Las Vegas or Page, Arizona?

Neither town has a coast, and Las Vegas barely has a shore at all. Boulder Beach on Lake Mead is gravel, has no shade and is a drive away, so in practice swimming means the Strip's resort pools and wave pools. They are good for an afternoon, but they are not a reason to choose the city.

Page is far better placed. In summer Lake Powell is warm enough for long swims. Lone Rock has open sand, and there are sandstone coves, reached by boat or kayak, where you jump off the rock into deep water. There are no lifeguards, and the water is too cold from late autumn to spring.

Las Vegas eats on a different scale. The resorts gather outposts of famous chefs, steakhouses and tasting menus. Spring Mountain Road adds kilometres of Sichuan, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese cooking, much of it open late.

Page feeds road-trippers and tour groups with diners, barbecue and Mexican places. The Navajo taco, frybread with beans, meat and chilli, is a taste of the reservation you won't find on the Strip. Beyond that, the town has no fine dining and closes early.

The sights in Las Vegas are mostly spectacle, but there are more of them. The themed resorts, the fountains and the light canopy over Fremont Street easily fill an evening. Downtown, the Neon Museum's yard of retired casino signs and the Mob Museum in the old federal courthouse tell the city's short story well.

Page's sights fit into a morning. There is the Carl Hayden Visitor Center at Glen Canyon Dam, with views down to the river and the steel arch bridge, and a small museum about John Wesley Powell. Its deeper culture belongs to the surrounding Navajo Nation, which most visitors meet on guided canyon tours rather than in a museum.

This is the widest gap between the two. Las Vegas is made for going out. It has resort nightclubs with famous DJs, dayclub pool parties and casino bars that never close, and Fremont Street and the arts district offer cheaper, more relaxed drinking.

Page has a few bars and a brewpub and goes quiet before midnight, partly because visitors are up before dawn for the canyons. Its best night out is the dark desert sky.

Both sit in remarkable desert, but Page is right in the middle of it. Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend are minutes from town. Boats on Lake Powell's flooded canyons reach Rainbow Bridge, and Lees Ferry is the starting point for river trips through Glen Canyon and the Grand Canyon.

Las Vegas has strong outings of its own: Red Rock Canyon's climbing walls, Valley of Fire's petroglyphs and the cooler forests of Mount Charleston. Each one is a drive out from the resorts rather than the setting of the stay. In both places summer heat leaves hiking to spring, autumn and the early hours.

Both are short of towns and heritage sites within reach, so the difference is in kind. From Las Vegas the one real outing is Hoover Dam together with Boulder City, the town built for its workers. The famous excursions to the Grand Canyon or Zion are long days out to see scenery.

Page has more small historic places, but they are spread out. There are the pioneer buildings at Lees Ferry, the cliff dwellings at Navajo National Monument, and Kanab with nearby Pipe Spring, and most of them need a long drive.

Las Vegas has more for children on a scorching afternoon. There is an indoor amusement park, a shark aquarium, the Discovery Children's Museum and huge resort pools, so the heat can be waited out indoors. The catch is the setting. Almost every route through a resort crosses a casino floor, and the Strip's late-night, adult side is hard to keep out of view.

Page has no attractions made for children, yet it still suits most families better, provided they like being outdoors. Its difficulties are practical ones. The summer sun is punishing, and the sheer, unfenced edges at Horseshoe Bend and the ladders on some canyon tours need a firm hand. Reaching the bigger parks also means long hours in the car.

Las Vegas is easier without a car, at least along the Strip. A monorail and buses running day and night link the resorts and downtown, and taxis and ride-hailing fill the gaps. The distances between resorts are longer than they look, though, and summer heat makes walking punishing.

In Page you can walk the motel strip, but almost nothing else, and there is no useful public transport. Everything means driving, and the nearest major airports are hours away.

For brands, Las Vegas is far ahead. It has the resort arcades at Caesars Palace and the Venetian, a luxury mall in the middle of the Strip, Fashion Show and two outlet centres, all open late.

Las Vegas has almost nothing made locally, and that is where Page's trading posts are worth a stop. They sell Navajo silver and turquoise, rugs and pottery, sometimes straight from the maker. Otherwise the town has little more than supermarkets and boating supplies.

Neither is cheap, and the costs fall in different places. In Las Vegas, rooms can be a bargain midweek, but weekend rates, resort fees, shows, clubs and Strip dining push the bill up. Eating in Chinatown or the suburbs costs much less.

In Page, everyday meals and fuel cost what they do in any small town. Rooms are scarce in the busy months, though, and the sights themselves cost money: Antelope Canyon can only be seen on a paid tour, and boats and houseboats are expensive. Camping at Lone Rock or Wahweap, or coming in winter, keeps the total down.

Shows are one of the main reasons to visit Las Vegas. Its resorts have permanent theatres for acrobatic and water spectacles, magicians and comedians, and pop and country stars play long residencies there. The Smith Center adds touring musicals, ballet and the Philharmonic.

Page has no theatre or concert venue. The most you will find is the occasional Navajo dance show put on for visitors or a local band in a bar.

Las Vegas wins on facilities. Its resort spas are some of the largest hotel spas in the country, with thermal circuits, saunas and salt rooms that day visitors can use. They are at their best on a quiet weekday morning, away from the casino floors.

Page has only motel pools and a few hotel spas. Its calm comes from the wide views and dark skies, but early starts and long drives make most stays active rather than restful.