Alta, Utah or Tucson?

Neither city offers a beach, so swimming means a pool in both. In Alta that is a lodge pool or a hot tub in the snow, because the Great Salt Lake is too shallow and salty for bathing.

In Tucson the resort pools play a bigger part in a stay, since they are where visitors cool off through the long hot season. After rain there are also brief creek pools in Sabino Canyon. The sea at Puerto Peñasco is a four-hour drive, too far for a day trip.

In Alta, eating is something you arrange rather than explore. Dinner is usually a set meal at a long table in your lodge, and lunch comes from a slopeside cafeteria. For variety you have to drive down the canyon.

Tucson has a cuisine of its own and is worth visiting for it: mesquite-grilled carne asada, paper-thin flour tortillas and the Sonoran hot dog from south-side carts, with the most traditional family kitchens along South 12th Avenue. Fine dining is thin, but for regional Mexican cooking it is in a different league from Alta.

Alta's past is a silver-mining camp that became one of the West's oldest ski areas, and all it leaves is mine traces on the slopes. There is no museum or historic building to tour.

Tucson gives two or three full days of sightseeing. The painted, gilded interior of Mission San Xavier del Bac is the highlight, followed by the adobe row houses of Barrio Viejo and El Presidio, the Native American collections of the Arizona State Museum, and hundreds of aircraft at the Pima Air & Space Museum.

An evening in Alta means one après-ski drink in a lodge bar and then bed, and regulars like it that way. Anything livelier is at the neighbouring resort or in Salt Lake City.

Tucson has a modest but real night out. The dive bars and patios of Fourth Avenue fill with students, and Congress Street has cocktail bars, rooftops and a few dance floors, all within walking distance of each other. Warm-night patio drinking is its strength, though it gets quieter in summer.

Both are outstanding outdoor bases, but Alta has the edge through sheer quality. Its powder is famous across North America, with steep lines, serious backcountry touring, and the summer wildflower meadows of Albion Basin, where moose and mountain goats roam near Cecret Lake.

Tucson offers more variety. Giant saguaro forests, canyon trails in Sabino and Catalina, a drive up Mount Lemmon from cactus to pine, road cycling and world-class birding fill the calendar from autumn to spring. Summer heat pushes activity to dawn.

From Alta, the outings are Salt Lake City's Temple Square and museums and the old silver-mining Main Street of Park City. In winter both depend on a canyon road that closes after storms.

Tucson has a broader list. You can drive to Victorian Bisbee and its mine tours, Wild West Tombstone, the artists' village of Tubac and the Tumacácori mission ruins, the Sonoita wineries, or Biosphere 2. None of them is unmissable, and all need a car, but you can fill a week without repeating yourself.

Alta only really works for families who ski. Children's lessons and gentle terrain near the base are good, but there is nothing for non-skiers, and the altitude and storm days spent indoors can be hard on small children.

Tucson suits a general family vacation from October to April. The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum puts mountain lions and javelinas in desert settings, and the zoo, children's museum, planetarium, giant aircraft and old film set add plenty more. Expect a lot of driving, and keep the summer for pools and Mount Lemmon.

Once you are up the canyon, Alta is easier. Lodges sit at the lifts, many are ski-in, ski-out, and a winter shuttle links the village, so you may not need a car all week. The hard part is the single canyon road, which clogs on powder mornings and closes for avalanche control.

In Tucson, a car is part of every day. The streetcar and the walkable core cover only downtown, Fourth Avenue and the university, while the national park, Sabino Canyon, the mission and Mount Lemmon all lie on the edges or beyond. Traffic is mild and parking easy, though.

Shopping in Alta goes no further than ski rental, tuning and outdoor gear.

Tucson has a regional speciality to shop for. Look for Native American jewellery, Tohono O'odham baskets and Mexican folk art in old-town galleries and in Tubac, and vintage finds on Fourth Avenue. The winter gem and mineral show is a major event for collectors. There are no luxury streets, but there is far more to bring home than from Alta.

Alta is costly mainly because it has so few beds. The handful of lodges charge high rates in season, often with dinner included, and the cheaper option is to sleep in the Salt Lake valley and come up each day. Lift tickets, at least, are moderate for a major American resort.

Tucson is noticeably easier on the wallet. Mid-range hotels undercut the bigger Southwest cities, and taquerías keep food cheap. Car hire, tipping and the spa resorts add up, rates peak during the gem show, and summer brings the real bargains.

Alta has no stage of any kind, so a concert or play means a drive to Salt Lake City.

Tucson has a small but genuine season, mostly from autumn to spring. The symphony, Arizona Opera and Arizona Theatre Company all perform here, touring shows play Centennial Hall, and concerts fill the restored Fox Theatre and the Rialto. Mariachi runs deep in local culture and gives the city's music a sound of its own.

Alta's version of wellness is the tired calm after a hard ski day. You get outdoor hot tubs steaming in the snow, saunas, a massage in a small lodge spa, and silence when storms bury the village.

Tucson built a reputation on it. Long-established destination spas in the Catalina foothills and towards Oracle run fitness, meditation and desert-walk programmes, and the big resorts have full spas with mountain views. Neither city has thermal baths, but for a dedicated spa vacation Tucson is the far stronger choice.