Palm Springs or Palm Desert?

Neither town has a beach, and the Pacific coast is about two hours over the mountains from both. The Salton Sea is no place for a swim from either town. In both, the swimming happens in a pool.

The pools themselves differ. In Palm Desert they mostly belong to big resorts with slides and lawns, which suits children. In Palm Springs they are more often at boutique hotels, retro motels and private rental houses, which suits couples who want a quiet pool to themselves.

The two are close, and both lean on the same Mexican taquerias, bakeries and date-shake stands at the eastern end of the valley. The difference is in the mood. Palm Desert eats in polished steakhouses and Californian bistros on El Paseo and in the resorts, made for a long dinner outdoors. Palm Springs is better for long patio brunches, poolside cocktails and casual meals along Palm Canyon Drive.

Palm Desert is a post-war resort town with little to show beyond a branch of the Palm Springs Art Museum, its outdoor sculpture garden and the galleries along El Paseo. A morning covers it, and its residents themselves drive west for more.

Palm Springs is where the valley's sights are. Albert Frey's houses and tramway station, Richard Neutra's Kaufmann House and the folded roofs of the Alexander homes in Twin Palms and Vista Las Palmas make a full day by bike or car. The main art museum and the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum, which tells the Cahuilla story, round it out.

Evenings in Palm Desert end early, with a glass of wine or a cocktail on an El Paseo patio among golfers and retirees. A later night means driving to a tribal casino.

Palm Springs has a real, if small, scene. The LGBTQ bars on Arenas Road run drag nights and patio drinks, the retro lounges along Palm Canyon Drive suit a cocktail crawl, and hotel pool parties fill spring weekends. There are still hardly any clubs, but it is the place in the valley to stay out.

Both towns sit at the foot of steep mountains with Joshua Tree about an hour away, so the landscape is a strong reason to visit either. Palm Desert's trails climb the Santa Rosa Mountains from the south side of town, and golf courses spread across the valley floor around it.

Palm Springs has more right on its doorstep. The aerial tramway leaves from the edge of town for the pine forest and winter snow of Mount San Jacinto. Tahquitz Canyon's waterfall and the Indian Canyons' palm oases are minutes away, and the Whitewater Preserve is close by.

Palm Desert's best outing is Palm Springs itself, twenty minutes west, which gives you a full day of architecture, vintage shops and a walkable downtown. From its spot further east, the Indio date groves and Salvation Mountain by the Salton Sea are also closer.

From Palm Springs the list is quirkier and shorter. Idyllwild in the pines, the Western film set at Pioneertown and Temecula's wineries are good, but the valley towns next door are mostly shopping stops rather than a day out.

The Living Desert, a large zoo and botanical garden with giraffes and cheetahs, is in Palm Desert itself, and the big resorts with slides and lawns keep children busy between outings.

Palm Springs has good extras of its own: the tramway with snow at the top in winter, the Air Museum's old warplanes and easy canyon walks. But many of its hotels are adults-only and its social life is built around cocktails, so it works better as a day out than as the family base.

You need a car in either town. In Palm Desert, resorts, gated communities and shopping centres spread along wide boulevards, and only a few blocks of El Paseo are pleasant on foot, though parking is easy everywhere.

Palm Springs is a little kinder to visitors without a car. Its downtown along Palm Canyon and Indian Canyon Drives is compact and flat, bikes suit the mid-century neighbourhoods in the cooler months, and the airport sits on the edge of town.

Palm Desert has the stronger main street. El Paseo's palm-lined row of fashion boutiques, jewellers and galleries is the valley's luxury shopping, with a large indoor mall nearby for the familiar chains.

Palm Springs offers something different: mid-century modern furniture, lighting and vintage clothing in the consignment shops of the Uptown Design District, plus crafts at the Village Fest street fair. The Cabazon outlets are closer to it, about twenty minutes west.

Neither town is cheap. Both charge American resort prices from winter into spring, both need a hire car, and both become a bargain in the summer heat. What differs is where you can save. Palm Desert's cheaper options are chain hotels and vacation rentals, while golf and spa treatments are where costs climb. Palm Springs has simple motels, and a supermarket picnic by the pool keeps a stay affordable.

The valley's stages are shared, but they sit in different places. Palm Desert has the McCallum Theatre in town for touring Broadway, ballet and orchestras, and it is nearer the Indio polo grounds where Coachella and Stagecoach are held each spring.

Palm Springs has more nightly entertainment of its own, with drag cabaret, piano bar singalongs and community theatre. In both towns the programme largely stops in summer.

Both are made for slowing down, but Palm Springs was built on a hot spring. The Agua Caliente bathhouse downtown lets you soak in sacred mineral water, the spa motels of Desert Hot Springs are fifteen minutes north, and its evenings by the pool as San Jacinto turns pink are part of the appeal.

Palm Desert offers the resort version: polished spas, massages, golf and early nights. For a real mineral soak you drive about half an hour across the valley.