Moab or Sonoma?

Neither town is a place for a swimming vacation, and neither is anywhere near a sea you can bathe in. In Moab, people cool off in the shallow pools of Mill Creek, at Ken's Lake or on the sandbars of the Colorado, a fast, cold river that needs care, and most visitors settle for the motel pool.

Sonoma's options are a little gentler. The gravel beaches of the Russian River are warm enough in summer for a lazy afternoon. The Bodega Bay coast, over an hour away, is worth the drive for its headlands, but the water is too cold and rough for swimming.

Here Sonoma is in another league. Wine is the reason to come: tasting rooms around the plaza, Carneros Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, old-vine Zinfandel, and seasonal Californian cooking built on local cheese, olive oil and oysters from the coast. Its limit is choice, as restaurants are few and evenings end early.

Moab's food is there to refuel you rather than to travel for. Main Street has big portions of burgers, tacos and pizza, a couple of breweries and a few more ambitious Southwestern dinners. Utah's alcohol rules also make a drink with dinner more formal than it is in California.

Neither is a cultural destination, but Sonoma has a real historic core. You can fill a good half day with the plaza where the Bear Flag Revolt declared a short-lived California Republic in 1846, the last of the state's Franciscan missions, the adobe barracks and Vallejo's house, Lachryma Montis.

Moab's interest lies outside town and much further back in time. Ancestral Puebloan and Fremont petroglyphs line the cliffs along Potash Road and Kane Creek, the Sego Canyon panels are a drive away and there are dinosaur trackways nearby. In town, the small Museum of Moab takes an hour or so.

Both towns go quiet early, and neither has a club. What differs is the crowd. Moab's brewpubs fill with mountain bikers and rafters swapping stories before an early night, while in Sonoma the wine bars and saloons around the plaza are where people carry on after dinner. Moab's real evening draw is an exceptionally dark, starry sky, and from Sonoma you can drive to Santa Rosa or San Francisco for a proper night out.

Moab is one of the world's great outdoor bases and wins this easily. Arches starts minutes from town, and Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point look over the canyons of the Colorado and Green rivers. The Slickrock Trail and the Whole Enchilada make it a mountain-biking capital, and there is rafting, canyoneering and climbing on top.

Sonoma's outdoors is softer but still appealing. There are vineyard back roads for cycling, trails from the plaza up to the Sonoma Overlook, redwoods at Sugarloaf Ridge and Jack London park, and balloon flights over the valley. Point Reyes and the wild coast are about an hour away.

Sonoma is far better placed for days out. San Francisco is about an hour's drive and Napa, Yountville and St Helena are just across the hills. Healdsburg, Petaluma and Sausalito add more plazas and waterfronts, though many outings turn out to be yet another wine town.

From Moab, a day out mostly means more desert. The towns within reach, Green River, Monticello and Bluff, are small. The most rewarding trip is a long drive south to the ruins and museum at Edge of the Cedars and the stone towers of Hovenweep.

Moab suits active children better. Easy walks to Sand Dune Arch and the Windows, dinosaur tracks, calm river floats, jeep rides over slickrock and Junior Ranger programmes all appeal to school-age children. Summer heat and unfenced drops make it hard going with toddlers, though.

Sonoma is calm and safe but built for adults visiting tasting rooms. A playground on the plaza, a miniature railway and a wildlife park of African animals near Santa Rosa are about all there is for children, and families often do better staying in San Francisco.

Both have a small, walkable centre and need a car for anything beyond it, but Sonoma is a little easier. A good number of tasting rooms are within a few blocks of the plaza, and the flat valley roads suit cycling. Hiring a driver or joining a tour also solves the question of who drives after the tasting.

Moab has a paved bike path to the Arches entrance and little else. The parks are spread along long desert roads and trailheads are often reached by dirt track. Without your own vehicle, ideally a high-clearance one, you depend on outfitters' shuttles and tours.

Sonoma is the better place to browse. Its plaza arcades hold independent boutiques, kitchen and home shops, galleries, olive oil, cheese and wine bought straight from the producers, and there is a farmers' market in summer.

Moab sells what its visitors need: bike, climbing and camping gear, rock shops with geodes and fossils, and a few galleries of Navajo jewellery and weaving. Neither town has fashion or department stores.

Neither is cheap, but your money goes further in Moab. Its motels charge resort prices in spring and autumn and guided rafting or jeep tours add up. Even so, one national park entry covers a week, campgrounds and free dispersed camping are easy to find, the best hikes cost nothing and winter is much cheaper.

Sonoma is priced for wine-country weekends. Rooms are few, restaurants aim at well-off visitors, tasting fees mount up day by day and you need a car or a driver as well. Staying in Santa Rosa or Petaluma and picnicking among the vines helps.

Sonoma has more on, mostly in summer. There are Broadway-style concerts among the ruins of Jack London park, concerts at wineries and some live shows at the 1930s theatre on the plaza. Half an hour away, the concert hall at the Green Music Center draws touring orchestras.

Moab's one highlight is the Moab Music Festival at the end of summer, with chamber music played partly in canyon grottoes reached by boat. The rest of the year, expect a weekend band in a brewpub.

Sonoma is the place to rest. The mineral water of Boyes Hot Springs feeds a historic resort spa that sells day passes, there are inn spas around the valley and the mud baths of Calistoga are about an hour away. The town's slow mornings and early evenings make doing very little easy.

Moab is built for energetic trips, with early starts and long, hot days, and its few massage studios mostly treat sore legs. Its calm comes from desert sunsets and dark skies, or from a ranch or a La Sal cabin away from town.