Palm Desert or Sedona?

Neither town has a beach, but Sedona at least has wild swimming. In summer you can ride the sandstone chute at Slide Rock or swim in the deeper pools at Grasshopper Point and Red Rock Crossing, below the cliffs. The water is cold and the spots are small.

In Palm Desert, swimming means the resort pool, often heated in winter. The Salton Sea is no use for swimming, and the Pacific is a full day out over the mountains.

Both towns eat mostly in resorts, and neither will keep a keen eater busy for long. In Palm Desert that means steakhouses and Californian patio restaurants on El Paseo. The local flavour is at the eastern end of the valley, in the Mexican taquerias of Indio and Coachella and the date shakes from the groves there.

Sedona's menus lean Southwestern and health-conscious, with plenty for vegetarians, and the main attraction is often a terrace facing the red rocks at sunset. The Verde Valley tasting rooms just down the road give it a wine side that Palm Desert lacks.

Palm Desert's heritage belongs to the twentieth century. It is a resort town built after the Second World War, so its culture is the sculpture garden at the Palm Springs Art Museum branch, the galleries of El Paseo and, twenty minutes west, the mid-century modern houses and main museum of Palm Springs.

Sedona reaches much further back. The Sinagua cliff dwellings at Palatki and Honanki and the V Bar V petroglyphs are a short drive into the backcountry. The Chapel of the Holy Cross, set into a red butte, combines modernist design with the view. In either town, sightseeing is a side trip from the landscape, not the reason to come.

Palm Desert has more to offer after dark, though it is still quiet. The patio wine bars and cocktail lounges around El Paseo close early. The tribal casinos, though, keep bars open into the small hours, and Palm Springs has the valley's liveliest downtown and a well-known gay scene.

Sedona is quieter still. A few brewpubs and resort lounges in Uptown suit a drink after dinner, and the hiking crowd goes to bed early to be on the trail at dawn. The best thing to do in the evening is look up at the clear, dark sky full of stars.

Palm Desert has fine country close by. Steep trails climb into the Santa Rosa Mountains from the edge of town, the Indian Canyons hide fan-palm oases, the Palm Springs tramway rises to pine forest, and Joshua Tree is about an hour away.

Sedona is in another league. Red sandstone buttes and spires surround the town, with a dense trail network to Bell Rock, Boynton Canyon and Devil's Bridge, slickrock singletrack for mountain bikers and jeep roads into the backcountry. Oak Creek Canyon climbs into cool pine forest, and the Grand Canyon's South Rim is about two hours away.

Sedona is the better base for day trips. Montezuma Castle and the hilltop pueblo of Tuzigoot are both within half an hour. The old copper-mining town of Jerome clings to a mountainside about forty minutes away, and the Verde Canyon Railroad runs through a canyon that no road reaches. Further north, Flagstaff leads on to Walnut Canyon and the Wupatki pueblos, so short drives bring ancient sites, old towns and wine country within easy reach.

Palm Desert's outings are more scattered. Palm Springs is next door, but Temecula's vineyards are an hour and a half away. Idyllwild is a cool escape in summer, and Salvation Mountain near the Salton Sea makes an odd, memorable day. Los Angeles and San Diego are too far to do well as day trips.

Palm Desert makes the easier family base. The Living Desert, a large zoo and botanical garden in town, fills a morning with giraffes and cheetahs, the Palm Springs tramway thrills older children, and the big resorts have pools, slides and lawns for the time in between.

Sedona suits active families. Children love Slide Rock in summer and the open-air jeep tours, but there is no zoo or theme park, and many hotels are aimed at couples. Families often treat it as one stop on a loop with the Grand Canyon.

You need a car in both towns, but Sedona is a little easier without one. Uptown is compact enough to walk, and a shuttle serves some of the busiest trailheads. The trade-off is weekend traffic around the Y junction and trailhead car parks that fill early.

Palm Desert is a low-density spread of wide boulevards, and only a few blocks of El Paseo are made for walking. Buses are slow and infrequent. At least the roads are clear, parking is easy, and ride-hailing covers evenings out.

Palm Desert is the better place to shop. El Paseo is a palm-lined boulevard of fashion boutiques, jewellers and galleries, with a large mall nearby, a designer outlet centre half an hour west and the vintage furniture shops of Palm Springs.

Sedona's shopping is narrower but more local. The courtyards of Tlaquepaque and the galleries along the main road sell Western art and Native American jewellery, pottery and rugs, and crystal and metaphysical shops are a speciality. There is no fashion shopping to speak of.

Neither town is cheap, but Palm Desert stretches a budget further. Chain hotels and vacation rentals offer cheaper stays all year, and from June to September resort rooms fall to a fraction of their winter rates for anyone who can cope with the heat.

Sedona's resorts and boutique lodges are expensive in every season, and jeep tours, balloon flights and spa treatments add up quickly. The trails cost little beyond a parking pass, and staying in Cottonwood or Flagstaff is the usual way to save.

Palm Desert has much more on stage. In winter the McCallum Theatre brings touring Broadway shows, ballet, orchestras and well-known singers, and the casinos and arena add big concerts. In spring the polo grounds in nearby Indio host Coachella and then Stagecoach.

Sedona's calendar is small: chamber concerts, local theatre, the long-running film festival in late winter, and Native American flute players in some resorts. For anything larger you have to drive to Flagstaff or Phoenix.

Sedona is the true retreat town. Destination spas face the red canyons, there are yoga studios, meditation and breathwork sessions and alternative therapies, and walks to the vortexes at sunrise are a local ritual.

Palm Desert's rest is gentler: resort spas, long afternoons by the pool and early nights after golf. It does have something Sedona lacks, though. In Desert Hot Springs, half an hour away, small spa hotels fill their pools straight from natural hot mineral springs.