Moab or San Francisco?

Neither city works for a beach vacation, but San Francisco at least has a real shoreline. Ocean Beach, Baker Beach under the Golden Gate Bridge and the cove at China Beach are lovely for walks, bonfires and sunsets, even though the cold Pacific and rip currents rule out swimming.

Moab is high desert far from any coast. The best it offers is a dip in Mill Creek's pools or Ken's Lake on a hot day, so swimming there mostly means the motel pool.

Food is one of the main reasons to choose San Francisco. It has sourdough, cioppino, the Ferry Building market, Cantonese cooking in Chinatown and the Sunset, Italian bakeries in North Beach and a strong fine-dining scene, with Napa and Sonoma wines on most lists.

Moab's Main Street is about refuelling after a day outside: big plates of burgers, tacos and pizza, a couple of breweries and a few more ambitious Southwestern kitchens. Utah's alcohol rules also make a glass of wine with dinner less casual than in California.

San Francisco offers days of sightseeing. There are the cable cars, Alcatraz, the painted Victorians and Coit Tower, plus SFMOMA, the de Young, the Legion of Honor and the Asian Art Museum. The Mission's murals and the Castro add neighbourhood history.

Moab's town needs a morning at most, mainly for the small Museum of Moab. Its real depth lies outside town: Ancestral Puebloan and Fremont rock art along Potash Road and Kane Creek, and dinosaur trackways in the desert. Those reward a curious walker more than a museum-goer.

San Francisco has a proper night out, spread across several districts. You'll find cocktail and mezcal bars on Valencia Street, old saloons in North Beach, the Castro's gay bars and warehouse clubs in SoMa, though bars stop serving at 2am.

Moab's evenings are a few brewpubs full of bikers and rafters swapping stories, with no clubs at all. Most visitors are in bed early for a sunrise hike, and the best thing after dark is the star-filled sky.

Moab has the edge, and it is a wide one. Arches and its two thousand stone arches start minutes from town, Canyonlands spreads out below Island in the Sky, and the Slickrock Trail, the Whole Enchilada descent and rafting on the Colorado make it one of the world's great outdoor bases.

San Francisco is remarkable for a city, with Lands End's cliff trail, the Presidio, the Marin Headlands, Muir Woods' redwoods and Point Reyes' elephant seals. But this is coast, fog and forest rather than the open red-rock wilderness Moab offers.

San Francisco has much more within a day's reach. Napa and Sonoma are about an hour north, ferries cross the bay to Sausalito and Tiburon, and Santa Cruz, Monterey's Cannery Row and the Carmel mission make easy outings along the coast.

From Moab, a day out mostly means more landscape. The few towns nearby are small: pioneer Bluff, Green River and Monticello. The more rewarding drive is south to Edge of the Cedars and the stone towers of Hovenweep, but that takes most of a day.

San Francisco makes the easier family trip. The Exploratorium and the California Academy of Sciences can each fill a rainy day, and there are the zoo, the sea lions at Fisherman's Wharf, cable car rides and Golden Gate Park's playgrounds and carousel. The steep hills are hard going with a pushchair, though.

Moab rewards active school-age children with rock scrambles to Sand Dune Arch, dinosaur tracks, gentle raft floats and Junior Ranger badges. However, summer heat, long unfenced drops and hours in the car make it a poor fit for toddlers.

San Francisco works well without a car. Muni, BART, the cable cars and the F-line streetcars all take one Clipper card, and ferries cross the bay. The real effort is the hills, not the distances, and you only need to hire a car for wine country.

In Moab, a car is not optional. Main Street is walkable and a paved path leads to the Arches entrance, but the parks and trailheads lie along long desert roads and dirt tracks. Without a vehicle, you depend on outfitters' shuttles and tours.

San Francisco is a pleasant city for browsing. Union Square has the department stores, Hayes Valley has design boutiques, and Valencia Street and Haight-Ashbury are good for vintage clothes and bookshops. Grant Avenue in Chinatown sells tea and ceramics.

Moab's shops are practical: bike and climbing gear, rock shops selling geodes and fossils, and a few galleries with Navajo jewellery and weavings. They are good for a sun hat or a fossil to take home, but there is nothing in the way of fashion.

Neither is cheap, but Moab costs less. Its motels charge resort prices in spring and autumn, and rafting or jeep tours add up. On the other hand, one park pass covers a week, dispersed camping costs next to nothing, the best hikes are free, and winter is far cheaper.

San Francisco is expensive at every level. Hotels are dear and dining out comes with tax and tips on top. Mission taquerias, Richmond dim sum and the free coastal trails help, but a tight budget will feel the strain.

Once a year, Moab puts on a memorable show. At the Moab Music Festival at the end of summer, chamber concerts are held in canyon grottoes reached by boat. For the rest of the year, live performance means the odd weekend band in a brewpub.

San Francisco offers a full season. The War Memorial Opera House is home to the city's opera and to the country's oldest professional ballet company, and the symphony plays at Davies Hall. There is also jazz at the SFJAZZ Center and rock at the historic Fillmore.

In Moab, calm comes from the outdoors rather than from treatments. There are a few massage studios for sore legs, but the real rest is in silent desert evenings, cliffs turning red at sunset, or a cabin up in the La Sal Mountains.

For actual pampering, San Francisco gives far more choice. Japantown has a Japanese-style communal bathhouse, there are day spas and yoga studios across the city, and the Japanese Tea Garden is good for a quiet hour. Calistoga's mud baths and mineral pools are about two hours away.