Albuquerque or Moab?

Neither town is a place for a beach vacation, as both lie deep in the desert, far from any coast. Albuquerque's summer swimming is in pools or out at Cochiti Lake, a drive away.

Moab has a little more natural water close to town, with Mill Creek's shallow pools, Ken's Lake and sandbars on the Colorado. The river is cold and fast, though, so for most visitors swimming means a pool after a hike.

Albuquerque is a place to travel for its food. New Mexican cooking, with its question of red or green chile, blue corn enchiladas, posole and sopaipillas, is a cuisine you can't find in the same form elsewhere. It is best in old family places in the South and North Valleys and along Route 66, and in late summer the whole city smells of roasting chile.

Moab has no local cooking of its own. Main Street serves burgers, tacos and pizza to hungry hikers, with a few more ambitious dinner spots. Utah's alcohol rules and the queues on busy evenings make dinner less relaxed than in New Mexico.

Albuquerque gives a couple of rewarding days. You can see the 18th-century San Felipe de Neri church on the Old Town plaza and get a grounding in Pueblo cultures at the centre the nineteen Pueblos run themselves. Add the nuclear science museum, the neon of Route 66 and the carved rocks of Petroglyph National Monument.

Moab's town holds a morning at most, with the small Museum of Moab and a few uranium-boom buildings. Its real heritage is outdoors, in the Ancestral Puebloan and Fremont rock art along Potash Road and Kane Creek, and in dinosaur trackways.

Albuquerque at least offers a choice. Downtown has bars and a few dance clubs that fill and get loud at weekends, while Nob Hill offers cocktail bars and taprooms at a gentler pace. Brewery patios carry much of the evening social life.

Moab's evenings consist of a couple of brewpubs full of bikers and rafters, with no clubs, and the town is mostly asleep by eleven. Its night-time draw is the very dark, star-filled sky.

Albuquerque has fine outdoor country. The tramway climbs the Sandia Mountains to pine forest above 3,000m, the bosque along the Rio Grande has shaded paths and wintering cranes, and volcanic cones rise west of the river.

Moab is in another league, a base people cross continents for. Arches starts minutes from town, Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point look over a maze of canyons, and the Slickrock Trail, the Whole Enchilada descent, rafting, climbing and jeep tracks mean you could stay a fortnight without repeating a day.

From Albuquerque, the day out to Santa Fe is one of the best in the region, with its plaza, the Palace of the Governors and the galleries of Canyon Road an hour away by car or train. Acoma's Sky City, the cliff dwellings of Bandelier, Chimayo and the Turquoise Trail villages give a week of varied outings.

Moab's day trips are mostly into more landscape. The towns within reach, such as Green River, Monticello and Bluff, are small, and the most rewarding cultural outing, to Edge of the Cedars and Hovenweep, takes a long day on the road.

Albuquerque has more for children of every age. The BioPark combines a zoo, an aquarium and gardens, Explora and the natural history museum's dinosaur halls are in Old Town, and the Sandia tramway is a treat. The October Balloon Fiesta, with hundreds of balloons rising at dawn, is a reason to plan the whole trip around it.

Moab works well for active school-age children, who will enjoy the short arch walks, Junior Ranger programmes and gentle raft floats. Unfenced drops, midday heat and the lack of anything built for small children make it harder with toddlers.

You need a car in both towns. Albuquerque does have a bus along Central Avenue linking Old Town, downtown, the university and Nob Hill, plus the train to Santa Fe, so a few days without driving are possible.

In Moab, Main Street is walkable and a paved cycle path runs north to the Arches entrance, but that is where the options end. Without a vehicle you depend on outfitters' shuttles and tours, and much of the backcountry needs high clearance.

Both towns sell Native and Southwestern craft, but Albuquerque is where buying it becomes a real pursuit. The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center is run by the Pueblos themselves, and between its shop and the stores around the Old Town plaza you can compare silverwork, pottery and weaving side by side, and often buy from the artist who made the piece. Nob Hill adds a few independent boutiques and vintage shops, though neither town has a fashion street.

Moab has a few galleries with Navajo jewellery and weavings, so a good piece is possible, but there is far less to choose from and compare. Its own speciality is the rock shops, where geodes, fossils and minerals make souvenirs that suit the canyon country. Next to them are well-stocked bike, climbing and camping stores for anyone who needs to replace gear between rides.

Costs run lower in Albuquerque for most of the year. Hotels are plentiful and fairly priced, a chile plate in a family restaurant is generous, and Old Town and the foothills trails cost next to nothing. The exception is Balloon Fiesta week in October, when rooms are scarce and rates climb steeply.

Moab's small supply of rooms meets heavy demand in spring and autumn, so simple motels charge resort rates, and rafting or jeep tours add up fast. Campers do better, since public and dispersed camping is cheap, one park pass lasts a week, and winter is far kinder to the wallet.

Albuquerque has a steady programme. Touring musicals and the philharmonic play at Popejoy Hall, the Pueblo Deco KiMo stages film and concerts, and the city's flamenco tradition brings dancers from Spain. Weekend Native dances at the Pueblo centre are a rare thing to witness.

Moab's highlight comes once a year, when the Moab Music Festival takes chamber music into canyon grottoes reached by boat. Outside that season there is little more than a band in a brewpub.

Albuquerque does better for rest because it is close to hot springs. Jemez Springs' mineral pools are a little over an hour away, there are bathhouses around Santa Fe, and resort spas on nearby Pueblo lands look out on the mountains.

Moab is a place of early starts and tired legs, with massage studios rather than spas and no springs worth the drive. What it offers instead is quiet: still evenings, cliffs glowing at sunset and a cabin in the La Sals for anyone who wants to slow down.