Scottish Highlands or Yorkshire Dales?

The Highlands have real beaches, and spectacular ones: the silver sands of Morar and Arisaig, Achmelvich in Assynt and remote Sandwood Bay. The water is cold, so think walks, picnics and a quick dip in a wetsuit rather than lazy swimming.

The Dales are inland and have no seaside at all. Their swimming is in river pools on the Wharfe near Grassington and below the Swale falls at Keld. These are cold and rise fast after rain.

The Highlands have the better produce. Langoustines, scallops and oysters come straight off boats in Oban, Ullapool and Portree, and Skye and Wester Ross have dining rooms worth the drive. The whisky distilleries add a second draw. Away from the coast, though, village eating is thin.

The Dales eat like rural England at its most comforting: Wensleydale cheese with fruit cake in Hawes, bitter from Masham's breweries and good dining pubs in Wharfedale. It is satisfying food, but there are fewer standout meals.

There is about as much to see in each, but the history is different. The Highlands tell a story of conflict and loss: Culloden, the Glencoe massacre, the empty townships left by the Clearances, and castles like Eilean Donan and Urquhart set in dramatic scenery.

The Dales are medieval and pastoral. Skipton and Richmond have castles and markets, Bolton Priory stands by the river, and the Ribblehead Viaduct and the lead-mining remains show the working landscape. The sights are closer together, so you can see more in a day.

Neither is a place to go out, but the Highlands have a little more life after dark. Inverness has its riverside pubs and late bars, and pubs in Fort William and Portree fill up with climbers. The Dales are quieter still. Expect a village fire and a pint, a slightly livelier Skipton at weekends, and a drive to Leeds for anything more.

Both are walking country, but the Highlands are on a different scale. Glencoe, the Cuillin ridge, the arctic plateau of the Cairngorms and the islands bring proper mountaineering, scrambling, sea kayaking and wildlife such as sea eagles, otters and dolphins.

The Dales offer greener, gentler fells. Their strengths are limestone at Malham Cove and Gordale Scar, the Three Peaks challenge, some of Britain's best caving around Ingleton and climbs like the Buttertubs for road cyclists.

Highland outings are lovely but few and far between. From Oban, ferries cross to Mull's Tobermory and on to the abbey on Iona. Inverness gives you the Black Isle, Speyside and the cathedral ruins at Elgin, and Fort William has the line to Mallaig. The places themselves are small, and the slow roads turn each one into a full day.

The Dales have far more within reach, but which trips are close depends on where you stay. From the eastern dales, Fountains Abbey, Ripon and Harrogate are short hops and York is about an hour away, while from Richmond, Durham's cathedral is a short drive north. A base on the southern side puts Haworth's Brontë parsonage and Saltaire close by, and the western dales open the way to Kirkby Lonsdale, Lancaster and the Lake District.

The Dales are more practical with children. Show caves, paddling spots, farm parks, a steam railway near Skipton and castles are all a short drive apart, and older children can try gorge scrambling or caving.

The Highlands have big moments: the Glenfinnan steam train, reindeer in the Cairngorms and dolphins at Chanonry Point. But the long drives and summer midges are hard on small children, so Aviemore is the base that makes it work.

Both need a car, but the Dales are far less demanding. Distances are short, the Settle to Carlisle line drops you near walks at Horton and Ribblehead, and from many villages you can walk straight out of the door.

In the Highlands, single-track roads with passing places, camper vans and ferry bookings turn short distances into half-days. Trains and buses rarely reach the beaches and trailheads you came for.

Neither is a shopping trip, and both reward buying local. In the Highlands that means tweed, knitwear, tartan, whisky from the distillery and craft studios on Skye. The Dales offer market-town browsing in Skipton and Hawes, cheese, antiques and wool crafts, and Harrogate or York are close by for anything more.

Neither is cheap, but the Dales are kinder to the wallet. Summer rooms on Skye, around Glencoe and along the northern coastal route are scarce and sell out early, and long drives add to the fuel bill.

In the Dales, campsites, bunkhouses and self-catering cottages keep a group's costs down, and shorter distances mean less spent getting about. Spring and autumn are cheaper in both.

The Highlands have the stronger living tradition. Fiddle and pipe sessions in pubs and village halls, ceilidhs, Gaelic song in the west and summer Highland games give visitors music without needing a ticket, and Inverness has a sizeable theatre.

The Dales are quieter outside festival weeks. Their highlights are Richmond's tiny Georgian Theatre Royal from 1788, the Swaledale Festival in village churches, and brass bands and choirs.

Both offer slowness rather than spas, and both do it equally well. The Highlands give deeper remoteness: a cottage at the end of a single-track road and cold-water dips in a loch. The Dales add one thing the Highlands lack nearby, the Victorian Turkish Baths in Harrogate, a short drive away for a hot soak after a day on the fells.