look quite different. San Jose has a modest programme all year: Opera San José in the restored California Theatre, the symphony and touring Broadway shows, arena concerts and a summer jazz festival downtown.

Sun Valley packs nearly everything into summer. The music festival brings a full orchestra to the pavilion by the lodge for free concerts with picnics on the lawn, and star skaters perform on the outdoor rink. For the rest of the year there is very little on.

Sun Valley is the more restful place. The resort and larger hotels have full spas, and the steaming outdoor pools are especially good in falling snow. Up Warm Springs there are rough natural hot springs by the creek, and the town slows right down once the lifts close.

San Jose runs to the rhythm of the working week. Unwinding there means hotel or Korean-style day spas, the Japanese gardens at Hakone and Kelley Park, or an afternoon in leafy Los Gatos or Saratoga.