Palm Desert or Salt Lake City?

Neither city is anywhere near the sea, and neither is worth choosing for swimming. What differs is what you swim in.

In Palm Desert it's the resort pool, often heated, used every day and central to a stay. Salt Lake City has lakes instead. You float once in the briny Great Salt Lake for the novelty, then on hot July days you head up to the mountain reservoirs, such as Jordanelle or Pineview, for paddleboards and sandy patches of shore.

The food in both cities is decent rather than a reason to go, but the meals are very different. Palm Desert does polished resort dining, with steakhouses and Californian patios along El Paseo, and its one real local speciality is the date shake from the groves near Indio.

Salt Lake City is less polished and has more character. Expect fry sauce, pastrami burgers, fried scones and drive-through soda shops, plus the city's best cooking in the Mexican, Pacific Islander, Peruvian and Vietnamese kitchens along State Street. Utah's liquor rules mean you won't get the long wine-led dinners Palm Desert does well.

Salt Lake City has much more to see. Temple Square, laid out in 1847, has the granite temple, the domed Tabernacle and its organ, and the Assembly Hall. Add the State Capitol, the painted Cathedral of the Madeleine and the dinosaur halls of the Natural History Museum, and you have two full days of sightseeing.

Palm Desert, a post-war resort town, has the art museum's sculpture garden and some galleries on El Paseo, enough for a morning. For mid-century architecture you have to drive to Palm Springs.

Neither city is a place for late nights, but Salt Lake City has a bit more going on. It has breweries, a few dance clubs around Main Street and the Granary District, a long-running gay bar scene and pubs in Sugar House, although Utah's licensing laws limit strong drinks and late hours.

Palm Desert's evenings are cocktails and wine on El Paseo patios, mostly with golfers and retirees, and they end early. If you want to stay up later, you have to drive to the tribal casinos or to the bars of downtown Palm Springs.

Both cities sit right at the foot of mountains, but Salt Lake City's are higher and more varied. The Wasatch peaks top 3,000m, with famous ski powder in winter and alpine lakes, wildflower meadows and serious summit hikes in summer. Trails start above the Avenues, and Antelope Island's bison and the Bonneville Salt Flats lie to the west.

Palm Desert's landscape is desert. There are steep trails into the Santa Rosa Mountains, palm oases in the Indian Canyons and the boulders and night skies of Joshua Tree an hour away, but all of it closes down in the summer heat.

Palm Desert gives you more variety within a day's drive. You have Palm Springs and its mid-century neighbourhoods, the tasting rooms of Temecula, the cool mountain village of Idyllwild, the old film set at Pioneertown and the strange painted hillside of Salvation Mountain.

From Salt Lake City, Park City's old silver-mining Main Street is the highlight. Midway, Ogden's 25th Street and the Golden Spike site complete a shorter list. Utah's famous national parks are too far for a day trip.

Salt Lake City is the better choice with children. It's a city of large families where children are expected everywhere. The zoo, aquarium, planetarium, Discovery Gateway and Tracy Aviary keep a week busy, and Lagoon's roller coasters and the children's ski schools add more.

Palm Desert has one excellent morning at the Living Desert zoo, the Palm Springs tramway and resort pools with slides. After that there's little aimed at children, and the summer heat keeps small ones indoors at midday.

You'll want a car in both, but Salt Lake City manages better without one. Its walkable core links Temple Square, the Capitol and the shops, TRAX light rail runs to the airport and the University, and FrontRunner trains reach Ogden and Provo. You'll still need to drive to the canyons, which can be slow on powder days.

Palm Desert is all spread-out boulevards and gated communities. El Paseo is the only stretch made for walking, and the buses are too slow and infrequent to be much use. The roads are quiet and parking is easy, though.

Palm Desert is the better place to shop. El Paseo is a palm-lined street of fashion boutiques, jewellers and galleries, browsed as a social outing, and a big designer outlet centre is half an hour west.

In Salt Lake City, shopping is mostly practical. City Creek Center and Trolley Square have the familiar brands, and 9th and 9th and Sugar House have independent and vintage shops. Its real strength is outdoor gear, with excellent local ski, climbing and camping shops.

Both are typical American destinations with tax, tips and a hire car on every bill, and costs depend mainly on the season. In Palm Desert, winter is expensive and the summer heat empties the resorts, so rooms are far cheaper from June to September. Spa visits and golf push up the bill.

Salt Lake City works the other way. Winter is the costly season because of lift tickets and canyon lodging, while a summer hiking trip, with free sights on Temple Square and cheap light rail, is reasonable.

Salt Lake City has the fuller arts calendar. You can hear the Tabernacle Choir and the great organ at Temple Square, and the Utah Symphony, Utah Opera, Ballet West and Pioneer Theatre perform through the year.

Palm Desert relies on the McCallum Theatre's winter season of touring shows, plus concerts at the casinos. Its moment of fame is Coachella and Stagecoach at the Indio polo grounds, but they last only a few spring weekends.

This is Palm Desert's strongest point. The whole town is built for rest, with resort spas, pool afternoons and a relaxed winter pace. Desert Hot Springs, half an hour away, fills small spa-hotel pools directly from natural mineral springs.

Salt Lake City has one memorable soak, in the limestone dome of the Homestead Crater at Midway. Otherwise, relaxing there means a resort spa after skiing.