Las Vegas or Scottsdale?

Neither city has a coast, and in both a stay revolves around the hotel pool, with the Las Vegas resorts adding sand-lined wave pools and lazy rivers. The difference is in the natural water nearby. Las Vegas has the gravel shore of Boulder Beach on Lake Mead, in a basin with no shade, while Scottsdale has small sandy coves at Saguaro and Canyon lakes and summer tubing on the lower Salt River.

Las Vegas offers far more range. The Strip brings together outposts of celebrity chefs, French dining rooms, steakhouses and tasting menus, and Spring Mountain Road adds kilometres of Sichuan, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese cooking, much of it served late into the night.

Scottsdale eats well but more predictably, with steakhouses, patio grills and smart brunches in Old Town. It does have something Las Vegas lacks, though: a regional style of cooking. Sonoran Mexican food, with carne asada and plate-sized flour tortillas, comes alongside farmers' markets, local wineries and good coffee.

In Las Vegas the sights are mostly spectacle: themed resorts, the dancing fountains and the light show over Fremont Street. The Neon Museum and the Mob Museum tell the city's short story well, but a sightseer gets through them in a day.

Scottsdale has more substance. Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's desert studio and part of a UNESCO listing, is a genuine architectural draw, and the Museum of the West, the contemporary art museum and the Old Town galleries fill out the rest of the day. The Heard Museum and the Musical Instrument Museum are both a short drive away.

After dark Las Vegas is in another league. The Strip runs around the clock, resort nightclubs book the best-known DJs and dayclubs fill the afternoons. When the dress codes and queues wear thin, Fremont Street and the arts district have cheaper dive bars and craft beer.

Scottsdale's nightlife is a few blocks of Old Town patio bars, rooftop lounges and dance clubs. They are lively at weekends and in the spring season, then quiet. Both lean glossy and party-minded, but only Las Vegas keeps going until dawn.

Both cities have superb desert close at hand, and in both the season for it runs from autumn to spring. The Las Vegas desert is about rock: the sandstone cliffs and climbing at Red Rock Canyon, the petroglyphs of Valley of Fire, and the pine forest on Mount Charleston for cooler summer walks.

Scottsdale's desert starts at the city edge, with saguaro and granite boulders in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. It also has quick, steep climbs up Camelback and Pinnacle Peak, plus longer hikes, horse riding and wild horses out in the Tonto National Forest and the Superstition Mountains.

Las Vegas offers Hoover Dam and Boulder City for a solid half day. Beyond those, the choice is mostly long journeys to the Grand Canyon, Zion or Death Valley, which are trips for scenery alone.

Scottsdale has a much wider spread of outings within about two hours. To the north are Sedona's red rocks, the cliff dwelling at Montezuma Castle, the old mining town of Jerome and Prescott's courthouse square. To the south are Tucson and the San Xavier mission, and the Goldfield ghost town makes an easy half day closer in.

Las Vegas can fill a day or two with children, with an indoor amusement park, a shark aquarium and the free fountain show. Even so, casino floors are the route through almost every resort, and the adult, late-night atmosphere is hard to avoid.

Scottsdale is far easier. Resorts with lazy rivers and kids' clubs, the miniature trains at McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park, the aquarium and butterfly house, and the nearby Phoenix Zoo can fill a whole week in a clean, safe setting. In summer, children in both cities end up in the pool from midday.

Las Vegas can be managed without a car as long as you stay on the 6km Strip. A monorail runs behind the resorts on the east side, and buses run the length of the Strip day and night and carry on to downtown's Fremont Street. Walking takes longer than it looks, because the resorts are huge and footbridges and casino interiors stretch every route, so most visitors end up using taxis and ride-hailing.

Scottsdale is strung out along wide arterial roads, and the regional light rail does not reach it. Old Town is walkable, and a free trolley links it to the main shopping areas, but resorts, trailheads and the airport all need a hire car or ride-hailing. Driving there is at least easy, with a simple grid and plenty of parking.

Both cities are strong for big-name shopping in large malls, so the difference is in kind. Las Vegas keeps it all indoors and attached to the resorts, with themed arcades, luxury fashion houses that stay open late and two large outlet centres for bargains.

Scottsdale has its own luxury mall and open-air centres, but its most distinctive buys are local. The Main Street and Marshall Way galleries sell southwestern painting and glass, and nearby dealers sell Navajo and Hopi silver and turquoise, Pueblo pottery and cowboy boots, none of which Las Vegas can match.

Las Vegas prices swing with the day of the week and Scottsdale's with the season. Midweek rooms on and near the Strip can be good value for their comfort, but weekends and big conventions multiply the rates. Resort fees, headline shows and Strip dining push the bill up further, though eating in Chinatown helps.

In Scottsdale, winter and spring are the expensive months, when resorts, golf and Old Town dinners all cost a lot, and the summer heat brings sharp cuts. Free hiking in the preserve and cheap Sonoran Mexican food help, but a hire car adds a cost that visitors staying on the Las Vegas Strip can often avoid.

Las Vegas has far more on stage. Its resorts have built permanent theatres for acrobatic and water spectacles, magicians and comedians, and big-name stars take long residencies, so dozens of shows play every night. The Smith Center downtown adds touring Broadway, ballet and the Philharmonic.

Scottsdale can fill a few evenings rather than a whole trip. Its Old Town arts centre stages jazz, chamber music and comedy, and the Musical Instrument Museum's theatre hosts world music concerts. For opera, the symphony or Broadway, visitors drive into Phoenix or Tempe.

Las Vegas has some of the country's largest hotel spas, with thermal circuits and salt and ice rooms. They can be restful on a weekday morning, but leaving one usually means walking back through a casino that never quietens.

In Scottsdale, rest is the point of the trip. Its many resort spas offer desert-inspired treatments and outdoor pools, and the dry air, mountain views, yoga retreats and early nights keep the calm going beyond the treatment room. Neither city has historic baths.