Las Vegas or Phoenix?

Neither city has a beach, and both rely on pools and desert reservoirs. In Las Vegas the nearest natural swim is Boulder Beach on Lake Mead, a gravel shore with no shade. Most visitors stay at the Strip resorts instead, some of which have sand-lined wave pools.

Phoenix has a bit more of a local water culture. There are small beaches at Saguaro Lake and Canyon Lake below desert cliffs, and floating down the lower Salt River on a tube is a summer tradition with locals.

Las Vegas gives you more choice and a higher top end. Famous chefs have restaurants in the resorts, the steakhouses and tasting menus are strong, and Spring Mountain Road has kilometres of Sichuan, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese kitchens, many open late. What it lacks is any cooking of its own.

Phoenix has that local cooking: Sonoran carne asada, paper-thin flour tortillas and bacon-wrapped hot dogs from evening carts. The wider restaurant scene is solid but not exceptional, and the good places are spread out enough that you usually need to drive between them.

Phoenix has more to see by day. The Heard Museum's collection of Native American art is world class, the Musical Instrument Museum can fill a morning, and Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West is a real architectural draw. The catch is that each sight is a separate drive.

In Las Vegas, the main sight is the spectacle itself: the themed resorts, the fountain show and the light canopy over Fremont Street. The Neon Museum and the Mob Museum tell the city's short history well, but after those, anyone who travels for sights will run out quickly.

Nightlife is the biggest gap between the two. Las Vegas never closes: casino bars stay open all night, you can carry drinks along the Strip, and resort clubs book star DJs, with pool parties during the day. Fremont Street and the arts district offer cheaper, more local bars.

Phoenix's nightlife is split between districts. Old Town Scottsdale has clubs and rooftop bars, Mill Avenue in Tempe is full of students, and Roosevelt Row has craft beer bars. Everything shuts at 2am, and the distances mean you pick one area for the night.

Both cities have outstanding desert scenery, but it is laid out differently. In Phoenix the mountains rise straight out of the suburbs, so an early hike on Camelback Mountain, Piestewa Peak or South Mountain fits easily before breakfast. The saguaro forests of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve are close by too.

Around Las Vegas the scenery is a drive away but more varied. Red Rock Canyon has world-class climbing, Valley of Fire has flame-coloured rock and petroglyphs, and Mount Charleston has pine forest and a small ski area. In both cities, summer heat limits hiking to the early morning.

Phoenix has a better choice of outings, with real towns within two hours. You can visit the hillside mining town of Jerome, Prescott's Western saloon street, the Montezuma Castle cliff dwelling, Sedona's red rock country, or Tucson with its adobe barrios and Mission San Xavier del Bac.

From Las Vegas there is really one classic outing: Hoover Dam combined with Boulder City. The Grand Canyon and Zion tours sold on the Strip are long journeys into open landscape, not trips to places you can wander round.

Phoenix is much easier with children, especially in the cooler months. There is a zoo, an aquarium, the Arizona Science Center and a children's museum, plus water parks and spring training baseball in March. Hotels are roomy and the atmosphere is relaxed.

Las Vegas can fill a day or two with the indoor rides, the shark aquarium and the thrill rides at the top of the observation tower. But almost every route passes casino floors and adult advertising, so many families treat it as a stop on a road trip to the national parks.

Las Vegas is easier without a car, though distances are deceptive. Most of what visitors want lies along about 6km of Strip, buses run day and night as far as downtown, and there is a monorail. Even so, the walks between resorts take longer than they look, and taxis or ride-hailing fill the gaps.

Phoenix really needs a car. The light rail is useful between the airport, downtown and Tempe, but Scottsdale and the trailheads are dozens of kilometres apart on wide arterial roads. Walking is only practical in a few small centres.

Las Vegas has more brands under one roof, open late. There are the Roman-themed arcade at Caesars Palace, the Venetian's shops along its indoor canal, the Fashion Show mall and two outlet centres. Almost nothing is local, though.

Phoenix's malls in Scottsdale and near the Biltmore district are smaller. What Las Vegas cannot match is the Native American work: Navajo and Zuni silver and turquoise, Hopi katsina carvings and rugs, best bought from museum shops and reputable galleries.

Neither city is cheap, but Phoenix is a little easier on the budget. Rooms drop sharply in summer, chain hotels along the freeways are good value all year, and the hiking is mostly free. The extra cost is a hire car.

Las Vegas can be cheap midweek, but room rates jump at weekends and resort fees are added to almost every booking. Once you are inside, shows, clubs and dining on the Strip add up quickly. Staying midweek and eating in Chinatown keeps costs down.

Las Vegas is the reason to travel for a show. Permanent theatres host acrobatic and water-based productions, magicians and comedians, and big stars take long residencies, so you can see acts that rarely tour. The formal arts are thinner, centred on the Smith Center downtown.

Phoenix is the reverse. It has a full set of formal institutions, including the Phoenix Symphony, Arizona Opera, Ballet Arizona and Wright's round ASU Gammage auditorium, but none of them is a reason to travel on its own. Its seasons also go quiet in summer.

Phoenix is the better place to slow down. The resorts at the foot of Camelback Mountain and in north Scottsdale combine spas, several pools and golf, use desert ingredients such as sage and agave in their treatments, and are at their most restful in winter.

Las Vegas has some of the biggest hotel spas in the country, with thermal circuits and salt rooms. But the casinos around them are designed to keep you stimulated, so you get the most out of a stay by choosing a non-gaming hotel and booking spa time early in the day.