Phoenix or South Lake Tahoe?

South Lake Tahoe has real beaches and Phoenix does not. Pope, Baldwin and Kiva lie under the pines on the south shore, with Nevada Beach and Zephyr Cove just over the state line. The water is turquoise over white sand. The catch is the cold: you can swim comfortably only in July and August, and afternoon wind often chops the surface.

Phoenix is hours from any coast, so swimming means resort pools with lazy rivers, or a day out to Saguaro Lake or Canyon Lake among bare desert cliffs. Tubing down the lower Salt River is the local summer outing.

Phoenix eats much better. It has a real regional cooking from the Sonoran borderlands: carne asada, very thin flour tortillas and bacon-wrapped hot dogs from evening carts. It also has a strong name for wood-fired pizza and independent restaurants around Roosevelt Row, though you usually have to drive between them.

At South Lake Tahoe, meals are fuel between days outside. Your choice is mostly casino buffets and steakhouses, brewpubs and breakfast places along Highway 50. Local craft beer is the best of it, and many visitors end up cooking in their cabin.

Neither city has a historic centre to wander, but Phoenix has museums worth planning a day around. The Heard Museum is among the best places anywhere to see Native American art, the Musical Instrument Museum can fill an afternoon, and Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West is a real architectural draw.

South Lake Tahoe's sights fit into a morning. The Tallac Historic Site preserves old summer estates by the shore, and the Scandinavian-style Vikingsholm stands at the foot of a steep path down to Emerald Bay. Otherwise you come here for the scenery, not for anything indoors.

Phoenix gives you a real choice of night out. Old Town Scottsdale has clubs and rooftop bars, Tempe's Mill Avenue is full of students, and downtown has cocktail lounges and craft beer. The districts are far apart, so you pick one for the evening.

South Lake Tahoe works the other way round. The casino floors at Stateline stay open all night, so you can stay out later than in Phoenix, but there is very little else. On the California side the night is brewpubs and an early bed, and the liveliest hour is après-ski at the gondola base.

Tahoe has the stronger outdoors, and it is open all year. The lake ringed by granite peaks, the view over Emerald Bay and the many lakes of the Desolation Wilderness are a short drive from town. Summer brings the Flume Trail and paddling on calm water, and winter brings deep snow at Heavenly, Kirkwood and Sierra-at-Tahoe.

Phoenix's desert is still a real draw. You can hike up Camelback Mountain, explore the trails of South Mountain and walk through the saguaro forest of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, with Sedona's red rock a couple of hours away. In summer, though, the heat stops most hiking by mid-morning.

The two are roughly level here, and both need a car, but the outings feel different. From Phoenix the drives lead into red rock and Native and Spanish history: the cliff dwelling at Montezuma Castle, Sedona, the old hillside mining town of Jerome, and Tucson with the white Mission San Xavier del Bac.

From Tahoe the theme is the Gold Rush and the silver boom. You can walk the boardwalks of Virginia City, visit Genoa, Nevada's oldest settlement, see where gold was found at Coloma, or drive round the lake to Truckee. These are good outings for a bad-weather day, not reasons to come.

Both work well for families, in different ways. Phoenix has the zoo, the Arizona Science Center, a children's museum, water parks and resort pools with slides, which is far more for a day indoors. Summer heat makes being outside risky for small children, and there are long drives between attractions.

At Tahoe everything happens outside. In summer there are shallow sandy beaches, bike paths and the short trails at Taylor Creek. In winter there are ski schools and sledding hills. With no zoo or aquarium, a day snowed in is hard to fill.

Neither is easy without a car, but Tahoe is the more manageable. The area around Stateline and the gondola base is compact enough to walk, and in winter free shuttles run along the highway and up to the ski areas. Expect slow weekend traffic round Emerald Bay and chain controls on the passes after snow.

Phoenix is a flat grid of wide roads stretching for dozens of kilometres. The light rail line between the airport, downtown and Tempe helps, but Scottsdale and the trailheads are a drive away. Hiring a car is close to essential.

Phoenix is far ahead. Scottsdale's luxury mall and the open-air centre near the Biltmore carry the big brands, and Old Town has galleries and Western wear. The purchase worth seeking out is Navajo and Zuni silver and turquoise jewellery or Hopi katsina carvings, bought from museum shops or reputable galleries.

South Lake Tahoe's shops cover what a trip there needs: ski hire, outdoor gear, the supermarket and souvenirs around the gondola base.

Phoenix is the cheaper stay, as long as you are flexible about dates. Resort rates fall sharply in the summer heat, chain hotels along the freeways are reasonable all year, and Sonoran Mexican food is cheap and good. Car hire is the cost most visitors cannot avoid.

South Lake Tahoe charges a lot at the times people most want to come. Ski weeks, long weekends and high summer push up lodging, lift tickets are steep, and eating out costs resort prices. Midweek casino hotels on the Nevada side and the quieter spring and autumn seasons bring costs down.

Phoenix has the season of a large city. There is the symphony at Symphony Hall, Arizona Opera, Ballet Arizona, and touring Broadway shows at ASU Gammage, a round auditorium designed by Wright. The Musical Instrument Museum's concert hall adds smaller evenings, mostly between autumn and spring.

Tahoe has no concert hall or classical season. Its live entertainment is touring rock, country and comedy in the casino showrooms. Summer adds charm with Shakespeare on the beach at Sand Harbor and concerts at the Tallac estates.

Phoenix is the better place for a restful stay. Big desert resorts along Camelback Mountain and through north Scottsdale combine full spas, several pools and golf, with treatments using sage, clay and agave. A winter week by the pool in dry warmth is the classic version.

South Lake Tahoe's spas are mostly add-ons for skiers, but it has something Phoenix lacks: natural hot water. You can soak in the mineral pool at Grover Hot Springs in its alpine meadow, or at the hot spring resorts near Genoa a short drive over the pass.