Aspen or Phoenix?

Neither city has a beach, so swimming takes a different form in each. In Aspen it means a quick, chilly dip in an alpine lake or reservoir, or a raft on the Roaring Fork, since the water stays cold even in July.

Phoenix's water is warm and built for lounging: resort pools with slides and lazy rivers, tubing down the lower Salt River, and small beaches at Saguaro and Canyon Lakes among desert cliffs.

Phoenix eats better, mainly because it has a cuisine of its own. Sonoran carne asada, paper-thin flour tortillas, bacon-wrapped hot dogs from evening carts and family Mexican kitchens give it cheap, distinctive food that Aspen lacks, and the wood-fired pizza and bread are serious too.

Aspen has polished chef-led dining rooms, sushi, steak and après-ski terraces at the foot of Aspen Mountain, all aimed at an expensive night out. There is little in between, and in spring and autumn many kitchens shut.

Phoenix gives you more to see, though almost all of it is indoors and spread across the city. The Heard Museum's Native American collection, the Musical Instrument Museum and Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West are worth a day or two, with a series of drives between them.

Aspen's culture is an afternoon's stroll: the red-brick silver-boom blocks around the Wheeler Opera House, the West End's painted miners' cottages, Herbert Bayer's modernist Aspen Institute campus and the contemporary art museum. It has the more charming streets but no major museum.

Both are modest places to go out, and the difference is in kind. Aspen's scene is small and seasonal: après-ski on the slopeside decks, then a few streets of bars, hotel lounges and small clubs, at their busiest around Christmas, New Year and the X Games, and quiet in spring and autumn.

Phoenix has more choice spread over separate districts: Old Town Scottsdale's clubs and rooftop bars, student drinking on Tempe's Mill Avenue and craft beer in Roosevelt Row. You pick one for the night and take a ride-hail home, since they are far apart.

Aspen is the stronger outdoor destination and one of the finest in the country. It has four ski mountains, backcountry huts, the Maroon Bells, wilderness routes to summits above 4,000m and the Independence Pass drive, with trails starting right at the edge of town and good use all through the year.

Phoenix's desert is impressive in its own way, with saguaro forest in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, scrambles up Camelback and Piestewa Peak and the vast South Mountain park. But summer heat confines hiking to early mornings for months at a time.

Phoenix has the better range of outings, as long as you drive. Sedona's red rocks, the hillside mining town of Jerome, the Montezuma Castle cliff dwelling, Prescott's saloon street and Tucson's Mission San Xavier del Bac are all within about two hours.

From Aspen the options are smaller mountain towns: Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, Redstone and Marble down the valleys, plus the Ashcroft ghost town. Leadville is only reachable in summer, as Independence Pass closes in winter.

Both work for families, in different ways. Aspen is a ski vacation with children, with gentle slopes and ski schools at Buttermilk and Snowmass, summer alpine coasters and a small, safe town. However, it has no zoo or aquarium, and the altitude can tire young children at first.

Phoenix has the zoo, aquarium, science centre, water parks and pool-filled resorts that Aspen lacks, which means more days filled. The catch is long car journeys and summer heat that keeps small children indoors.

This is where the two are furthest apart. In Aspen you can walk the flat downtown grid in minutes, take the gondola straight from town and ride free buses to all four ski areas and down the valley. A car only matters for trips beyond the passes.

Phoenix is built around the car. A single light rail line links the airport, downtown and Tempe, but Scottsdale, the trailheads and most sights are dozens of kilometres apart, so nearly every visitor rents a car.

The two are evenly matched but sell different things. Aspen packs international luxury labels, ski wear, jewellers and art galleries into a few walkable pedestrian blocks, where window-shopping is part of an evening.

Phoenix's shopping lives in big Scottsdale malls with department stores, and its distinctive buy is Native American work, such as Navajo and Zuni turquoise silver, Hopi katsina carvings and rugs, which Aspen cannot match.

Phoenix is far easier on the wallet. Aspen charges very high rates for rooms, lift tickets, ski school and meals, and even staying down the valley in Glenwood Springs only softens the bill.

Phoenix costs about what a typical American city does, with freeway chain hotels, cheap Sonoran food and free hiking. Its extra expenses are a rental car and the winter peak at Scottsdale resorts, and summer rates fall sharply.

Aspen has a slight edge thanks to one outstanding summer. The Aspen Music Festival fills about eight weeks with orchestral, chamber and opera performances in the Benedict Music Tent, where people listen free from the lawn. The Wheeler Opera House keeps things going year-round, but the rest of the year is thin.

Phoenix runs the opposite way, with a steady autumn-to-spring season from its symphony, Arizona Opera and Ballet Arizona, plus touring Broadway shows in Wright's round ASU Gammage and a quiet summer.

Phoenix is better for a restful week, especially in winter. Its large desert resorts at the foot of Camelback Mountain combine spas using sage, clay and agave with several pools and dry, sunny days.

Aspen relaxes in a quieter, more outdoor way, with clear mountain air, riverside paths, yoga in the parks and hotel spas. Its trump card is the mineral pools and cave vapour baths at Glenwood Springs an hour away, a kind of bathing Phoenix has no equivalent for.