Palm Springs or Sun Valley?

Neither is a beach destination, so don't decide between them on swimming. In Palm Springs, swimming means the pool your hotel or rental is built around, and the sea is about two hours west over the mountains. In Sun Valley, there are heated outdoor pools, plus cold mountain lakes such as Redfish Lake under the Sawtooths in high summer.

The food is about equal in both, and neither has a local cuisine. In Palm Springs, eating out means long brunches on shaded patios and drinks by the pool. Further down the valley you'll find date shakes from the groves around Indio and simple Mexican taquerias and bakeries.

Ketchum does the eating for Sun Valley. You can choose between après-ski grills and a few ambitious kitchens cooking Idaho trout, lamb and elk, and summer brings a farmers' market. It costs more and has fewer cheap options than the desert town.

Palm Springs is far ahead, thanks to its mid-century modern architecture. You can drive or cycle past Albert Frey's houses, the Kaufmann House and the folded roofs of the Alexander homes in Twin Palms. Add the art museum and the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum, and you have a good day or two.

Sun Valley's story is shorter. It was built in 1936 as America's first destination ski resort, and the lodge corridors still hold photos of film stars. Hemingway's grave and memorial are in Ketchum, and the whole list fits into an afternoon.

Palm Springs has the livelier evenings, though neither is a big night out. Arenas Road has a long-established strip of LGBTQ bars with patios and drag nights, and Palm Canyon Drive adds retro cocktail lounges. In spring there are hotel pool parties at the weekends.

In Sun Valley, evenings mean après-ski in Ketchum's saloons, wine bars and hotel lounges, with the odd band on a winter weekend. Outside the ski season and midsummer, most evenings are over soon after dinner.

Both are outdoor places, but Sun Valley offers more, and all year round. Bald Mountain's steep runs and backcountry touring fill the winter. In summer there's singletrack biking, fly fishing on the Big Wood and Silver Creek, the alpine lakes of the Sawtooths and rafting on the Salmon River.

Palm Springs has desert drama instead. The aerial tramway climbs to pine forest on Mount San Jacinto, palm oases hide in the Indian Canyons, and Joshua Tree is about an hour away. It is a cool-season landscape, though, and in summer the heat cuts hiking back to dawn.

Palm Springs has more places to drive to. Idyllwild in the pines, the old Western film set of Pioneertown, the abandoned resorts and Salvation Mountain by the Salton Sea, and Temecula's wineries are all within reach.

Around Sun Valley, the outings are into empty mountain country rather than to towns. There's Hailey's old main street, the log-cabin outpost of Stanley beyond the Sawtooths, and Shoshone Falls about two hours south.

Both work for families only in a certain way. Palm Springs is a pool vacation with outings to the Living Desert, the tramway and the Air Museum. Many of its boutique hotels are adults-only, though, and the resorts further down the valley suit children better.

Sun Valley is for families who ski or love the outdoors. Children learn on a quiet beginner hill, and summer brings bike paths, horse rides and an outdoor ice rink. It has no zoo or aquarium, and the cold and altitude can be hard on toddlers.

Sun Valley is easier without a car, at least within the resort. A free bus links Ketchum, the village and the lift bases, and a paved bike path runs the length of the valley.

Palm Springs has a compact, flat downtown, but the canyons, the tramway and the rest of the valley all need a car. Summer heat also rules out walking at midday. Its one clear advantage is an airport on the edge of town, while Sun Valley relies on a small strip in Hailey and long winter drives.

Palm Springs is the better place to shop. It specialises in mid-century furniture, lighting and vintage clothing in the Uptown Design District, and has the weekly Village Fest street fair. El Paseo in Palm Desert and the Cabazon outlets are both nearby.

Ketchum's few blocks are good for galleries, ski and fly-fishing gear, and cashmere or western wear aimed at second-home owners. The range is narrow and the prices are high.

Neither is cheap, but Palm Springs gives you more room to save. Its simple motels work at any time of year, and in the hottest months room rates fall sharply for anyone who can take the heat.

Sun Valley is expensive in every season, with the cost of rooms, meals and lift access set by its wealthy residents. Staying down the valley and coming in the quiet spring or autumn months help a little.

Palm Springs has the edge, and the two have opposite seasons. In April the Coachella and Stagecoach festivals fill the polo grounds at Indio. Through the cooler months there are touring shows at the McCallum Theatre, casino concerts and drag cabaret in town, but the programme largely stops in summer.

Summer is the only time Sun Valley has much on stage. A professional orchestra plays free concerts in the lodge pavilion while people picnic on the lawn, and star skaters perform on the outdoor rink. The rest of the year there's very little.

Palm Springs is built for this. The town grew up around the sacred Agua Caliente spring, and you can soak in its water at the downtown bathhouse. Desert Hot Springs, fifteen minutes north, has spa motels that fill their pools with mineral water straight from the ground.

Sun Valley offers a different kind of rest: hotel spas, heated pools that steam under falling snow, and rough hot springs beside the creek up the Warm Springs valley. There is no bathing tradition behind it, and rest there means mountain air and early nights.