Phoenix or Telluride?

Neither place has a beach, and both are far from any coast. The difference is the kind of water. Phoenix has resort pools with slides and lazy rivers, plus desert reservoirs such as Saguaro Lake and the summer tradition of tubing down the Salt River. Telluride's water is cold mountain water, so summer there means rafting, paddling and fishing rather than swimming, and the nearest bathing spot is the reservoir near Ridgway.

Phoenix gives you more to eat and more variety. Its Sonoran borderland cooking includes carne asada, flour tortillas so thin they turn translucent and bacon-wrapped hot dogs from evening carts, alongside wood-fired pizza and Scottsdale steakhouses. The catch is that eating well usually means driving.

In Telluride, a handful of ambitious kitchens on Colorado Avenue and in Mountain Village cook well with elk, lamb and trout. But there is no local cuisine and little cheap food, and within a few days you are back at the same tables.

Neither place has a historic centre of the European kind, but Phoenix has the stronger sights. The Heard Museum's Native American collections, the Musical Instrument Museum and Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West are each worth a visit, though each is a separate drive across the sprawl.

In Telluride the sight is the town itself. Its mining-boom grid of clapboard houses and false-fronted shops survives almost intact and is a National Historic Landmark, with the Historical Museum in the old miners' hospital and mill ruins on the canyon walls. It makes a pleasant afternoon, not several days of sightseeing.

Phoenix offers real choice. There are clubs and rooftop bars in Old Town Scottsdale, student drinking on Tempe's Mill Avenue, and craft beer and cocktails downtown and on Roosevelt Row, though each area is a ride-hail away from the others. Telluride has après-ski and a few old saloons on Colorado Avenue, busy in peak ski weeks and on festival weekends, but there are no clubs, and in the quiet seasons the town goes to bed early.

This is where Telluride pulls clearly ahead. The San Juan Mountains rise straight from the end of the main street, and Bridal Veil Falls, Blue Lake and the high basins are a walk from town. Summer adds a via ferrata and four-wheel-drive passes, autumn turns the aspens gold, and winter brings some of the most scenic skiing in America.

Phoenix's desert mountains are a real draw too, with saguaro forest in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve and steep scrambles up Camelback. But the scenery is lower and less dramatic, and summer heat limits hiking to early mornings. In Telluride the catch is the altitude, which takes a day or two to get used to.

Phoenix has the longer list of places within reach: Sedona's red rocks, hillside Jerome, Prescott's saloon street, Montezuma Castle and Tucson with Mission San Xavier del Bac. Most are on fast interstates. From Telluride the drives are on mountain roads, to ranching Ridgway, Ouray in its canyon and Silverton over Red Mountain Pass. These are attractive but few, Mesa Verde is barely possible in a day, and winter can close the passes.

Phoenix has the attractions children ask for: a zoo, an aquarium, the science centre, a children's museum, water parks and pool resorts with slides, plus spring training baseball in March. It works best outside the summer heat, and you should expect long car journeys.

Telluride suits active families instead. It has a well-regarded ski school, easy waterfall walks and a free gondola that children enjoy as a ride in itself. However, there is nothing much indoors for a wet day, and the altitude can disturb young children's sleep for the first few nights.

Once you arrive, Telluride is far easier. The town takes a quarter of an hour to cross on foot, and a free gondola and free buses reach Mountain Village and the slopes, so many visitors never drive. The hard part is getting there: the local airport is often affected by weather, and the larger airports are one to two hours away by road.

Phoenix is the reverse. It is easy to fly into, but then you face a sprawl of wide roads where a rental car is close to essential. The light rail helps only along the airport, downtown and Tempe line, and summer heat makes even short walks hard work.

Phoenix is the better place to shop, with luxury and open-air malls and the galleries and Western wear shops of Old Town Scottsdale. Its standout buys are Navajo and Zuni silver and turquoise, Hopi katsina carvings and rugs, best bought from museum shops and reputable galleries. Telluride has a few blocks of Colorado Avenue with galleries, bookshops, boutiques and outdoor gear shops. They are pleasant to browse at high prices, but nobody goes there to shop.

Neither is cheap, but Phoenix is far easier on the wallet. Freeway chain hotels are good value all year, summer room rates fall sharply, Sonoran Mexican food is cheap and good, and the hiking is free. The main extra cost is a rental car.

Telluride is among the most expensive places to stay in North America. Rooms are scarce and priced for wealthy second-home owners, lift tickets and meals cost a lot, and Christmas, New Year and festival weekends push prices higher still. Staying in Ridgway saves money but means a daily drive.

From autumn to spring Phoenix has the steadier programme: the symphony, Arizona Opera, Ballet Arizona, touring Broadway shows at Wright's round ASU Gammage, and touring bands in Tempe and downtown. Telluride's offer is concentrated in summer. Then the Bluegrass Festival in Town Park, the jazz, blues and chamber music festivals and the Labor Day film festival make the right weekend memorable. Outside those, the Sheridan Opera House manages only a few shows a week.

Phoenix is the stronger choice for a week of doing very little. Large desert resorts at the foot of Camelback and in north Scottsdale combine spas, several pools and golf, and offer treatments using sage, clay and agave, with dry winter sun to lie in.

Telluride is the quieter town and has full spas in the Mountain Village hotels. It also has something Phoenix lacks: hot springs at Ouray and near Ridgway, about an hour away, for an afternoon soak with mountain views. The altitude can make the first nights restless, though.