Albuquerque or Salt Lake City?

Neither city is a swimming destination, but Salt Lake City has a little more water to offer. Floating in the Great Salt Lake at Antelope Island is a strange experience worth doing once, and Wasatch reservoirs such as Jordanelle and Pineview have sandy stretches of shore and paddleboards in summer.

Albuquerque has less. The Rio Grande is not for swimming, so a hot afternoon means a hotel pool or the drive out to Cochiti Lake.

Albuquerque eats far better. New Mexican cooking is a cuisine in its own right: carne adovada, blue corn enchiladas, sopaipillas with honey and the constant choice of red or green chile. The best of it comes from old family restaurants in the valleys, and the smell of roasting chile fills the city in late summer.

Salt Lake City's local specialities are fry sauce, pastrami burgers and dirty sodas. The more interesting meals come from Mexican, Pacific Islander and Vietnamese kitchens along State Street, and Utah's liquor rules mean less wine and fewer cocktail bars.

The two are evenly matched, and each takes about two days, but the history is very different. Albuquerque's sights cover Pueblo, Spanish and Hispanic heritage: the adobe plaza of Old Town, the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, the petroglyphs carved into volcanic rock and, more unusually, a museum of the nuclear age.

Salt Lake City's sights are mostly about its founding faith. Temple Square, the Tabernacle and Brigham Young's Beehive House are the centre of it, with the State Capitol and the painted Cathedral of the Madeleine nearby.

Both cities are quiet after dark, and neither is worth choosing for nights out. Albuquerque's downtown strip on Central Avenue can get loud on weekend nights, while Nob Hill offers calmer cocktail bars and taprooms.

Salt Lake City's evenings are shaped by Utah's liquor laws and early closing. It does have a long-standing gay bar scene and friendly pubs in Sugar House.

Both cities have mountains on their eastern edge, but Salt Lake City's are in a different league. The Wasatch peaks rise straight from town, with Alta, Snowbird, Brighton and Solitude within an hour and Park City just over the ridge. Summer brings alpine lakes and wildflower meadows, and to the west are the bison of Antelope Island and the white Bonneville Salt Flats.

Albuquerque has its own good walking: the tramway to the Sandia crest, the shaded bosque along the river where cranes spend the winter, and lava escarpments to the west. It has no ski country to compare.

Albuquerque wins clearly. Santa Fe alone, with its plaza, the galleries of Canyon Road and its museums, fills a full day and can be reached by train. Acoma's mesa-top Sky City, Bandelier's cliff dwellings, Chimayo and the Turquoise Trail villages are all reachable by car.

From Salt Lake City, Park City's Victorian Main Street and Ogden's 25th Street are pleasant outings. After that the choice thins out, because Zion, Arches and Bryce are too far for anything but an overnight trip.

Salt Lake City is the easier city with children. Large families are normal there, so restaurants and parks expect them. It also has more to do: Hogle Zoo, the Living Planet Aquarium, Clark Planetarium, Tracy Aviary, Lagoon's roller coasters and ski schools in winter.

Albuquerque has fewer attractions, but they are good: the BioPark, Explora, the dinosaur halls and the tramway. The dawn launches of the October Balloon Fiesta are an event children remember.

Salt Lake City is easier without a car. TRAX light rail runs from the airport to downtown and the university, and FrontRunner trains serve Ogden and Provo. The grid of addresses counted from Temple Square is easy to learn, although the wide blocks make walks longer than they look.

Albuquerque was built for the car. Old Town is walkable and a bus runs along Central Avenue, but the mountains, the petroglyphs and almost every day trip need a hire car.

Albuquerque has more worth taking home. Its silver and turquoise jewellery, Pueblo pottery and Navajo weaving are best bought from Native artists or reputable dealers around Old Town and the Pueblo Cultural Center, and chile ristras make easy souvenirs.

Salt Lake City's strength is outdoor gear, with excellent local ski and climbing shops. City Creek Center and Trolley Square cover the familiar brands.

Costs are much the same in both, with American tax and tip on every meal and a hire car for most visitors. The difference is in when spending rises. In Albuquerque it is during Balloon Fiesta week, when rooms are scarce.

In Salt Lake City it rises with ski passes and canyon lodging. A summer trip using light rail and the free sights of Temple Square is far cheaper.

Salt Lake City has the richer stage. Hearing the Tabernacle Choir with the great organ is unique to the city. The Utah Symphony, Utah Opera and Ballet West give it a full classical season, more than you would expect for its size.

Albuquerque's strengths are more specialised. It has serious flamenco, Pueblo dances performed for visitors on weekends and the Pueblo Deco KiMo Theatre. Santa Fe's open-air opera is a summer evening drive away.

Neither city is a place to come just to rest, but Salt Lake City has the more memorable soak. At the Homestead Crater in Midway you bathe in warm mineral water inside a limestone dome, and the resort spas in the canyons are welcome after a day of skiing.

Albuquerque's spas are mostly resort hotels on Pueblo lands facing the mountains. The mineral pools of Jemez Springs are a drive of more than an hour.