Santa Barbara or Snowbird?

Santa Barbara has a real beach life. The Channel Islands shelter its south-facing coast, and the sand runs from East and West Beach in town to Arroyo Burro and the shallow state beach at Carpinteria. The cool water keeps most swims short, but the shore is part of every day.

Snowbird is high in the Wasatch, far from any coast. Swimming there means the resort's heated pools, or a drive to the Heber Valley reservoirs and their cold mountain water.

Santa Barbara eats far better. Spot prawns and sea urchin come off the harbour boats, the farmers' markets are well stocked, and the Urban Wine Trail lets you taste local pinot noir on foot. The taquerias along Milpas Street balance the polished dining in Montecito.

Snowbird's food is resort food: lodge restaurants, slopeside cafeterias and burgers at après-ski, with nothing local to it. For variety you have to drive forty minutes down the canyon to Salt Lake City.

Santa Barbara's sights are modest but real. After the 1925 earthquake the centre was rebuilt in Spanish Colonial Revival style, so you get the County Courthouse and its clock tower, the Old Mission, the Presidio and two good museums. Together they fill a couple of easy days.

Snowbird has almost nothing in this line. Its concrete lodges date from 1971, and the canyon's mining past has left little behind, so history and museums mean a trip down to Salt Lake City.

Neither place is for clubbing, but Santa Barbara at least gives you an evening. There are Funk Zone taprooms, wine bars and the student-filled bars on lower State Street. At Snowbird the high point is the sunny après-ski deck at the end of the day, and by mid-evening the base is asleep before the first tram.

Snowbird is the bigger outdoor destination. The tram climbs to about 3,350m, and seasons often bring more than 12m of dry snow onto steep chutes, open bowls and the run across Mineral Basin to Alta. In summer the same mountain opens onto the Lone Peak and Twin Peaks wilderness, granite climbing and the meadows of Albion Basin.

Santa Barbara's outdoors is softer and more varied. There are chaparral canyon hikes such as Rattlesnake Canyon and Seven Falls, whale watching from the harbour, surfing at Rincon and boat trips to the Channel Islands. Summer fires sometimes close the trails.

Santa Barbara has the better outing. Over the mountains, the Santa Ynez Valley combines wineries with Danish Solvang and the restored mission at La Purisima, and Ojai and Ventura make easy second choices.

From Snowbird, the trips are mostly about towns. Salt Lake City has Temple Square and the State Capitol, and Park City keeps its Victorian Main Street. Beyond those two there are pleasant small stops such as Midway and Sundance.

Santa Barbara is the easier choice with children of any age. It has the hilltop zoo, the touch tanks at the Sea Center, the MOXI science museum and calm water at Carpinteria, all in mild weather.

Snowbird suits families who already ski, and teenagers more than toddlers, because the mountain leans steep. The car-free base and the summer coaster and alpine slide help, but the altitude tires small children, and the zoo and museums are in Salt Lake City.

Santa Barbara is a little easier. You can arrive by the coastal train, walk the flat run of State Street to the shore and use buses or the shoreline path, though trailheads and the wine country need a car.

At Snowbird everything inside the resort is a short walk. The trouble is the single canyon road, which clogs on powder mornings and sometimes closes for avalanche control.

Santa Barbara gives you somewhere to browse. There are boutiques and galleries in courtyard paseos such as La Arcada, upmarket shops in Montecito and wine to take home.

Snowbird's shops sell ski gear, goggles and resort-branded clothing, and that is all. For real shopping you drive to Salt Lake City's malls or Park City's main street.

Both are expensive, in different ways. In Santa Barbara you pay for beachside and Montecito rooms and wealthy-crowd dining. Free hikes and beaches, taquerias, midweek dates and a bed in Goleta or Ventura keep costs down.

At Snowbird the costs are lift tickets, rentals and slopeside rooms in peak winter weeks. Multi-resort passes, sleeping in Salt Lake City and driving up, or coming in summer bring the price down.

Santa Barbara has a surprising stage life for its size. The Granada hosts the symphony, opera and ballet, the historic Lobero has jazz and chamber music, and touring bands play the Santa Barbara Bowl in its canyon.

Snowbird offers summer plaza concerts, Oktoberfest oompah bands and the odd après-ski band. Anything more serious means a drive down to Salt Lake City.

Santa Barbara is better for unwinding. The slow pace and mild sun are the main cure, there are polished resort spas in Montecito and yoga studios in town, and the long spa tradition of the Ojai Valley is an hour away.

Snowbird's relaxation centres on one large spa above the main lodge. Its rooftop pool and hot tubs face the canyon walls, and it is at its best after a hard ski day. The Homestead crater in Midway adds a warm mineral soak.