Phoenix or Snowbird?

Neither place is anywhere near a coast, and swimming is a sideline in both. What differs is the water. In Phoenix it is warm: resort pools with lazy rivers fill the summer months, and the Salt River reservoirs and tubing trips offer swimming among desert cliffs.

At Snowbird it is cold, apart from the resort's heated pools. The nearest swimming outdoors is in the Heber Valley reservoirs, about an hour away, and the Great Salt Lake is a place to look at rather than swim in.

Phoenix eats much better. Its Sonoran borderland cooking, with machaca, paper-thin flour tortillas and family Mexican kitchens in the south and west, gives it a food identity of its own, and central Phoenix and Scottsdale add independent places and steakhouses, though you will drive between them.

Snowbird has the lodge dining rooms, a summit restaurant with a view and slopeside cafeterias, all priced for people who cannot easily go elsewhere. For variety, guests drive down to Salt Lake City.

Phoenix has no old centre, but its museums are worth the drives: the Heard for Native American art, the Musical Instrument Museum and Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West. The Hohokam canals at Pueblo Grande add some older history.

Snowbird has nothing comparable. It is a purpose-built 1971 resort of concrete lodges, the canyon's mining past has left almost nothing to see, and any museum visit means going to Salt Lake City.

Phoenix offers a real choice of nights out, though each area is its own trip. Old Town Scottsdale has clubs and rooftop bars, Mill Avenue in Tempe draws students, and downtown has craft beer and cocktails, all until 2am.

At Snowbird the evening peaks at après-ski on a sunny deck and is over by mid-evening, because everyone wants the first tram. A proper night out means a mountain drive to Salt Lake City or Park City.

Snowbird is one of the great mountain destinations of the American West. Its tram reaches about 3,350m, its snow is famously deep and dry, its terrain runs across Mineral Basin to Alta, and in summer the wilderness trails and climbing on the canyon's granite are close by.

Phoenix's desert is impressive in a different way: saguaro forest in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, scrambles up Camelback and Sedona's red rock two hours north. But it has to be enjoyed between October and April, while Snowbird's mountain is good in both winter and summer.

The two are broadly level here, and both need a car. From Phoenix the outings are a mix of Western history and scenery: hillside Jerome, Prescott's saloon street, the cliff dwelling at Montezuma Castle, Sedona, and Tucson's adobe barrios and white mission.

Snowbird has two strong outings close by, Salt Lake City's Temple Square and Park City's Victorian Main Street, and then smaller ones such as Midway and Sundance. After those, it is mostly open country.

Phoenix gives children more to do, with a zoo, an aquarium, a science centre, a children's museum, water parks and relaxed spring training games. It works if you come outside the summer heat and accept a lot of time in the car.

Snowbird suits families who already ski and children old enough for serious terrain. Its car-free base and summer coaster, alpine slide and ropes course help, but toddlers struggle with the altitude, and the attractions for younger children are down in the valley.

Snowbird is easier once you are there. Lodges, lifts and the tram are a short walk apart on a car-free base, so the problem is only the single canyon road, which jams on powder mornings and is sometimes closed for avalanche control.

Phoenix is built around driving. Its flat grid spreads over dozens of kilometres, and the light rail only covers the stretch from the airport through downtown to Tempe. Nearly every visitor rents a car, and in summer even short walks are hard work.

Phoenix gives shoppers real reasons to go out. It has Scottsdale's luxury mall and galleries, Western wear, and above all Navajo and Zuni silver and turquoise, Hopi katsina carvings and rugs from reputable galleries and museum shops.

Snowbird's base stores are there for replacement goggles and resort-branded fleeces. For anything more, you go to Salt Lake City's malls or Park City's main street.

Phoenix is the easier place to keep costs down. Rooms are much cheaper in summer, chain hotels by the freeways are fair all year, Sonoran food is cheap and hiking is free, though the hire car adds to the bill.

Snowbird is expensive in the way big Western ski resorts are, with lift tickets, slopeside rooms, rentals and resort meals all adding up in peak weeks. Staying in Salt Lake City and driving up, or coming in summer, cuts the cost noticeably.

Phoenix has the full set of a large city's stages: a symphony, opera and ballet seasons, touring Broadway at Wright's round ASU Gammage, and concerts in the Musical Instrument Museum's intimate hall, mostly from autumn to spring.

Snowbird's live music is limited to outdoor summer concerts on the plaza, oompah bands at its Oktoberfest and the odd après-ski band. Anything more means driving down to Salt Lake City.

Phoenix is the stronger place for a rest. The big resorts below Camelback and in north Scottsdale combine spas, several pools and golf, use desert ingredients such as sage and agave in their treatments, and offer dry winter sunshine for days by the pool.

At Snowbird, relaxing centres on one rooftop spa with hot tubs facing the canyon walls, best after a day on the slopes, along with the quiet, dark nights. An hour away, the geothermal crater at Midway offers a warm mineral soak under a limestone dome, something Phoenix cannot match.