Flagstaff or Santa Fe?

Neither town is a place to swim. Both sit on high plateaus far from any sea, and most visitors swim in a hotel pool. What differs is the summer outing: Flagstaff has the cold creek pools at Slide Rock in Oak Creek Canyon, popular with families on hot days, while Santa Fe offers reservoirs such as Abiquiu Lake or a float down the Rio Grande.

Santa Fe has a cuisine of its own, and that settles it. Red or green chile, blue corn, posole and sopaipillas are served in old adobe dining rooms around the Plaza. It also has fine dining that is rare for a town this size, and the farmers' market in the Railyard is worth a morning.

Flagstaff's strong point is beer, with brewery patios downtown and in the Southside. Navajo frybread and green chile turn up here and there. Otherwise it's diners, coffee houses, burgers and Mexican food: fine after a hike, but not a reason to come.

Flagstaff's sights are few but distinctive. The Lowell Observatory is where Pluto was discovered, and the Museum of Northern Arizona holds a serious collection of Hopi, Navajo and Zuni art. Add Riordan Mansion and the brick Route 66 downtown, and a day or two covers it.

Santa Fe gives you far more to explore. Its low adobe centre dates from 1610, and the Palace of the Governors, the cathedral and the Loretto Chapel's spiral staircase stand close together. Museum Hill, the O'Keeffe Museum and the galleries along Canyon Road add depth, and the whole town takes two or three days to see properly.

Neither town stays up late, but Flagstaff has more going on after dark. Brewery taprooms, cocktail bars and old Route 66 saloons sit a few minutes' walk apart downtown and in the Southside, and university students liven up term-time weekends.

In Santa Fe, an evening out means a long dinner and then a margarita on a rooftop facing the Jemez Mountains, and the streets go quiet before midnight. Anyone looking for a club has to drive to Albuquerque.

Both are mountain towns where trails start at the edge of town, but Flagstaff has the wider range of scenery. The volcanic San Francisco Peaks, a vast ponderosa forest, Sunset Crater's black lava and Sedona's red canyons are all close, and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is about an hour and a half away. On top of that, its night skies are dark enough for serious stargazing.

Santa Fe still has plenty: piñon foothills rising into the Pecos Wilderness, slopes of golden aspen in autumn, the elk meadows of Valles Caldera and rafting in the Rio Grande Gorge. Each town has a ski area less than an hour away.

Santa Fe has the longer list of outings, and more of them are living places. The High Road to Taos runs through Chimayo and Truchas to Taos Pueblo, Bandelier has cliff dwellings you can climb into, Abiquiu and the Turquoise Trail fill other days, and Albuquerque's Old Town can be reached by train.

Flagstaff's trips are more scattered but varied. Options include Sedona, the hillside mining town of Jerome, the Sinagua ruins at Walnut Canyon and Wupatki, the historic railway from Williams to the canyon rim, and the Hopi mesas about two hours east.

Flagstaff gives children more to do. Telescope evenings, dinosaur displays, rope courses in summer and sledding in winter suit curious kids, and the drive-through wildlife park and steam train near Williams add more.

Santa Fe is safe and easy-going but built for adults. Beyond the Children's Museum, the toys in the folk art collection and the ladders at Bandelier, there's less for young children. Both towns share the same altitude, which tires small children for the first day or two.

Santa Fe is a little easier without a car. The Plaza, the cathedral, Canyon Road and the Railyard are all within about twenty minutes of each other on foot, and the Rail Runner train runs to Albuquerque.

Flagstaff's downtown and Southside are walkable and its paved urban trails suit a bike. But the motels along Route 66 are spread out, and the mountain, the national monuments and the canyon are beyond any useful bus. In both towns a hire car is close to essential for the countryside, and Flagstaff's mountain roads can be icy in winter.

Both towns sell Native American craft, but Santa Fe is where serious buyers go. Artists sell jewellery and pottery directly under the portal of the Palace of the Governors, Canyon Road and the Railyard are full of galleries, and the summer Indian, Spanish and Folk Art markets draw collectors from far away.

Flagstaff's version is smaller. Navajo rugs, Hopi kachina carvings and turquoise are sold in downtown galleries, the museum shop and trading posts outside town, alongside outdoor gear and Route 66 souvenirs.

Flagstaff is the cheaper of the two, though neither is cheap for visitors from abroad. Chain motels on Route 66 and brewery meals keep costs moderate, except on summer weekends, when the town fills up as the main place to stay for the Grand Canyon.

Santa Fe's hotels around the Plaza charge resort prices, especially during the markets, the opera season and Christmas, and its restaurants are priced for well-off visitors. Cerrillos Road is the cheaper option. In both towns, hiking costs nothing but the hire car adds up.

Santa Fe has a real draw in its summer opera, staged in an open-sided theatre as the sun sets over the desert. Summer also brings a chamber music festival, and the town has a long flamenco tradition. Out of season it shrinks to the Lensic and concerts in the old churches.

Flagstaff offers a pleasant evening rather than a reason to travel: the symphony and university concerts, touring bands at the restored Orpheum, and outdoor concerts in the pines in summer.

Santa Fe is the better place to unwind. It has Japanese-style soaking tubs in the pine foothills, a long list of spas, yoga studios and healers, and the mineral pools of Ojo Caliente, a bathing resort since the nineteenth century, about an hour north.

Flagstaff has only a few day spas and no hot springs. Its calm comes from the pine-scented air, cool evenings and bright stars, and visitors who want treatments usually drive down to Sedona.