Palm Desert or Scottsdale?

Neither city has a beach, and in both the swimming pool does the job. They differ in what lies beyond the pool. From Palm Desert, the nearest real swim is the Pacific, a two-hour drive over the mountains, and the Salton Sea is not for swimming.

Scottsdale has freshwater close by. Saguaro Lake and Canyon Lake, under an hour away, have small sandy coves and boat hire, and in summer you can float down the Salt River on an inner tube.

Scottsdale eats better, though neither is a food destination. Old Town has a wider spread of sushi, brunch spots and modern American kitchens, and Sonoran Mexican cooking, with green chile and plate-sized flour tortillas, is easy to find across the metro area. Phoenix is close by when you want more.

Palm Desert's El Paseo restaurants are polished but alike. Its most memorable flavours are out east in Indio and Coachella: taquerias, bakeries and date shakes from the groves.

Scottsdale has much more to see. Taliesin West, Wright's desert studio and part of a UNESCO listing, is a sight people travel for. Add the western art museum, the small contemporary art museum and, just over the line, the Heard Museum and the Musical Instrument Museum, and you can fill several days.

Palm Desert, a post-war resort town, has an outpost of the Palm Springs Art Museum with a sculpture garden and some galleries. The valley's mid-century modern architecture is in Palm Springs, twenty minutes away.

This is where the two differ most. Scottsdale's Old Town packs dance clubs, sports bars and rooftop lounges into a few blocks that stay loud until the 2am close, especially on spring weekends full of bachelor parties and baseball fans.

Palm Desert's evenings end early, over a glass of wine on an El Paseo patio among golfers and retirees. A later night means a drive to a tribal casino or to the bars of downtown Palm Springs.

Both sit right against superb desert, but the landscapes differ. Palm Desert has the Santa Rosa Mountains rising from the edge of town, fan-palm oases with winter streams in the Indian Canyons, the tramway up to pine forest at around 2,600m, and Joshua Tree's boulders and night skies an hour away.

Scottsdale's desert is saguaro country. The McDowell Sonoran Preserve has well-marked trails, Camelback and Pinnacle Peak are short, steep climbs, and the Tonto lakes add kayaking, riding and balloon flights.

The day-trip choice is about equal, but the destinations are very different. From Palm Desert you get Palm Springs next door, Temecula's wineries, cool Idyllwild, the old film set at Pioneertown and the odd folk-art spectacle of Salvation Mountain.

From Scottsdale, the classic run is north to Sedona's red rocks, passing the cliff dwelling at Montezuma Castle and the hillside mining town of Jerome. Tucson and the San Xavier mission lie south, and the Grand Canyon is possible with a night away.

Scottsdale keeps children busier. Its resorts lean harder into lazy rivers and kids' clubs, and in town there is the miniature railway park, while the aquarium, butterfly house and Phoenix Zoo are all a short drive away. Spring training games make an easy March afternoon.

Palm Desert has one excellent outing in the Living Desert, a large zoo and botanical garden, plus the Palm Springs tramway for older children. After those, the pool has to do most of the work.

You will need a car in both, and in both, driving and parking are easy. Scottsdale is slightly kinder on foot. Old Town is compact and walkable, and a free trolley links it to the main shopping areas.

In Palm Desert, only a few blocks of El Paseo invite a stroll, and the local buses are too slow to plan around.

Scottsdale is the stronger shopping trip. It has a big luxury mall with the major fashion houses, and its Old Town galleries and dealers sell Navajo and Hopi silver, turquoise, Pueblo pottery and western boots, things you will not find in Palm Desert.

Palm Desert has El Paseo, a handsome boulevard of boutiques, jewellers and galleries that feels like a social stroll, and the big designer outlet half an hour west. The valley's vintage and mid-century furniture shops are in Palm Springs.

Both are expensive resort towns in winter and spring, and both get much cheaper in summer, when the heat empties the resorts. The ways to save differ slightly. In Palm Desert, chain hotels and vacation rentals are the cheaper option all year.

In Scottsdale, motels along the main roads, inexpensive Mexican food and free hiking in the desert preserve help a careful budget. In both, golf and spa days are where costs run away.

The two are evenly matched, but in different ways. Palm Desert has one strong venue, the McCallum Theatre, for touring Broadway, ballet and big-name singers through the winter. On top of that come Coachella and Stagecoach at nearby Indio, which are famous but last only a few spring weekends.

Scottsdale spreads its evenings more widely. There is chamber music and jazz at its Old Town arts centre, world music at the Musical Instrument Museum, and opera, ballet and the symphony in Phoenix.

Scottsdale has more and bigger resort spas, many with desert-themed treatments, steam rooms and day passes, plus plenty of yoga and retreats, so pampering is easier to arrange.

What Palm Desert has, and Scottsdale lacks, is real hot water from the ground. Desert Hot Springs, half an hour north, has small spa hotels whose pools are filled straight from natural mineral springs, a bathing tradition that goes back to the town's founding.