Napa or Sedona?

Neither town is a beach destination, but Sedona gives more fun in the water thanks to Oak Creek. Sliding down the sandstone chute at Slide Rock or dropping into the deeper pools at Grasshopper Point beneath red cliffs makes a cold, memorable break from a hot hike.

Napa has nothing comparable close by. Swimming means a resort pool or a summer drive out to Lake Berryessa, and the Sonoma coast is a place for windswept views rather than a dip.

This is where Napa pulls far ahead. Its whole valley is a wine region, from the Cabernet estates on the Silverado Trail to the Pinot Noir and sparkling wine of Carneros, and a short drive brings some of the most celebrated restaurants in the country, along with the Oxbow Public Market and taquerias for cheaper meals.

Sedona eats well enough on a terrace facing the red rocks, with Southwestern cooking and plenty for vegetarians, but a few good kitchens soon cover it. The Verde Valley tasting rooms add a wine angle, though nothing on Napa's scale.

Both towns run out of sights quickly, so the difference lies in what kind. Napa offers Victorian downtown streets, the 1880 Opera House, contemporary art across the di Rosa estate and old stone winery buildings, all from the last century and a half.

Sedona reaches much further back: the Sinagua cliff dwellings at Palatki and Honanki and the V Bar V petroglyphs are a short drive away, alongside the striking 1956 Chapel of the Holy Cross and galleries of Western and Native American art.

Neither is a place for a big night, but Napa has a little more going on after dinner, with wine bars and a few cocktail bars along First Street and the riverfront that fill on summer weekends, and San Francisco an hour away for anything more. Sedona goes quiet even sooner; a brewpub or resort lounge, then the starry sky over the canyon, is the usual evening.

Sedona is in a different league outdoors. Sandstone buttes and spires rise straight from the edge of town, a dense web of trails reaches Cathedral Rock, Bell Rock and Boynton Canyon, the slickrock singletrack draws mountain bikers, and Oak Creek Canyon climbs into pine forest towards the plateau.

Napa's appeal is gentler and more pastoral: vineyard rows between two low ranges, dawn balloon flights, a flat cycling trail, redwood groves at Bothe-Napa and the climb of Mount St Helena. Pleasant for a morning, but not a landscape people cross the country to hike.

Napa has the broader choice. Yountville, St Helena and Calistoga are minutes away, Sonoma's plaza and mission lie over the Carneros hills, Healdsburg and the Russian River make another wine day, and San Francisco, Berkeley and the Marin towns turn an outing into a city day.

Sedona's excursions are smaller but older. Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot preserve ancient pueblo life, Jerome clings to its mountainside, the Verde Canyon Railroad runs where no road goes, and Flagstaff opens the way to Walnut Canyon and Wupatki, all covered in a few days.

Sedona is the easier choice with children, provided they like being outside. Splashing at Slide Rock, bumping over slickrock on an open jeep tour and walking the lower paths around Bell Rock all work for a range of ages, and many families pair it with the Grand Canyon.

Napa is built for adults, and a day of tastings and long lunches bores most children. A theme and animal park in Vallejo, the geyser near Calistoga and hotel pools help, but they are the exceptions.

A tasting day in Napa is a problem of drinking and driving, while a hiking day in Sedona is a problem of distance and parking. Downtown Napa is compact enough to walk from the riverfront to the market hall and on to dinner. The wineries, though, spread over some 50km of valley, and buses are too infrequent to build a day around, so many visitors hire a driver or join a tour. The valley cycle trail helps on short stretches.

Sedona's only walkable patch is Uptown. Trailheads, the chapel and West Sedona are spread along two highways that meet at the Y, so a car is close to essential. A shuttle reaches only the busiest trailheads, where car parks fill early, and most visitors fly into Phoenix and drive two hours north.

In Napa you mostly shop for things to eat and drink, while in Sedona you shop for things made by hand or bought for their supposed energy. Most Napa visitors ship home cases of wine from the cellars they tasted at, and add olive oil and food gifts from the Oxbow Public Market, cookware from St Helena's main street, or familiar brands from the outlet mall.

In Sedona you browse galleries instead: the courtyards and craft studios of Tlaquepaque, Western painting and sculpture, Native American jewellery, pottery and rugs, and the crystal and metaphysical shops the town is known for. Neither town has much fashion, and Sedona sends anyone looking for it to Phoenix.

Both are costly, and Napa is the harder on the wallet. Luxury hotel rooms, fees at the famous estates, special-occasion restaurants and a driver for tasting days add up quickly, even for those who stay in chain hotels to the south.

Sedona is expensive too, with resort rates and pricey jeep tours and spa treatments, but its main attraction is cheap: the trails need little more than a parking pass and a picnic. Staying in Cottonwood or Flagstaff cuts costs further.

Napa has more evenings worth booking. The restored Opera House and an Art Deco theatre host concerts, comedy and touring bands, a summer classical festival plays in winery and resort settings, and a large rock and pop festival fills the fairgrounds in late spring.

Sedona's calendar is thinner: chamber concerts, local theatre, acoustic sets and Native American flute players, with the film festival in late winter as its main occasion.

Sedona is the deeper retreat. Beyond its destination spas set against the canyons, it offers yoga, meditation, breathwork and alternative therapies, and the sunrise walks to the vortexes give a ritual the whole town shares, all in clear air and quiet nights.

Napa's strength is bathing, which Sedona lacks entirely. Calistoga has drawn people to its volcanic mud baths and mineral pools since the nineteenth century, and the resorts in Carneros and the hills add large spas to an unhurried day of tastings.