Albuquerque or Sedona?

Neither is a place for sand and sea, but Sedona at least gives you somewhere to get wet outdoors. Oak Creek runs below the red cliffs, and at Slide Rock you can ride the sandstone chute into cold pools, while Grasshopper Point and Red Rock Crossing have deeper holes for a swim. The spots are small and busy on hot weekends.

Albuquerque's river is no use for swimming. A cool-off there means a hotel or public pool, or driving out to Cochiti Lake.

Albuquerque is the place to come and eat. New Mexican cooking is a cuisine in its own right, with the red-or-green chile question, posole and stuffed sopaipillas served at long-running family places in the South and North Valleys. In late summer the whole city smells of roasting chile, and the craft breweries in Nob Hill and downtown round it out.

Sedona's strength is the setting more than the cooking: resort terraces facing the rocks, Southwestern menus and plenty of vegetarian and health-minded cafés. After a few good kitchens the choice runs out, though the Verde Valley tasting rooms nearby add wine.

Albuquerque has far more to see indoors. Old Town's adobe plaza grows around a church from 1793, the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and the National Hispanic Cultural Center explain the region's two deep traditions, and the nuclear science museum and the neon of old Route 66 tell more modern stories. Add the carvings at Petroglyph National Monument and you have a couple of full days.

In Sedona the main sight is the Chapel of the Holy Cross, set into a butte, along with a small heritage museum and a lot of galleries. Its most interesting history lies out of town, at the Sinagua cliff dwellings of Palatki and Honanki.

Albuquerque has a modest night out, while Sedona barely has one. Downtown Albuquerque has bars and a few dance clubs that get loud on Friday and Saturday, and Nob Hill offers calmer cocktail bars and taprooms. Sedona's brewpubs and resort lounges suit one drink after dinner, because the town rises early for the trails. In Sedona, the best thing to do after dark is look up at the stars.

Both sit in big desert country, but Sedona is the stronger outdoor base. Red sandstone towers like Cathedral Rock and Bell Rock, and the trails to Devil's Bridge, Boynton Canyon and up West Fork, begin within minutes of town, and the slickrock singletrack draws mountain bikers from far away. Oak Creek Canyon climbs into pine forest, and the Grand Canyon's South Rim is about two hours north.

Albuquerque's outdoors is broader than it is dramatic. The tramway lifts you to the Sandia crest at over 3,000m and La Luz climbs it on foot, the cottonwood bosque along the Rio Grande is good for cycling and winter cranes, and volcanic cones line the west mesa.

The two are about level here, and the difference is one big outing against many small ones. From Albuquerque, Santa Fe stands out: a whole day of plaza, Canyon Road galleries and museums, and the only trip that works by train. Beyond it, Acoma's Sky City, Bandelier's cliff dwellings and the Turquoise Trail villages are spread across long drives.

Sedona's outings are smaller and closer together. You have the hillside mining town of Jerome, Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot within half an hour, the Verde Canyon Railroad, and Flagstaff to the north. A few days cover them all.

With children, the city has far more to fill the days. Albuquerque's BioPark puts a zoo, an aquarium and a botanic garden along the Rio Grande, Explora and the dinosaur halls sit together in Old Town's museum district, and the tramway ride up the Sandias feels like an adventure. In October the Balloon Fiesta sends hundreds of balloons up at dawn. The catches are the long drives between sights and the strong summer sun at altitude.

Sedona suits outdoorsy families who will love Slide Rock, open-air jeep tours and the lower trails around Bell Rock. Beyond that there is little made for children, and many hotels are aimed at couples, so most families stop here for a night or two on a Grand Canyon loop.

Plan on a car in both. Albuquerque at least has 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, and driving and parking there are easy.

Sedona is harder work. Most visitors fly into Phoenix and drive up for about two hours, then deal with weekend queues on the two highways and trailhead car parks that fill early. A shuttle serves only some of the busiest trailheads.

Both are best for Native American and Southwestern craft, and Albuquerque has a little more range. Around Old Town and the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center you can buy silver and turquoise, Pueblo pottery and Navajo weaving, ideally from the artists or trusted dealers. Nob Hill adds a short run of boutiques and vintage shops.

Sedona's shopping leans towards galleries and the spiritual. The courtyards of Tlaquepaque hold studios and Western art, and the crystal and metaphysical shops are a speciality of the town. Uptown is mostly souvenirs.

Albuquerque is much the cheaper of the two, though neither makes a budget trip. A good mid-range room there costs about what it would in a European capital, and the same budget buys far less in Sedona, where most beds are in resorts and boutique lodges that charge most in spring and autumn. Eating out shows the same gap: a generous plate of enchiladas at a family place in the valleys is far easier on the wallet than a sunset table on a Sedona terrace, though sales tax and the tip add to the bill in both. The exception is Albuquerque's Balloon Fiesta week in October, when the city fills up and room rates jump.

You will need a hire car in both, so that cost is the same wherever you stay. The difference is the extras. In Albuquerque the main draws, from Old Town to the petroglyphs and the foothills trails, cost little or nothing. In Sedona much of what visitors come for is paid for separately, including guided jeep rides over the slickrock, dawn balloon flights and spa sessions. Its trails are the cheap part, needing only a parking pass, and many people on a tighter budget sleep in Cottonwood or Flagstaff and drive in each day.

Albuquerque has an actual stage scene. Popejoy Hall hosts touring musicals and the philharmonic, and the KiMo Theatre puts on shows in its Pueblo Deco hall. The flamenco tradition here is unusually deep, and weekend Pueblo dances at the cultural center are a rare chance to see living Native performance. In summer the Santa Fe opera is within an evening's drive.

Sedona has no concert hall or theatre season. Its calendar is chamber concerts, local theatre and the long-running film festival in late winter, plus acoustic sets and flute players at a few resorts.

This is where Sedona pulls far ahead. Destination spas look onto the canyons, and yoga, meditation, breathwork and massage are offered all over town. Quiet sunrise walks to the vortexes are part of the routine, and the whole place moves slowly. It has no hot springs, though, so wellness here means booked treatments.

Albuquerque has the bathing that Sedona lacks, but it lies outside the city: the mineral pools at Jemez Springs and the bathhouses around Santa Fe. In town, rest means a hotel spa, several of them on Pueblo land with mountain views.