Deer Valley or Tucson?

Neither city has a beach, and both rely on pools for most swimming. The difference is in what else there is. In July and August, Deer Valley has the sandy state park shore at Jordanelle Reservoir a short drive below the resort. Tucson's nearest sea is four hours away in Mexico, and the creek pools in Sabino Canyon appear only after rain, so there you will be swimming in a resort pool through the long hot season.

Tucson has a cuisine of its own, and Deer Valley does not. Mesquite-grilled carne asada, paper-thin flour tortillas and the bacon-wrapped Sonoran hot dog are made in family kitchens along South 12th Avenue and in the old barrios. Desert ingredients such as tepary beans and prickly pear give the food a sense of place.

Deer Valley eats well but expensively. There is resort cooking in the lodges, the turkey chili skiers queue for, and a run of steakhouses, sushi and bistros on Park City's Main Street. You will find no street food or markets there, while in Tucson a cheap lunch from a cart is part of the visit.

Tucson has much more history to see. San Xavier del Bac is one of the finest Spanish colonial churches in the country, Barrio Viejo and El Presidio keep the adobe streets of the Mexican settlement, and the Arizona State Museum's Native American collections and the huge aircraft collection at Pima Air & Space fill two or three days.

Deer Valley is a purpose-built resort. What history there is belongs to Park City next door: the restored silver-mining Main Street, the Park City Museum and the ski jumps at the 2002 Olympic Park. Together they make a good afternoon off the slopes.

Both scenes are small, but Tucson's goes on later and is more varied. Fourth Avenue has dive bars and patios full of students, and Congress Street, a short walk away, adds cocktail bars, rooftops and a few dance floors. Drinking outside on a warm night is half the appeal.

In Deer Valley, evenings mean a fireside lounge, or saloons and après-ski bars on Park City's Main Street that fill on winter weekends and close early, under Utah's liquor rules. The two also peak at opposite times: Park City in ski season, and Tucson during university term, going quiet once the students leave in summer.

Deer Valley comes out ahead, mainly for skiing. Its immaculately groomed runs, the vast Park City Mountain next door and the Cottonwood Canyons' powder put it among the best mountain bases in North America. In summer the slopes become linked biking and hiking trails, with fly-fishing on the Provo River.

Tucson's landscape is desert rather than alpine. Saguaro National Park reaches the suburbs, Mount Lemmon climbs from cactus to pine within an hour, and the sky island ranges draw birdwatchers and road cyclists. It is excellent from autumn to spring, but summer pushes you out at dawn or up the mountain, and its small ski area cannot compare with Deer Valley's slopes.

Tucson has the better day trips. Bisbee's steep streets of Victorian houses, Tombstone's Wild West history, the artists' village of Tubac with the Tumacácori mission ruins beyond, and the Sonoita wineries make for different kinds of day out, with Biosphere 2 to the north.

From Deer Valley, the main outing is Salt Lake City and Temple Square, about forty minutes away. Nearer options are gentler: Swiss-styled Midway, the Heber Valley steam railway and the canyon village of Sundance. In both cases you need a car.

Both work for families, but for different families. Deer Valley is built for children who ski, with good ski schools, wide beginner runs free of snowboarders, and tubing and an alpine coaster at the Olympic Park. Beyond that there is little for children nearby, and lessons and lift access are very expensive.

Tucson has more in the city itself: the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum's mountain lions and hummingbirds, Reid Park Zoo, a planetarium and stunt shows on an old western film set. The catch is that every one needs a drive, and summer heat makes them hard going for small children.

Deer Valley is the easier place to stay without a car. Fare-free buses link the base areas with Main Street and Park City Mountain, and ski-in lodging means you may barely use one. A car matters only for the Cottonwood Canyons or Salt Lake City.

In Tucson, a hire car is close to essential. The Sun Link streetcar covers only downtown, Fourth Avenue and the university. Saguaro, Sabino Canyon, the Desert Museum and the mission all lie on the city's edges or well beyond, although parking is easy and traffic is light.

Each town sells its own landscape: mountain gear and western wear in Park City, and Native American crafts and desert minerals in Tucson. Deer Valley's shopping is Park City's Main Street, with galleries, boots and hats and very good ski and outdoor equipment, plus the outlet centre at Kimball Junction. Anything broader means a trip down to Salt Lake City.

Tucson gives you more to bring home. Look for silver and turquoise jewellery, Tohono O'odham baskets and Mexican folk art in the old town galleries and in Tubac, and vintage shops on Fourth Avenue. In winter the gem and mineral show fills hotels and tents across the city and brings collectors from around the world.

The gap here is wide. Deer Valley is among the most expensive places in the world to ski. Lodging, lift access, ski school and meals on the mountain are all priced at the very top, and even summer is only somewhat cheaper. Staying in the Heber Valley is the usual way to save.

Tucson is a reasonably priced American city. Taquerías keep meals cheap, and summer brings real hotel bargains. Car hire, tipping and the desert resorts do add up, and winter is the dearest season, especially during the gem show.

The highlight in Deer Valley is a single summer festival, while Tucson has a proper city season from autumn to spring. In Deer Valley, the Utah Symphony plays outdoors at the Snow Park amphitheatre and people picnic on the lawn. For the rest of the year there are plays, comedy and small concerts at the 1920s Egyptian Theatre on Main Street.

Tucson's calendar is broader. The Tucson Symphony, Arizona Opera and the Arizona Theatre Company all perform there, touring Broadway shows play Centennial Hall, and the restored Fox and Rialto theatres host concerts. Mariachi runs through the city's music, and small rooms on Congress Street play local rock and desert folk.

Tucson pulls ahead because wellness is a reason to go there, not just an extra. It was one of the first homes of the American destination spa, with long-established foothill retreats offering desert walks, fitness and meditation programmes under clear winter skies.

Deer Valley offers comfort after a day's skiing: polished hotel spas, hot tubs on snowy terraces and massages for tired legs, with the warm spring inside Midway's Homestead Crater a short drive away. Neither city has a public bathing tradition, so in both a spa day means a hotel or resort.