Big Bear Lake or Flagstaff?

Neither town is a place for a beach vacation, but Big Bear Lake at least has water at its door. You can swim from rocky shores and sandy patches on summer afternoons, and the supervised swim beach at Meadow Park is the obvious spot with children. Most time on the lake is spent in kayaks, on paddleboards or in boats.

Flagstaff has no lake for bathing at all. Swimming means driving down Oak Creek Canyon to Slide Rock and the creek pools, which are cold, slippery and crowded at weekends.

Both serve the casual food of a mountain town, but Flagstaff has a little more to offer. Its craft breweries in the historic downtown and Southside are a real draw, and New Mexican cooking, green chile and Navajo tacos give its menus some regional character.

Big Bear sticks to log-cabin breakfasts, burgers, pizza and barbecue, with brewpubs and a few lakeside tables, and many visitors cook in their rented cabins. Neither town is worth choosing for its food.

This is one of the biggest gaps between the two. Big Bear has the Discovery Center, a small history museum and the remains of the 1860s gold rush in Holcomb Valley, and visitors do not come for much more.

Flagstaff has a short but strong list. The Lowell Observatory on Mars Hill, the Museum of Northern Arizona's collection of Native American art, the Riordan Mansion and the railroad-era brick downtown on Route 66 fill a day or two, and the Sinagua ruins and cliff dwellings nearby add more.

Neither has clubs, but Flagstaff has a night out of sorts. Taprooms, cocktail bars and old Route 66 saloons sit close together downtown and in the Southside, and university students liven up term-time weekends.

In Big Bear, evenings mean a beer at a brewpub, some après-ski near the slopes in winter, then a fire in the cabin. Nothing stays open late.

Both are true mountain bases, and Flagstaff has the edge in scale and variety. It sits below the volcanic San Francisco Peaks, surrounded by a vast ponderosa forest, with Sunset Crater's lava flows to the north and the red rock of Sedona and the Grand Canyon's South Rim within driving range. Its dark skies are a draw of their own.

Big Bear's strength is the lake. Two ski areas sit right above town, the summer slopes become bike trails, and the water fills with sailing boats and kayaks. The Pacific Crest Trail and the San Gorgonio Wilderness give it plenty of serious hiking too.

Flagstaff has far more within reach. Sedona and Jerome, Walnut Canyon, Wupatki, Montezuma Castle, the railway from Williams to the Grand Canyon and the Hopi mesas make for a varied week of outings, though all of them need a car.

From Big Bear, winding roads make most outings slow. Lake Arrowhead, the orchards of Oak Glen and Riverside's Mission Inn are the realistic choices, and most visitors simply stay on the mountain.

Both work well with children, in slightly different ways. Big Bear is built around family days out: sledding hills, beginner ski lessons, the alpine zoo's rescued bears and bobcats, an alpine slide and pedal boats, with a roomy cabin to come home to.

Flagstaff appeals more to curious children, with telescope evenings at the observatory, dinosaurs at the museum, rope courses in the pines and the steam-era train to the Grand Canyon. Expect longer drives between outings. Altitude and cold nights affect both.

In both towns you will need a car. Big Bear's Village is easy on foot and a trolley reaches the ski areas, but the cabins are scattered through hilly forest, and the steep highways up may need snow chains and crawl on busy weekends.

Flagstaff's downtown and Southside are walkable, its urban trails make cycling practical, and long-distance trains stop in town. Still, the peaks, the monuments and the Grand Canyon all lie beyond its local buses.

Flagstaff has a reason to browse: Navajo rugs, Hopi kachina carvings, pottery and turquoise jewellery from downtown galleries, the museum shop and trading posts, along with bookshops and outdoor gear. It is worth buying from established dealers or directly from artists.

Big Bear's Village offers an hour of fudge shops, bear souvenirs, antiques and ski and lake gear, and little else.

Neither is a budget choice, but Flagstaff is somewhat easier on the wallet. Chain motels along Route 66 keep a basic stay within reach, and brewery meals are reasonable, though the car hire, fuel and park fees add up.

Big Bear can be economical for a group sharing a cabin midweek and cooking for themselves. Winter weekends and school vacations bring much higher rates, plus lift tickets and equipment hire.

Flagstaff has a modest but genuine calendar. The symphony orchestra and the university's music school play on campus, the restored Orpheum Theater books touring bands, and community theatre runs through the year.

Big Bear offers little more than local productions at its small arts centre, free summer concerts by the lake and the Bavarian bands of its autumn Oktoberfest.

Both are slow mountain towns without hot springs or a bathing tradition, so the difference lies in where you unwind. In Big Bear it is the cabin itself, with its private hot tub, wood stove and deck among the pines, though busy winter weekends break the calm.

Flagstaff's appeal is cool pine-scented evenings and bright stars. For proper spa treatments or yoga, visitors drive about an hour down to Sedona's resorts.