Seattle or South Lake Tahoe?

Neither is a beach destination, but South Lake Tahoe makes more of its shore. Pope, Baldwin and Nevada beaches are at the edge of town, the water is clear over white sand, and in July and August the shallows warm up enough for a proper swim. The deeper lake stays bracing.

Seattle's sandy strips at Alki and Golden Gardens are for bonfires and sunsets over the Olympics rather than swimming, because Puget Sound stays cold all summer. Swimmers go to the lifeguarded beaches on Lake Washington or to Green Lake instead. These make a pleasant afternoon but are never a reason to come.

Seattle is by far the better place to eat. Its table is built on oysters from the Sound, Dungeness crab and wild salmon, and Pike Place Market is worth a morning of grazing. The International District and the eastern suburbs add serious Vietnamese, Japanese and Korean cooking, with coffee and Washington wines alongside.

South Lake Tahoe feeds people between ski runs and hikes. The choice is casino steakhouses and buffets, brewpubs, taquerias and a few rooms with lake views. Local craft beer is the highlight, and many visitors end up cooking in their cabin.

Seattle is not a heritage city, but it has two or three solid days of sights. These include the Space Needle and the Museum of Pop Culture at Seattle Center, the Seattle Art Museum, the Burke, the Museum of Flight and the blocks of Pioneer Square rebuilt after the 1889 fire.

South Lake Tahoe has a short list tied to its past as a summer retreat: the estates at the Tallac Historic Site, Vikingsholm at Emerald Bay and a small history museum. Here the real sights are outdoors.

Seattle has a proper night out. The Pike and Pine strip on Capitol Hill packs cocktail bars, dive bars, dance floors and the city's LGBTQ+ scene into a few walkable blocks. Ballard's taprooms and Belltown's clubs are the alternatives, although last call at 2am stops the night running very late.

South Lake Tahoe works the other way round. The bars in the Stateline casinos stay open all night, but there is little choice and no bar district to wander. On the California side an evening means brewpubs, après-ski at the gondola base and an early night before the slopes.

Both are superb bases for the outdoors, and Seattle's range is the wider. The Cascades begin under an hour east at Mount Si and Snoqualmie Pass, the glaciers and alpine meadows of Mount Rainier are about two hours away, and the Olympic rainforest lies across the Sound. In town, kayaking on Lake Union, the bluffs of Discovery Park and ferry rides with the occasional orca fill the days between bigger trips.

South Lake Tahoe has the edge because the best of it is so close. The granite basins of the Desolation Wilderness and the view over Emerald Bay are a short drive from town, and the Heavenly gondola rises straight from Stateline. A mountain day starts soon after breakfast rather than after a long drive, and the Tahoe Rim Trail runs right round the basin for longer outings.

Both have a handful of good outings rather than a famous list, but the outings are different in character. Seattle's best days out are on the water, with ferries to Bainbridge Island, Whidbey and Victorian Port Townsend. Woodinville's tasting rooms and Tacoma's Museum of Glass are close by road.

From South Lake Tahoe the drives lead into Gold Rush and silver-boom country: the boardwalks of Virginia City, Genoa, Carson City, Coloma and the Amador vineyards. Reno is within reach for a bigger casino city. These trips are best kept for a day when the weather closes the mountains.

Seattle has the edge for children because it has plenty for a wet day. Woodland Park Zoo, the aquarium, the Pacific Science Center and the Museum of Flight are all there, and the ferries and the monorail are outings in themselves. The drawbacks are the steep downtown streets and the grey months.

South Lake Tahoe works well for active families in season. Summer has shallow sandy beaches and bike paths, and winter has ski schools and sledding hills. With no zoo, aquarium or indoor attractions, though, a stormy day is much harder to fill, and nearly everything needs a car.

Seattle is far easier without a car. You can walk the centre from Pike Place to Pioneer Square, and Link light rail runs from the airport through downtown to Capitol Hill. One card covers the buses, the monorail and the water taxis. Ballard and Alki are slow by bus, and the national parks need a car.

In South Lake Tahoe only the core around Stateline and the gondola is walkable, with free shuttles along the highway and up to the slopes in winter. The beaches, trailheads and Emerald Bay are spread out, and Highway 50 clogs on summer weekends. In winter the drive in can mean chains and pass closures.

Seattle offers real browsing. Downtown has department stores and large outdoor gear shops, and Pike Place has makers' stalls. Capitol Hill has vintage clothing and record shops, Fremont has boutiques and a Sunday market, Ballard has design shops, and Bellevue covers luxury.

South Lake Tahoe's shopping is ski hire, outdoor kit and souvenirs around the gondola base, plus a few galleries selling lake photography. There is nothing worth an afternoon of its own.

Both are expensive, but South Lake Tahoe gives you more ways to save. The Nevada casino hotels discount heavily midweek and in the shoulder seasons, a cabin kitchen cuts food costs, and the lake, beaches and trails are free. Peak ski weeks and lift tickets still cost a lot.

In Seattle the costs are harder to avoid. Hotels are dear in summer and the cruise season, tax and tipping add to every meal, and the main sights charge high admissions. Public transport, food halls and teriyaki counters help, and so does staying near the light rail outside the centre.

Seattle has a full stage calendar. Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet perform at McCaw Hall, the symphony plays at Benaroya Hall, and there is the Seattle Rep, with musicals at the 5th Avenue and the Paramount. Its deepest strength is rock music in the city of Hendrix and grunge, with bands in Belltown, Capitol Hill and Ballard most nights.

South Lake Tahoe relies on casino showrooms for touring acts, comedians and tribute shows. Summer is better, with Shakespeare on the beach at Sand Harbor and concerts at the Tallac estates. There is no resident theatre company or classical season.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, and in both the spas are mostly in hotels, so the difference is in what lies around them. South Lake Tahoe has natural hot springs within easy reach, at Grover Hot Springs and the Carson Valley resorts, as well as quiet cabin mornings by the lake.

Seattle's hot springs are a long drive into the mountains. Relaxing there means Korean-style bathhouses in the suburbs, the Japanese Garden and slow mornings in neighbourhood coffee houses.