Flagstaff or Page, Arizona?

Page has real summer swimming and Flagstaff does not. Lake Powell gets warm enough for long, comfortable swims, and you can drive down to the sand at Lone Rock or take a boat into the sandstone coves and jump straight into deep water. There are no lifeguards, and the shoreline moves as the lake level changes.

From Flagstaff, the closest swimming is in Oak Creek Canyon, at Slide Rock and the creek pools. The water there is cold, the rocks are slippery and it gets crowded at weekends. Otherwise you are limited to a hotel pool.

Neither town is somewhere you go for the food, but Flagstaff gives you more choice. The craft breweries downtown and in the Southside are its strong point, and around them are coffee houses, New Mexican cooking and a few more ambitious restaurants.

Page mostly feeds tour groups, with diners, barbecue, pizza and chains along the main strip and no coffee culture to speak of. In both towns the dish to look for is the Navajo taco. In Page it is often sold at roadside stands on the reservation.

Flagstaff has a short but worthwhile list of sights. Lowell Observatory's historic telescopes, the Native art at the Museum of Northern Arizona, Riordan Mansion and the railroad-era brick downtown are enough for a day or two.

Page was only founded in the 1950s, for the workers building the Glen Canyon Dam, and its sights reflect that. The dam's visitor centre and a small museum about John Wesley Powell make up most of it. The deeper culture comes from the Navajo Nation around the town, not from anything inside it.

Flagstaff has a modest but real night out. You can walk between brewery taprooms, cocktail bars and old Route 66 saloons, and university students liven up term-time weekends, though there are hardly any clubs.

Evenings in Page are short. There are a few bars and a brewpub, and the town is quiet before midnight. The best thing to do after dark is drive away from the lights and look at the stars.

Both towns are superb bases for the outdoors, but the landscapes are very different. Flagstaff is a mountain base. It has the volcanic San Francisco Peaks, aspens turning in autumn, a huge ponderosa forest, the Arizona Trail and a ski area. Sunset Crater, Sedona's red rocks and the Grand Canyon's South Rim are all within easy reach.

Page is a desert and water base. Antelope Canyon's slot canyons and Horseshoe Bend are minutes away, and boats go up Lake Powell to Rainbow Bridge. Grand Canyon rafting starts at Lees Ferry, and the Vermilion Cliffs and the Wave are within reach. Flagstaff suits walkers and skiers, while Page suits people who want to spend time on the water and in slot canyons.

Flagstaff has a wider choice of places to drive to. Sedona and the hillside mining town of Jerome are close, and so are the cliff dwellings at Montezuma Castle and the Sinagua ruins at Walnut Canyon and Wupatki. The historic railway runs from Williams to the Grand Canyon, and the Hopi mesas are about two hours away.

From Page, most trips are to landscapes rather than towns. The exceptions are Lees Ferry's pioneer ranch, Kanab's film-set history, Pipe Spring and the cliff dwellings at Betatakin. The drives between them are long.

Flagstaff is easier with children. There are telescope evenings at Lowell Observatory, dinosaur displays at the Museum of Northern Arizona, rope courses in the pines in summer and sledding in winter. The steam train to the Grand Canyon is a treat too. Expect the altitude to tire small children for the first day or two.

Page is great fun for families on the lake, and the Antelope Canyon tours are short enough for any age. But there is nothing built for children, the summer sun is harsh, and the drops at Horseshoe Bend have mostly no fencing, so small children need close watching.

You will want a car in both towns, but Flagstaff is a little more forgiving. Its downtown and Southside are pleasant on foot, a paved trail network makes cycling practical, there are local buses, and long-distance trains stop at the station.

In Page you can only walk the main strip, and there is no useful public transport. The lake, Horseshoe Bend and the parks further out are all reached by road, and the nearest big airports are hours away. Most visitors arrive by car on a road trip.

In both towns the thing worth buying is Native American craft: Navajo rugs, silver and turquoise jewellery, and pottery. Flagstaff has more places to buy it, with downtown galleries, the museum shop and trading posts, and it also adds Hopi kachina carvings, outdoor gear shops, bookshops and boutiques.

In Page, beyond the trading posts and roadside stalls where you can buy straight from the maker, there are gift shops and supermarkets for stocking a houseboat.

Neither town is cheap, but Flagstaff is easier on the budget. Chain motels along Route 66 keep a basic stay affordable, though rooms fill up and rates climb on summer weekends. It is still usually much cheaper to sleep there than in Sedona or at the canyon rim.

Page has fewer rooms, and its main sights cost money. Antelope Canyon can only be visited on a paid guided tour, and boat or houseboat hire is expensive. Camping at Lone Rock or Wahweap, or coming in winter, keeps the cost down.

Flagstaff has a small but regular programme. The symphony orchestra and the university music school play on campus, the restored Orpheum Theater hosts touring folk and indie acts, and summer brings concerts in the pines. That is enough for a good evening.

Page has no theatre or concert venue. The most you will find is a Navajo dance presentation or dinner show for visitors, or an occasional band in a bar.

Neither town has a spa culture. Flagstaff makes for a calmer stay, as a slow mountain town with cool evenings and pine-scented air, and the resort spas and yoga studios of Sedona are about an hour's drive away.

Page has quiet evenings and very dark skies, but most visits there mean early canyon starts and long drives, so it leaves less time for doing nothing. Its spa options are limited to a few hotel treatments and the motel pool.