Flagstaff or Palm Springs?

Neither town is anywhere near the sea, so neither is a beach destination. The difference is in what replaces it. In Palm Springs the pool is the centre of the stay, and almost every hotel and rental is built around one, warm through a long season.

Flagstaff's alternative is outdoor and colder: the creek pools at Slide Rock in Oak Creek Canyon, which are slippery, chilly and busy at weekends. Otherwise you are left with a hotel or public pool, and at that altitude you will not spend afternoons lounging beside it.

Neither town is a reason to travel for food, and they fall short in different ways. Flagstaff's strength is its beer, with craft brewery patios downtown and in the Southside, plus Navajo frybread and green chile as regional touches. Palm Springs is about long patio brunches and poolside cocktails, with date shakes from the Indio groves and honest taquerias further down the valley as the things worth seeking out.

Palm Springs has the more distinctive sightseeing, because the town itself is the exhibit. A day of driving or cycling past Frey and Neutra houses and the Alexander homes in Twin Palms shows off one of the densest collections of mid-century modern buildings anywhere. The art museum and the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum round it out.

Flagstaff's list is shorter but has real substance. It includes the observatory where Pluto was discovered, the Museum of Northern Arizona's Hopi, Navajo and Zuni collections and the Riordan Mansion. A day or two covers the town.

Both towns go quiet early, but Palm Springs has the livelier and more characterful evenings. Arenas Road is a long-established LGBTQ strip of patio bars and drag nights, and Palm Canyon Drive adds retro cocktail lounges. In spring, hotel pool parties carry the weekends.

Flagstaff's evenings are taprooms and old Route 66 saloons around downtown and the Southside, livened up by students in term time. Most visitors there are in bed early ahead of a dawn start for the canyon.

Both towns sit under mountains, but Flagstaff is the more complete outdoor base. It is surrounded by an immense ponderosa forest, with the volcanic San Francisco Peaks and a ski area on its doorstep. Sedona, Meteor Crater and the Grand Canyon's South Rim are all within an easy drive, and its dark skies make stargazing a highlight.

Palm Springs has its own drama: the tramway lifts you from the desert floor to pine forest on San Jacinto, and the Indian Canyons hide palm oases. Joshua Tree is about an hour away. The catch is summer, when the heat restricts hiking to the first hour of daylight or the upper mountain.

Flagstaff has much the richer spread of outings: the Grand Canyon by road or by the historic railway from Williams, Sedona and the hillside town of Jerome, the cliff dwellings at Montezuma Castle and the Hopi mesas. Each is a different kind of day.

From Palm Springs the trips are smaller and quirkier. You can visit the mountain village of Idyllwild, the old film set at Pioneertown, or Salvation Mountain and the abandoned resorts of the Salton Sea. Both towns need a car for all of it.

Flagstaff works noticeably better with children. Kids enjoy the observatory telescopes, the museum's dinosaurs, rope courses in the pines, winter sledding and the train to the Grand Canyon. The things to plan around are the altitude for the first day or two and the long drives.

Palm Springs has good single outings, such as the Living Desert zoo, the tramway and the Air Museum. However, the town leans towards adults, with many adults-only hotels and midday heat from late spring. Families usually do better at the big resorts further down the valley.

You need a car in both towns, but Flagstaff is a little easier without one. Its downtown and Southside are walkable, a paved urban trail network makes cycling practical, and long-distance trains stop in the centre.

In Palm Springs, the downtown strip is flat and easy on foot in the cooler months, but valley buses are slow and summer rules out walking at midday. Its real advantage is the airport, which sits on the edge of town.

Palm Springs is the better place to shop, especially for design. The Uptown Design District is lined with mid-century furniture, lighting and vintage clothing. Beyond the town, El Paseo in Palm Desert and the large outlet centres at Cabazon cover mainstream shopping.

Flagstaff is small-scale, mostly outdoor gear and Route 66 souvenirs. Its one serious draw is Native American craft, such as Navajo rugs, Hopi kachina carvings and turquoise jewellery, best bought from established dealers or directly from artists.

Flagstaff is the cheaper of the two. Chain motels along Route 66 keep a basic stay affordable, and staying there costs far less than staying in Sedona or at the canyon rim. Rooms do rise on summer weekends and during school breaks.

Palm Springs charges resort prices through its winter and spring high season, and festival weekends push them higher. The exception is summer, when rooms fall steeply for anyone who can bear the heat. In both towns, a hire car adds to the cost.

Palm Springs and its valley offer more to see. Coachella and Stagecoach fill the Indio polo grounds each April, the McCallum Theatre hosts touring shows, and casinos book big-name acts. Drag cabaret and piano bars are the town's own speciality, although the programme largely stops in summer.

Flagstaff's calendar is modest. It has a symphony orchestra and university concerts, touring bands at the restored Orpheum Theater and summer concerts in the pines. These are pleasant for an evening out.

This is where Palm Springs pulls far ahead. The town was founded on the Agua Caliente hot spring, and its bathhouse lets you soak in the mineral water. In Desert Hot Springs, a short drive north, small spa motels fill their pools straight from the ground, and the slow pool-and-sunset rhythm does the rest.

Flagstaff has no hot springs and few spas. Its calm comes from cool pine-scented evenings and bright stars. Visitors after treatments drive down to Sedona.