Albuquerque or Scottsdale?

Neither city has a coast, so anyone who wants the sea should go elsewhere. The difference is in what replaces it. In Albuquerque, the Rio Grande is not for swimming, and cooling off means a pool or a drive to a reservoir such as Cochiti Lake.

Scottsdale makes the pool the centre of the stay, with resort lazy rivers and slides. For an outing, Saguaro and Canyon Lakes have small sandy coves and boat hire, and in summer people float down the Salt River on inner tubes.

Albuquerque has a cuisine of its own, and that gives it the edge. Red or green chile runs through everything, from carne adovada to stuffed sopaipillas, and the best of it is served in long-running family kitchens in the South and North Valleys and along Route 66. In late summer, chile roasting in drums scents the whole city.

Scottsdale eats well but less memorably: steakhouses, sushi, brunches and happy hours aimed at golfers and groups. Its most local food is Sonoran-style Mexican, and the most characterful versions are mostly found across the wider Phoenix area rather than in Scottsdale itself.

Both cities offer a couple of rewarding days, but in different ways. Albuquerque's culture is rooted in place: the adobe plaza of Old Town, the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center run by the Pueblos themselves, the National Hispanic Cultural Center, Route 66 neon and thousands of carvings at Petroglyph National Monument.

Scottsdale leans towards architecture and art. Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West is its standout, alongside the Museum of the West and a sharp small contemporary art museum. For deep Native collections you go to the Heard Museum in Phoenix, and the Musical Instrument Museum is just over the city line.

Scottsdale is the place to go out. Old Town's few blocks of rooftop lounges, dance clubs and patio bars fill up at weekends and through the spring baseball and bachelor-party season, with dress codes, bottle service and noise until closing.

Albuquerque's nights are lower-key. There are bars and some rowdy clubs downtown, cocktail bars and taprooms in Nob Hill, and long evenings on brewery patios, but the city is quiet midweek.

Both are excellent bases for the outdoors, but the landscapes are very different. From Albuquerque the tramway climbs to over 3,000m in the Sandias, into pine and fir forest with huge desert views, while the cottonwood bosque along the Rio Grande draws wintering cranes.

Scottsdale's outdoors is the Sonoran Desert itself: saguaro and granite boulders in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, steep short climbs up Camelback and Pinnacle Peak, and the Superstitions and Salt River beyond. Golf adds another option. Scottsdale is best in winter, Albuquerque in spring and autumn.

Albuquerque has the stronger range of day trips, led by Santa Fe, an hour away by car and also reachable by commuter train. Further afield, a car brings you to Acoma's mesa-top Sky City, the cliff dwellings of Bandelier, Chimayo's pilgrimage church and the old mining villages of the Turquoise Trail.

Scottsdale's best days out are longer drives: Sedona's red rocks are about two hours north, with Montezuma Castle and hillside Jerome along the way, or Tucson and San Xavier to the south. The Grand Canyon needs an overnight stay.

Both work well with children, in different ways. Albuquerque is the more outing-based of the two: the BioPark's zoo and aquarium, Explora and the dinosaur halls, the tramway ride, and in October the dawn launches of the Balloon Fiesta.

Scottsdale is built around the resort, with lazy rivers and kids' clubs, plus miniature trains at McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park and the OdySea Aquarium. Its summer heat keeps children inside far more than Albuquerque's does.

You will need a car in both, and in both driving and parking are easy. Albuquerque has a little more beyond the car: a bus along Central Avenue linking Old Town, downtown and Nob Hill, a commuter train to Santa Fe and an airport close to the centre. Scottsdale is missed by the regional light rail and relies on a free Old Town trolley and ride-hailing.

Scottsdale is a real shopping destination. A luxury mall on Scottsdale Road has the fashion houses, open-air centres sit further north, and the galleries along Main Street and Marshall Way sell painting, sculpture and glass beside dealers in Navajo and Hopi silver, boots and western hats.

Albuquerque has a narrower focus but a more direct one. Native craft bought around Old Town's plaza or at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, often from the artists themselves, is the reason to shop here, along with chile ristras and a short stretch of vintage shops in Nob Hill.

Albuquerque is the cheaper stay, though not a bargain. Rooms are reasonably priced for most of the year and casual meals are generous, but expect to pay for car hire, and Balloon Fiesta week costs far more.

Scottsdale is an upmarket resort city. In winter and spring, resort rooms, golf, spa treatments and Old Town dinners all cost a lot. The savings come in the hot summer, when resort rates drop sharply.

The two are evenly matched, but the offer differs. Albuquerque's specialities are flamenco, with a long-established institute and an annual festival, and weekend Pueblo dances at the cultural center, while Popejoy Hall and the Pueblo Deco KiMo Theatre cover touring shows and concerts.

Scottsdale relies more on the wider metro area. It has its own arts centre in Old Town and world music at the Musical Instrument Museum, with Phoenix's symphony, opera and ballet about half an hour away.

Scottsdale is built for rest. It has a remarkable cluster of large resort spas with desert-inspired treatments, many open to day guests, and yoga and meditation retreats are easy to find. It is all private and polished rather than historic.

Albuquerque has a few hotel spas on nearby Pueblo lands, but the real soaking is out of town, at the mineral pools of Jemez Springs about an hour and a quarter away, or the bathhouses around Santa Fe.