Flagstaff or Sun Valley?

Neither town is a place for a beach vacation. Both sit far inland at altitude, and the swimming in each is cold mountain water. Flagstaff's best is the creek pools of Oak Creek Canyon, such as Slide Rock, which are slippery and crowded on summer weekends. Sun Valley has Redfish Lake under the Sawtooths about an hour north, with a real sandy shore, and heated outdoor pools in town for a more reliable swim.

At the table the two are evenly matched and equally modest, but they eat differently. Flagstaff is a beer town, with brewery patios downtown and in the Southside and Mexican, New Mexican and Navajo dishes such as frybread and green chile.

In Sun Valley you eat in Ketchum. Wealthy second-home owners keep a few ambitious kitchens going, cooking trout, lamb and elk, but cheap meals are scarce and some kitchens close or shorten their hours in spring and autumn.

Flagstaff has much the better sightseeing. Lowell Observatory, where Pluto was discovered, and the Hopi, Navajo and Zuni collections at the Museum of Northern Arizona are serious places, worth a day between them. The Riordan Mansion and the brick railroad-era downtown on old Route 66 make a lighter second day.

Sun Valley's story is the resort itself. The Union Pacific built it in 1936, and the photo-lined corridors of the lodge recall its film-star heyday and the world's first chairlifts. Hemingway's grave and the memorial by Trail Creek are the other stops. Nothing here has the depth of a museum like Flagstaff's.

Flagstaff makes for a fuller evening. Taprooms, cocktail bars and old Route 66 saloons sit a few minutes' walk apart downtown and in the Southside, and university students keep term-time weekends livelier.

In Sun Valley, going out means après-ski in a few Ketchum saloons, wine bars and hotel lounges. These are busy on winter weekends and in midsummer, but the rest of the year evenings end soon after dinner. Neither town has clubs.

The outdoors is what both towns are for, and they are equally strong, but the landscapes ask different things of you. Flagstaff is a base for seeing scenery: ponderosa forest, the volcanic San Francisco Peaks and Sunset Crater, with red-rock Sedona and the Grand Canyon's South Rim within a drive, all under exceptionally dark night skies.

Sun Valley is about being active on the mountain itself. Bald Mountain's long, steep runs make it much the more serious ski destination. In summer the same slopes become singletrack, with fly fishing on Silver Creek and the alpine lakes of the Sawtooths an hour north.

Flagstaff has far more places within driving distance. There are Sinagua ruins at Walnut Canyon and Wupatki, cliff dwellings at Montezuma Castle, the hillside town of Jerome, the historic railway from Williams and the Hopi mesas. That is a week of varied outings, all by car.

From Sun Valley most outings head into wild country rather than to other towns. You can see Hailey's short main street, log-cabin Stanley beyond the Sawtooths and Shoshone Falls about two hours south, but Boise is too far for an easy day.

Flagstaff gives children more to do away from the trails. There are telescope evenings at Lowell, dinosaurs at the Museum of Northern Arizona, the steam-era train to the Grand Canyon and a drive-through wildlife park near Williams. The drawback is the long drives between them.

Sun Valley works best for families who ski, with a separate beginners' hill and a well-run ski school, plus bike paths, an outdoor rink and horse rides in summer. Nothing is built just for children, though, so rainy days and teenagers who don't ski are harder to keep happy. In both towns the altitude tires small children for the first day or two.

Sun Valley is easier to manage without a car, provided you stay within the resort. A free bus links Ketchum, the village and the lift bases, and a paved path runs the length of the valley, so many skiers never drive all week.

Flagstaff's downtown and Southside are pleasant to walk, and long-distance trains stop at the station. But the motels are strung out along Route 66, and the Grand Canyon, Sedona and the monuments are all beyond public transport. In both towns, winter roads can be hard going.

Neither town has much shopping, but what you take home is very different. Flagstaff's best buys are made in the region: Navajo rugs, Hopi kachina carvings, pottery and silver and turquoise jewellery, sold downtown and in trading posts north and east of town. A regional mall and chain stores cover the basics.

In Ketchum the shops sell to wealthy second-home owners rather than to collectors of local craft. There are fine art and western art galleries, good fly-fishing and ski shops, and a few boutiques selling cashmere and western wear. Prices are high and there is nothing like Flagstaff's trading posts, nor any department store.

Flagstaff is far kinder to the budget. It is the everyday bed base for the Grand Canyon region, with plenty of plain rooms and casual meals, and it costs much less than sleeping in Sedona or at the rim. The extras are a hire car, fuel and park entry fees, and room rates jump on summer weekends.

Sun Valley costs more on almost every line of the bill. Rooms, dinners and lift tickets are priced for its second-home owners, and there is no motel strip like Flagstaff's to fall back on. The one saving Flagstaff cannot offer is the free resort bus, which can make a ski week possible without a hire car. Choosing the quiet shoulder months or a bed further down the valley takes only a little off the total.

Both towns have a modest stage, but the timing differs. Flagstaff's calendar runs through the year, with symphony and university concerts on campus, touring bands at the restored Orpheum Theater and community theatre. Sun Valley puts nearly everything into summer: weeks of orchestral concerts in the pavilion by the lodge, heard from picnic blankets on the lawn, and skating shows on the outdoor rink. Outside summer there is very little.

Sun Valley is the better place to unwind. It has full resort spas, steaming outdoor pools that are at their best under falling snow, and rough, undeveloped hot springs beside the creek up the Warm Springs valley.

Flagstaff has no hot springs and only a handful of day spas. Its calm comes from pine air, cool evenings and bright stars, and anyone wanting treatments usually drives an hour down to Sedona's resort spas.