Page, Arizona or San Francisco?

Page is the one where you actually swim. In midsummer Lake Powell warms up enough for long swims, and you can jump off rock into deep water in the sandstone coves or drive down to the open sand at Lone Rock. Do not expect lifeguards or beach towns, though, and the shoreline moves as the lake rises and falls.

San Francisco's beaches are lovely to look at but not for swimming. At Ocean Beach and Baker Beach the cold Pacific, fog and rip currents mean walks, bonfires and sunsets rather than a dip, and only wetsuited regulars swim at Aquatic Park.

This is where the two are furthest apart. San Francisco is a destination for eating in its own right, built on Northern California produce, Dungeness crab, sourdough and cioppino. It has whole districts of Cantonese, Italian and Mexican cooking, a strong tier of fine dining and Napa and Sonoma wines on every list.

In Page you eat to refuel between outings, in diners, barbecue joints and chains on the main strip. The one dish to look for is the Navajo taco, frybread piled high and sold at roadside stands on the reservation.

San Francisco has far more to see. There are the landmarks everyone knows, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and the cable cars, then strong museums such as SFMOMA, the Legion of Honor and the Asian Art Museum, and neighbourhoods with their own stories in Chinatown and the Castro.

Page dates only from the 1950s dam project. Its sights are the Carl Hayden Visitor Center at the Glen Canyon Dam and a small museum devoted to John Wesley Powell. The deeper cultural layer belongs to the Navajo Nation around the town, which you meet mainly through the canyon guides.

San Francisco has proper nights out, from dive and mezcal bars in the Mission to the old saloons of North Beach, the Castro's gay bars and the SoMa warehouse clubs. The bars are spread across several districts, though, and close at 2am.

Page has a brewpub and a few bars, and the town is quiet long before midnight. Its best evening is lying under a very dark desert sky full of stars, before an early start for the canyons.

Both sit in remarkable country, but Page has the edge because the scenery begins at the edge of town. Within minutes you reach the glowing slot canyons, the great loop of Horseshoe Bend and the red maze of Lake Powell, with Rainbow Bridge reached by boat and the Wave and Buckskin Gulch an hour or two away.

San Francisco's outdoors is greener and cooler. It has Lands End's cliff trail and Golden Gate Park inside the city, then Muir Woods' redwoods, the Marin Headlands and Point Reyes' elephant seals across the bridge. Expect fog and wind rather than desert heat.

From San Francisco there is plenty to do for a day. Napa and Sonoma are about an hour north, ferries cross to Sausalito and Tiburon, Berkeley is a short train ride away, and Monterey and Carmel make a fuller outing down the coast.

Around Page the land is spectacular, but there are few towns or heritage sites to visit. The pioneer buildings at Lees Ferry, the cliff dwellings at Betatakin and the Western film-set history of Kanab are the main options, and most involve long drives.

San Francisco makes the easier family trip. The Exploratorium and the California Academy of Sciences can each fill a day, and the zoo, the sea lions at Fisherman's Wharf and the cable cars help too. The hills are hard with a pushchair, though.

Page suits outdoorsy families. Splashing about at Lone Rock and the Antelope Canyon tours go down well with children. However, there is nothing built for children, the summer sun is fierce, and the unfenced cliff edges at Horseshoe Bend call for close supervision.

In San Francisco you can leave the car behind. Muni, BART, the streetcars and the cable cars cover a compact city on one Clipper card, although the steep hills turn short walks into climbs.

In Page a car is essential. You can walk the strip of motels and diners, but the viewpoints, marinas and parks are all a drive away, there is no useful public transport, and most visitors arrive on a long road trip from distant airports.

San Francisco offers real browsing. There are department stores and flagship brands around Union Square, design boutiques in Hayes Valley, vintage along Valencia Street and in Haight-Ashbury, and tea and ceramics on Grant Avenue.

In Page you shop for supplies and souvenirs, with one exception worth your time: Navajo silver and turquoise jewellery, rugs and pottery, bought at trading posts or straight from the maker at roadside stalls.

Neither is cheap, but Page is the gentler of the two. Meals and fuel cost what they do in any small American town. The bills add up from guided canyon tours, boat hire and rooms that are scarce in the busy months, and camping at Lone Rock or Wahweap brings them down.

San Francisco is among the most expensive places in the country, with costly hotels and tax and tips added to high menu prices. Free parks, coastal trails, walking the bridge and cheap taquerias soften the blow, but only partly.

San Francisco has a full cultural calendar. The opera, the country's oldest professional ballet company and the symphony all perform at the Civic Center, there is serious drama at the American Conservatory Theater and jazz at SFJAZZ, and the Fillmore carries its psychedelic-era history.

Page has nothing to plan around beyond the odd Navajo dance presentation for visitors or a local band in a bar.

San Francisco offers more ways to unwind. There is a long-established Japanese-style bathhouse in Japantown, plenty of day spas and yoga studios, and the mud baths and mineral pools of Calistoga a couple of hours north, though the city centre itself can feel hectic.

Page has little beyond motel pools. Its calm comes from wide desert views and quiet nights, and the early starts and long drives make it a trip for active days.