San Francisco or Scottsdale?

Neither city is a swimming destination, but San Francisco at least has a coastline worth visiting. Ocean Beach runs for miles, Baker Beach frames the Golden Gate Bridge and China Beach is a sheltered little cove, all good for walks, bonfires and sunsets. The cold Pacific and the rip currents at Ocean Beach rule out bathing.

Scottsdale has no coast at all. Water time means the resort pool, which is genuinely welcome in the desert heat, plus outings to the sandy coves of Saguaro and Canyon lakes or a summer float down the Salt River on an inner tube.

Food is one of San Francisco's biggest advantages here. Northern California produce, bay seafood and nearby wine country feed everything from the Mission burrito and sourdough to cioppino, Dungeness crab and one of the country's strongest fine-dining tiers, with Chinatown, North Beach and the Richmond adding deep Cantonese and Italian traditions.

Scottsdale eats well but less memorably: steakhouses, patio grills, sushi and long happy hours aimed at golfers and groups. Its most local cooking is Sonoran-style Mexican, and the more characterful tables are often a drive away in Phoenix.

San Francisco gives a visitor three or four full days of sightseeing: the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, cable cars on Nob Hill, the Victorians at Alamo Square, and museums of real weight in SFMOMA, the de Young, the Legion of Honor and the Asian Art Museum. Neighbourhoods such as Chinatown, the Castro and the muralled Mission add their own history.

Scottsdale's culture is thinner. Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's desert studio with its UNESCO listing, is a genuine highlight, and the Museum of the West and the gallery district help, but the Heard Museum and the Musical Instrument Museum both lie over the line in Phoenix.

The two are fairly close for a night out, with San Francisco slightly ahead, and the real difference is shape. San Francisco spreads its evenings across districts: mezcal and cocktail bars in the Mission, old saloons in North Beach, the bars of the Castro and SoMa's warehouse clubs, with a creative cocktail culture throughout.

Scottsdale packs nearly everything into a few blocks of Old Town, where patio bars, dance clubs and rooftop lounges get loud and dressed-up at weekends and in spring. Away from that pocket, nights are quiet and spent at the resort.

Both cities have outstanding scenery on the doorstep, but San Francisco offers more variety. Golden Gate Park, the Presidio and the cliffside Lands End trail sit within the city, and across the bridge come the Marin Headlands, the redwoods of Muir Woods, Mount Tamalpais and Point Reyes, plus sailing, kayaking and whale watching on the water.

Scottsdale's strength is the Sonoran Desert itself: saguaro trails in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, steep scrambles up Camelback Mountain and Pinnacle Peak, and the Superstition Mountains beyond, with balloon flights and golf as well. The catch is summer heat, which pushes every hike to dawn.

San Francisco has the stronger set of outings. Napa and Sonoma wine country is about an hour north, ferries cross to Sausalito and Tiburon, Berkeley is a short train ride away, and the coast leads south to Santa Cruz, Monterey and Carmel.

From Scottsdale the best excursions take longer: Sedona's red rocks, the cliff dwelling at Montezuma Castle and the mining town of Jerome lie about two hours north, with Tucson a similar distance south. The Grand Canyon is really an overnight trip, and almost everything needs a car.

Both work for children, San Francisco slightly better, and in quite different ways. In San Francisco the days revolve around museums and parks: the hands-on Exploratorium, the aquarium and planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences, sea lions at Fisherman's Wharf and cable car rides. Steep hills with a pushchair and rough downtown streets are the drawbacks.

Scottsdale's family stays centre on the resort, with lazy rivers, slides and kids' clubs, plus the miniature trains at McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park and the aquarium and butterfly house just east of town. It is clean and easy with a stroller, but everything is a drive and summer afternoons keep children indoors.

This is where the two differ most. San Francisco is compact, roughly 11km across, and Muni, BART, the streetcars, cable cars and ferries all run on one card, so a car is more trouble than help. The hills make walking hard work in places, but the central neighbourhoods reward it.

Scottsdale is built around the car. The light rail does not reach it, resorts and trailheads are strung along long arterial roads, and only Old Town is walkable, with a free trolley linking it to the main shops. Driving at least is easy, with plenty of parking.

The two are about even for shopping, but they suit different shoppers. San Francisco is better for browsing independents: Hayes Valley's design boutiques, the bookshops and vintage of Valencia Street, Haight-Ashbury's secondhand shops and Chinatown's tea and ceramics, with Union Square for department stores.

Scottsdale is more polished and suburban, with a large luxury mall on Scottsdale Road and open-air centres further north. Its distinctive buys are southwestern: Navajo and Hopi silver and turquoise, Pueblo pottery, western boots and gallery art along Main Street and Marshall Way.

Neither is cheap, but Scottsdale is easier on a budget. San Francisco's hotels are expensive all year, and tax, service charges and tipping push restaurant bills higher still. Its free parks, trails and museum days and its good-value taquerias and dim sum houses help only so much.

Scottsdale is expensive in the winter and spring high season, yet its resorts cut rates sharply in the hot summer, and motels, Mexican food and free desert hiking keep costs down. A hire car is the extra cost to plan for.

San Francisco is much the stronger city for an evening of music or theatre. The Civic Center holds the opera, the country's oldest professional ballet company and a full symphony season, while the American Conservatory Theater, SFJAZZ, the historic Fillmore and free summer concerts at Stern Grove add depth.

Scottsdale's own stage is the arts centre in Old Town, and the Musical Instrument Museum's theatre is good for world music. For symphony, opera or Broadway tours, visitors drive into Phoenix or Tempe.

Scottsdale is the clear winner for rest. Its concentration of large resort spas, many open to day guests, with outdoor pools, steam rooms and desert-inspired treatments, is a reason to come in itself, and the dry air and slow resort pace finish the job.

San Francisco is more hectic and work-driven. A long-established Japanese bathhouse in Japantown, day spas and the Japanese Tea Garden offer quiet moments, but for proper mineral pools and mud baths you must travel to Calistoga, about two hours north.