Los Angeles or Scottsdale?

Los Angeles has a real coastline, more than 100km from the Malibu coves through Santa Monica and Venice to the South Bay, with surf breaks, volleyball and the bike path along the sand. The Pacific is cool, though, so it suits walking, surfing and people-watching more than long swims.

Scottsdale has no coast at all. Swimming means the resort pool, the coves of Saguaro and Canyon lakes under an hour's drive away, or floating down the Salt River on an inner tube in summer.

Los Angeles is a reason to travel in itself. It has tacos from Eastside trucks, charcoal barbecue in Koreatown, regional Chinese cooking in the San Gabriel Valley and many other immigrant kitchens, plus serious chef-led restaurants. You will drive between them, but it is worth it.

Scottsdale feeds visitors well but rarely memorably, with steakhouses, patio grills and smart brunches in Old Town and the resorts. Its most local food is Sonoran Mexican, and the best of that is often over the line in Phoenix.

Los Angeles has much more to see. The Getty Center and Getty Villa, LACMA, the Broad and the Huntington make a long art circuit, Griffith Observatory and Hollywood's old movie palaces add landmarks, and Walt Disney Concert Hall leads the architecture. Neither city has a real old quarter, and the Los Angeles sights are far apart.

Scottsdale's culture fits into a couple of days. Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West is the highlight and well worth a guided tour. The Museum of the West and the galleries of southwestern and Native American art fill the rest of a visit, along with the Heard Museum and the Musical Instrument Museum just outside the city.

Los Angeles has more kinds of night out: velvet-rope clubs in Hollywood, the gay strip on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, rooftop bars downtown and the dive bars of Silver Lake and Echo Park. Because the districts are far apart, most nights stay in one neighbourhood.

Scottsdale keeps it all in a few blocks of Old Town. That is handy but narrow: patio bars, dance clubs and bottle service, loudest at weekends and in spring when baseball fans and bachelor groups arrive. Last orders are at 2am in both cities.

Both cities have wild country close by, but Los Angeles offers more variety. Griffith Park, the chaparral canyons of the Santa Monica Mountains and the pine-covered San Gabriels above 3,000m give everything from short urban hikes to mountain trails. The coast adds surfing, kayaking, winter whale watching and boats to the Channel Islands.

Scottsdale's outdoors is all Sonoran Desert. There are saguaro trails in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, steep short climbs up Camelback and Pinnacle Peak, and lakes and wild horses in the Tonto National Forest, plus balloon flights and golf. In summer, only the dawn hours are cool enough to be out.

Coast and wine country shape the days out from Los Angeles, and there are more good ones to choose from. Santa Barbara leads, with its mission, red-tile streets and the Santa Ynez vineyards behind it, followed by the ferry to Catalina, the galleries of Laguna Beach and quiet Ojai in its orange-grove valley. Traffic can badly lengthen any of these drives.

From Scottsdale the outings turn to desert and frontier history, with a shorter list. Sedona's red rocks are two hours north, with the cliff dwelling of Montezuma Castle and the old mining town of Jerome on the way, and Tucson lies to the south. The Grand Canyon is tempting, but it needs a night away.

Los Angeles can keep children busy for a week of big outings: Disneyland, Universal Studios, Knott's Berry Farm and Magic Mountain, then the space shuttle at the Science Center, the La Brea Tar Pits and the Aquarium of the Pacific. A car and one area a day keep it manageable.

Scottsdale is a quieter family stay built around resort pools with lazy rivers and kids' clubs. Add the miniature trains at McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park and the aquarium just east of town. It is clean and easy, though summer heat keeps children indoors or in the water from midday.

Both are car cities, and in both you will want a hire car or ride-hailing, but the problems are different. Los Angeles does have Metro rail linking downtown with Hollywood, Pasadena, Long Beach and Santa Monica. The distances are long and the freeways jam, though, so traffic shapes every day.

Scottsdale has no rail at all, only a free trolley around Old Town. Driving there is simple, with a grid layout, easy parking and light traffic.

Broad independent and vintage shopping sets Los Angeles apart. Beyond the luxury houses of Rodeo Drive, there is streetwear and vintage on Melrose, independent fashion along Abbot Kinney, records and design objects in Silver Lake, and the Rose Bowl flea market for serious vintage hunters. Covering more than one area in a day takes a car.

Scottsdale's strength is narrower: Southwestern art and silver. The Old Town galleries and dealers sell Navajo and Hopi silver, turquoise, Pueblo pottery and cowboy boots, and the best of them offer high quality. A large luxury mall covers the fashion houses, but independent fashion and street-market browsing are scarce.

Neither is cheap, but Scottsdale is easier on the wallet, mostly because of the season. Its resorts cut their rates sharply in the hot summer, and motels along the main roads plus Mexican food help a careful budget.

Los Angeles costs more across the board. Hotels near the coast are expensive, tax and tips go on top of meals, and you pay every day for a car or long rides. The relief comes from taco trucks, Koreatown and free sights such as the beaches, Griffith Observatory and the Getty.

Here Los Angeles is far ahead. The Philharmonic plays at Walt Disney Concert Hall and, in summer, at the Hollywood Bowl, and LA Opera performs at the Music Center. Add rock venues on the Sunset Strip, small band rooms in Echo Park, some of the best comedy clubs anywhere and jazz in Leimert Park, and there is something good on every night.

Scottsdale can fill a few evenings with its Old Town arts centre, world music at the Musical Instrument Museum, and the symphony, opera and ballet in Phoenix. It has little local live music of its own.

Scottsdale is built for rest. Large resort spas with desert treatments, dry air, mountain views and a slow pace of golf and early nights make it easy to unwind, and several spas take day guests. The comfort is polished and private rather than part of any bathing tradition.

Los Angeles has one thing Scottsdale lacks: the Korean bathhouses of Koreatown, communal and open late. Otherwise the city's traffic works against calm, and locals leave town for Ojai or the desert spas around Palm Springs to really relax.