Durango, Colorado or Scottsdale?

Neither city has a coast, and in both swimming is a side activity. Durango's water is mountain water: a small swimming area at Lake Nighthorse, a few sandy edges at Vallecito Lake and tubing on the Animas through town, all of it cold even in July.

Scottsdale's water life is mostly the hotel pool, which is warm and a big part of any stay. Saguaro Lake, Canyon Lake and tubing on the Salt River are outings an hour or less away.

Scottsdale has the slightly broader choice. Steakhouses, sushi, modern American kitchens and long brunches fill Old Town and the resorts, and Sonoran-style Mexican is found across the wider Phoenix area. Durango's range is narrower but more rooted in its place, with green-chile plates, Colorado lamb and trout, and an unusual number of breweries for a small town. Neither is worth a trip for the food alone, and in Scottsdale the most characterful meals are often a short drive away in Phoenix.

Scottsdale has more to see. The highlight is Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's desert home and studio, which is well worth a guided tour, and there are also a museum of western art, a small contemporary art museum, and the Heard and Musical Instrument museums close by.

Durango's sights fit into an afternoon: the steam railway depot and roundhouse museum, a handsome Victorian downtown and the college's Southwestern collection. Its bigger history lies outside town, at the ancestral Puebloan sites in the surrounding country.

Scottsdale is clearly the place for a night out. Old Town's entertainment district packs patio bars, dance clubs and rooftop lounges into a few blocks, and it stays loud and dressed-up until 2am at weekends and through the spring.

Durango goes to bed early. An evening means a brewery taproom, a pint on a Main Avenue patio or a Victorian saloon with a piano player, and there is very little dancing and almost nothing open late.

Durango has the bigger outdoors. The San Juan Mountains rise straight from town, with well-known mountain-biking singletrack, the start of the Colorado Trail, peaks above 4,000m in the Weminuche Wilderness, rafting through the centre and a ski resort half an hour north.

Scottsdale's outdoors is desert. There are trails among saguaro and granite boulders in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, short steep climbs up Camelback and Pinnacle Peak, balloon flights and golf. It is excellent in the cool months but shrinks to dawn outings in summer, whereas Durango has a different sport for every season.

Durango's day trips are the stronger set, and closer to hand. There are Mesa Verde's cliff dwellings, the steam train to Silverton, the Aztec ruins and the hot springs at Pagosa Springs, though nearly all of them need a car.

From Scottsdale the best outings take about two hours each way: north to Sedona's red rock, Montezuma Castle and Jerome, or south to Tucson. Goldfield and Phoenix are easy, but the Grand Canyon needs an overnight stay.

Both work for families, in different ways. Durango makes for an active vacation with children: the steam train, gentle rafting on the river, a summer alpine coaster and ziplines, and the ladders at Mesa Verde. There is little to do on a rainy day, though, and the altitude can tire small children at first.

Scottsdale is easier going, with resort lazy rivers and kids' clubs, the miniature railway park, an aquarium, a butterfly house and the Phoenix Zoo nearby. Its drawback is the summer heat, which drives children indoors or into the pool from midday.

Neither works well without a car, but Durango is easier on foot. Its flat centre takes a quarter of an hour to walk from the train depot to the top of Main Avenue, and the Animas River trail links the parks for walkers and cyclists.

Scottsdale is long, narrow and laid out along wide arterial roads, and the light rail does not reach it. Old Town and the trolley to the shops cover a small area. For everything else, from the trailheads to the airport, you drive or use ride-hailing, though the grid makes driving easy.

Scottsdale is a real shopping destination. It has a large luxury mall with the big fashion houses, open-air centres further north, and an Old Town gallery district selling high-quality southwestern art, Navajo and Hopi silver and Pueblo pottery. Durango's Main Avenue gives you an hour or two of outdoor gear, Western boots and turquoise jewellery, which is worth a look, but there is no fashion or luxury shopping.

Neither is cheap, and the difference is in the calendar. Durango is expensive in summer and at the peak of the ski season, spring and late autumn are the cheaper times, and a hire car is close to essential.

Scottsdale's resorts, golf and Old Town dinners cost most in winter and spring. Resort rates then fall sharply in the hot summer, and motels and Mexican food help keep a budget under control. In both places the trails are free.

Scottsdale and its neighbours offer more evenings out. There is the performing arts centre in Old Town and world music at the Musical Instrument Museum, and the symphony, opera, ballet and touring Broadway shows are all within half an hour. Durango's stage is smaller and mostly a summer affair, with a chamber and orchestral festival, a Victorian melodrama and chuckwagon cowboy shows, and outside that season there is little on most nights.

Scottsdale is built for pampering. It has a remarkable cluster of large resort spas, many open to day guests, as well as yoga, retreats and palm-lined pools in the dry desert air.

Durango's way to unwind is simpler and closer to nature. There are mineral springs a few minutes north of town, terraced pools at Pagosa Springs and Ouray's spring-fed pools, good for a soak after a day of riding or skiing. Neither city has a historic bathing tradition, but only Durango has natural hot springs.