Sonoma or South Lake Tahoe?

South Lake Tahoe has proper beaches right on the edge of town. Pope, Baldwin and Kiva sit under the pines along clear turquoise water, though swimming is really only for July and August, as the lake stays cool even then.

Sonoma has no beach at all. Its nearest coast is a drive of more than an hour to a cold, dangerous Pacific, so in Sonoma a swim means a pool or a summer afternoon on the Russian River's gravel banks.

For eating and drinking, Sonoma is clearly ahead. Its plaza is lined with tasting rooms, old-vine Zinfandel and Carneros Pinot Noir are a short drive away, and the cooking follows the season with local cheese, olive oil and oysters. The choice is small, but the quality and sense of place are real.

In South Lake Tahoe, food is mostly fuel: casino steakhouses and buffets, taquerias and breakfast spots on Highway 50. Local craft beer is its one distinctive offering, and many visitors end up cooking in their cabin.

Neither town is a cultural destination, but Sonoma has more history in one place. Its large plaza saw the Bear Flag Revolt and is faced by the last Franciscan mission and the adobe barracks, with Vallejo's house a short walk away. That makes a satisfying half day.

South Lake Tahoe has the Tallac estates and Vikingsholm on Emerald Bay, which are both lovely mainly for their setting, and very little else indoors.

Both are quiet towns after dinner, but South Lake Tahoe at least lets you stay up. Across the Nevada line at Stateline, casino bars and lounges stay open all night and a club or two fills up at peak times. Après-ski at the gondola base is the friendliest hour of a winter day.

Sonoma winds down after dinner, with a few wine bars and saloons around the plaza and nothing that runs late.

Sonoma's landscape is pastoral: vineyards between two low ranges, oak-covered slopes, redwood groves at Sugarloaf Ridge and quiet back roads for cycling. Spring wildflowers and the autumn harvest are its best times.

South Lake Tahoe is a high mountain landscape on another scale. A deep blue lake is ringed by granite peaks, with the view over Emerald Bay, the lake basins of the Desolation Wilderness and real winter skiing. If being outdoors is the point of the trip, Tahoe is the clear choice.

Sonoma is better placed for outings. San Francisco is about an hour away, Napa's wine towns are just over the hills, and Healdsburg, Petaluma and Sausalito are all within easy reach, even if many of these trips are yet another wine valley.

From South Lake Tahoe the choices are Gold Rush and silver-boom towns such as Virginia City and Coloma, plus Reno and Carson City. They are pleasant enough on a stormy day, but you would rarely plan a trip around them.

Families are much better served in South Lake Tahoe. It has sandy shallows, bike paths and the salmon run at Taylor Creek in summer, and ski schools, snow play areas and the gondola ride in winter. The weak spot is a rainy or snowbound day, as there is no indoor attraction built for children.

Sonoma is safe and easy, but it is made for wine tasting. Apart from the plaza playground, the miniature railway and the wildlife park near Santa Rosa, children soon run out of things to do.

Both towns have a small walkable core, and in both you will need a car beyond it. South Lake Tahoe has the slight edge thanks to its free shuttles along the highway and up to the ski areas in winter. Against that, winter chain controls and summer traffic jams around Emerald Bay have to be planned for.

In Sonoma, the plaza's tasting rooms are easy on foot, but the wineries further out mean hiring a driver or joining a tour so nobody has to drive after the wine.

Sonoma offers the more enjoyable browse, with independent boutiques, kitchenware shops and galleries in the arcades around the plaza, and wine, cheese and olive oil to take home.

South Lake Tahoe's shops are practical, mainly ski gear, rental stores and souvenirs around the gondola base, plus a few galleries of lake photography.

Neither is cheap, but Sonoma is the harder one on the wallet. It has few rooms, they are priced for wine-country weekends, and tasting fees and a driver add up quickly.

South Lake Tahoe is expensive at peak times, but midweek casino hotel discounts, the shoulder seasons and cabin kitchens bring costs down. Its main pleasures, the trails, beaches and lake views, cost nothing.

Here the two are on a par, but the offer differs in kind. Sonoma leans towards gentler and more classical events: summer concerts among the ruins at Jack London's park, winery concerts and the fine Green Music Center about half an hour away.

South Lake Tahoe's live entertainment comes from casino showrooms with touring rock, country and comedy all year. In summer it adds Shakespeare on the beach at Sand Harbor and evenings at the Tallac estates.

Sonoma is the more restful place, and its hot water rises right on the edge of town. The mineral springs at Boyes Hot Springs feed the pools of a large historic resort that also sells day passes, and Calistoga's mud baths are about an hour over the hills. The catch is that almost all bathing here comes at resort prices, with no public bathhouse.

South Lake Tahoe has no springs of its own, so a soak means a short drive and a different kind of bathing. You can choose Grover Hot Springs, a state park mineral pool in an alpine meadow about 45 minutes south, or the hot spring resorts of the Carson Valley around Genoa, half an hour over the pass. Back in town, rest comes from cabins in the pines and still mornings by the lake rather than from any spa.