Palm Desert or Park City?

Neither town has a coast, so in both of them swimming means a pool. In Palm Desert the pool is the centre of the stay: heated in winter, under the palms, at nearly every resort and rental. The Pacific is a long two-hour drive over the mountains.

Park City offers swimming outdoors only in high summer, at Jordanelle Reservoir down the valley, where there are sandy swimming areas and cool water. For the rest of the year, getting in the water means a hot tub with snow around it.

Both towns eat in a similar polished resort style, but the flavours differ. In Palm Desert you eat steaks and Californian dishes on patios along El Paseo, and the local character comes from the taquerias and date groves around Indio, where a date shake is the one regional speciality.

Park City cooks for skiers: elk, bison and trout on Main Street, and après-ski with whiskey and craft beer on the slopeside decks. Both have a bigger dining scene within reach when the menus start to repeat. For Palm Desert it is Palm Springs, and for Park City it is Salt Lake City.

Neither is a sightseeing destination, but Palm Desert gives a little more to fill the days. It has the art museum's sculpture garden in town and the gallery fronts on El Paseo, and above all it is close to the mid-century modern houses and main art museum in Palm Springs.

Park City's heritage is all about mining. Its old wooden storefronts, the headframes on the slopes and the museum with its basement jail cells tell the story well. The Olympic Park adds a sporting chapter, but an afternoon covers most of it.

An evening in Palm Desert usually means a glass of wine on a patio along El Paseo among golfers and retirees, and an early night. If you want more, you have to drive, either to the tribal casinos, whose lounges stay open into the small hours, or to downtown Palm Springs, which has the valley's liveliest bars and a well-known gay scene.

Park City's nights start earlier and louder, on the slopeside decks as the lifts close. From there the crowd moves to the saloons and cocktail bars of Main Street, and on winter weekends a few places have bands or DJs. It can get rowdy at the height of ski season, but the street is short and empties well before the small hours. Out of season the whole town goes to bed early.

Park City is in a different league for mountain sport. Two large ski areas rise from town, the dry powder lasts all winter, and Alta, Snowbird, Brighton and Solitude are within an hour. In summer the same slopes become a base for biking, hiking and fly fishing.

Palm Desert's landscape is still its best feature. Steep trails climb straight into the Santa Rosa Mountains, palm oases hide in the Indian Canyons, and Joshua Tree's boulders and night skies are an hour away. It is a winter playground, though, and summer heat shuts it down.

Palm Desert has the wider spread of outings. Palm Springs is close, Temecula's wineries and the cool village of Idyllwild are within reach, and there are odder places too: the Western film set at Pioneertown and the painted hillside of Salvation Mountain.

From Park City, the main outing is Salt Lake City, with Temple Square and its museums. After that come the Heber Valley steam railway, Swiss-style Midway and Ogden's railroad street. Beyond those, most of what lies in range is scenery rather than places to explore.

Park City is the easier family base. Ski schools have gentle learning areas, and the free buses get you to the slopes without car seats. At the Olympic Park, children can ride the alpine coaster, the ziplines and the ropes courses, and in summer the resort bases add slides and climbing walls. Altitude can tire young children for the first day or two, and winter costs mount quickly.

Palm Desert has one standout attraction, the Living Desert zoo and gardens. It also has resort pools with slides, and the tramway in Palm Springs is a hit with older children. Beyond that the valley is built for golf and adults, every outing means a drive, and the midday heat is hard on small children.

In Park City you can leave the car behind. Free buses link Old Town, Main Street, both ski bases and Kimball Junction, and parking is so awkward that going without a car is the better option anyway. You will still want one for trips into the valleys or the other ski areas.

Palm Desert is the opposite. It is a low-density spread of wide boulevards, the buses are too infrequent to rely on, and only a few blocks of El Paseo are made for walking. On the plus side, the roads are clear and parking is easy.

Palm Desert is the better place to shop. El Paseo is a landscaped boulevard of designer boutiques, jewellers and galleries, a large designer outlet centre is half an hour west, and Palm Springs adds vintage and mid-century furniture shops.

Park City's Main Street is pleasant for browsing between meals. It sells cowboy boots, Western wear, outdoor gear and ski fashion, and Kimball Junction has a smaller outlet centre. Serious shopping means going down to Salt Lake City.

Palm Desert is the gentler of the two on spending, though it is still an American resort town. Meals out carry US prices plus tips, the hire car is a cost every day, and room rates climb highest around the valley's big events. Golf and spa treatments are where a budget slips fastest.

In Park City, the mountain is only part of the bill. Dinner on Main Street is also priced at the top of the resort market, and the Christmas and New Year weeks are the most expensive of the year. The free buses let you skip the hire car, and a summer or autumn visit costs considerably less than a winter one.

Palm Desert has the stronger stage. In winter the McCallum Theatre brings in touring Broadway shows, ballet and orchestras, and the casinos host big-name concerts. In spring the polo grounds at Indio hold Coachella and then Stagecoach, two of the best-known festivals in the country.

Park City's programme peaks in summer, when it is the off season in the desert. The Utah Symphony plays on the lawns at Deer Valley and there are free concerts in the parks. Year-round, the 1920s Egyptian Theatre on Main Street puts on comedy, plays and cabaret.

In Palm Desert, relaxing is the point of the trip rather than something added to it. The spa season is the dry, sunny winter, when warm afternoons outdoors are the main attraction. The valley's bathing also has roots: Desert Hot Springs grew up around its hot springs in the early twentieth century, and its spa hotels still draw on them.

In Park City, the spa belongs to the ski day. The grand lodges at Deer Valley and the Canyons base aim their massages at tired legs, and the classic moment is an outdoor soak at dusk after skiing. For something unusual, the Homestead Crater in Midway lets you swim or snorkel inside a limestone dome in water at about 35°C. In the off-season, quiet aspen trails make the town restful in a calmer way.