Phoenix or Salt Lake City?

Neither city is a beach destination, and what each offers for swimming is different in kind. In Phoenix it mostly means a resort pool with slides and a lazy river. For a day out there are Saguaro Lake and Canyon Lake among the desert cliffs, or tubing down the Salt River.

Salt Lake City has the stranger experience: floating without effort in the Great Salt Lake off Antelope Island, though the muddy shore and brine flies make it a one-off. For a proper summer swim, people go to Wasatch reservoirs such as Jordanelle and Pineview, cool mountain water with sandy patches of shore.

Phoenix eats better, mainly because it sits in the Sonoran borderlands. Carne asada, machaca, paper-thin flour tortillas and bacon-wrapped hot dogs from evening carts give it a regional cooking with real depth. Strong wood-fired pizza and bread baking add to it, and Arizona wine appears on many lists.

Salt Lake City's own specialities, such as fry sauce, pastrami burgers, fried scones and dirty sodas, are fun rather than a reason to travel. Its best meals come from the Mexican, Pacific Islander and Vietnamese kitchens along State Street, and drinking with dinner is more restricted.

The two are evenly matched for culture but offer opposite kinds of sightseeing. Phoenix is a city of standout museums, each needing its own drive: the Heard's Native American collections, the Musical Instrument Museum, and Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's desert studio.

Salt Lake City's sights all tell one story, that of the pioneers and their faith. Most are grouped around Temple Square, with its granite temple and domed Tabernacle and Brigham Young's Beehive House close by, so you can see them on foot. Phoenix has the stronger single collections, while Salt Lake City's sights hang together better and take about two days.

Phoenix has the livelier evenings, though they are split across separate districts. Old Town Scottsdale has clubs and rooftop bars, Tempe's Mill Avenue has student drinking, and Roosevelt Row has craft beer and cocktails. In summer the night moves onto patios cooled by misters and to resort pool parties.

Salt Lake City's bars, breweries and few clubs around Main Street and the Granary District make a pleasant end to a mountain day, and its gay bar scene is long established. Liquor laws and a city that goes to bed early keep things low-key.

Both cities have mountains rising out of the suburbs, but Salt Lake City's are on another scale. The Wasatch climbs above 3,000m on the edge of the city. Alta, Snowbird, Brighton and Solitude, known for their dry powder, are under an hour away, and summer brings alpine lakes, wildflower meadows and peak hikes. To the west, Antelope Island's bison and the Bonneville Salt Flats are a completely different landscape.

Phoenix's desert is excellent in its own way, with saguaro forest in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, scrambles up Camelback and the huge South Mountain park. Its limit is the summer, when heat ends hiking by mid-morning. Salt Lake City's outdoors simply change with the seasons instead of shutting down.

Phoenix has the longer list of places that fit into a day. To the north are the hillside mining town of Jerome, Prescott's Western saloon street, the cliff dwelling at Montezuma Castle and the red rocks of Sedona. To the south is Tucson, with its adobe barrios and Mission San Xavier del Bac.

From Salt Lake City, Park City's Victorian Main Street is the clear favourite, followed by Midway, Ogden's 25th Street and the Golden Spike site. Utah's great national parks need an overnight stay, just as the Grand Canyon does from Phoenix.

Salt Lake City is the more natural choice with children. Large families are normal here, so restaurants and public spaces expect them. Children can choose from Hogle Zoo, the aquarium, the planetarium, Tracy Aviary and the dinosaur halls, with the roller coasters at Lagoon nearby and children's ski schools in winter.

Phoenix has a good set too, with its zoo, science centre, water parks and resort pools with slides, plus spring training baseball in March. But its attractions are spread further apart, and from June to September the heat limits young children's outdoor time to early mornings.

Salt Lake City is easier without a car, though neither city is truly easy. Its walkable core covers Temple Square, the Capitol and the main shopping. TRAX light rail links downtown with the airport and the University, FrontRunner trains reach Ogden and Provo, and the grid addresses are simple to follow.

Phoenix is almost entirely car-dependent. Its light rail only helps along the line between the airport, downtown and Tempe, the districts and trailheads are far apart, and summer heat makes even short walks hard.

Phoenix gives shoppers more. It has luxury malls in Scottsdale and near the Biltmore, and galleries and Western wear shops in Old Town Scottsdale. Above all, it is the place for Native American work: Navajo and Zuni silver and turquoise, Hopi katsina carvings and rugs, best bought from museum shops and reputable galleries.

Salt Lake City's City Creek Center and Trolley Square cover everyday needs, and the independent shops around 9th and 9th and Sugar House are pleasant. Its real speciality is outdoor gear, with excellent local ski and climbing shops.

Overall costs are much alike, about average for an American city, and both cities usually need a hire car. What changes the bill is the season. Phoenix is most expensive in its perfect-weather months from January to April, and resort rooms become much cheaper in summer.

Salt Lake City works the other way round. A summer hiking trip is modest, with free sights on Temple Square and cheap light rail, while a winter ski week with lift tickets and lodging in the canyons costs far more.

Salt Lake City has the stronger draw, thanks to the Tabernacle Choir. Its rehearsals and broadcast performances with the great organ are open to the public, and there are daily organ recitals too. The Utah Symphony, Utah Opera, Ballet West and the Eccles Theater offer more than you would expect for a city of its size.

Phoenix has similar institutions: a symphony, an opera, a ballet, and touring Broadway shows at ASU Gammage, a round auditorium designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The Musical Instrument Museum's small concert hall is a nice extra. None of them is a reason to travel, though, and summer is quiet.

Phoenix is built for rest in a way Salt Lake City is not. The large desert resorts below Camelback and through north Scottsdale combine spas offering treatments made from desert plants with several pools and golf. The dry winter sun makes a lazy week easy.

Salt Lake City's highlight is about an hour's drive away: warm mineral water inside the limestone dome of the Homestead Crater in Midway. Beyond that there are smaller hot springs and ski-resort spas, and neither city has a public bathing tradition of its own.