Santa Fe or Scottsdale?

Neither city has a coast, and neither is a beach destination. The difference is in what replaces the beach. In Santa Fe, swimming usually means a hotel pool, and outdoor water trips are an hour away, at Abiquiu Lake or on the Rio Grande.

Scottsdale makes more of the water. The resort pools are a main part of a stay, Saguaro and Canyon lakes have small sandy coves and boat hire within an hour, and in summer people float down the Salt River on inner tubes.

Santa Fe has a cuisine of its own. Red or green chile, blue corn, posole and sopaipillas are served in old adobe dining rooms. In autumn chile is roasted outside markets and shops, and the Railyard farmers' market is worth a morning. There is also a fine-dining tier that is unusual for a town this size.

Scottsdale offers more of the familiar, such as steakhouses, sushi, patio grills and long brunches, and its most local food is Sonoran-style Mexican. It is pleasant but rarely memorable, and many of the best tables are in Phoenix. Santa Fe is the better trip for anyone who travels to eat.

The gap here is wide. Santa Fe was founded as a Spanish capital in 1610 and still looks like an adobe town. It has the Palace of the Governors on the Plaza, old chapels, the folk art and Native American museums on Museum Hill, the O'Keeffe Museum and a long street of galleries on Canyon Road.

Scottsdale's best sight is Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's desert studio, which is well worth the guided tour. Beyond it there are a western history museum, a small contemporary art museum and a few old Old Town storefronts. For deeper Native American collections, visitors go to the Heard Museum in Phoenix.

Scottsdale is clearly ahead after dark, though only in one area. Old Town's entertainment district fills its patio bars, dance clubs and rooftop lounges on weekends and through the spring season, with a glossy, party crowd and dress codes.

In Santa Fe, an evening means a long dinner and a margarita while the sun sets over the Jemez Mountains, with a few breweries around the Railyard. The streets are quiet well before midnight.

Santa Fe has more range. Trails climb from the edge of town through piñon foothills to aspen and spruce forest and the Pecos Wilderness, and there is skiing in winter. Within a short drive are Valles Caldera's elk meadows, rafting in the Rio Grande Gorge and the red cliffs of Abiquiu.

Scottsdale has one landscape, the Sonoran Desert, and it starts right at the city's edge. There are saguaro trails in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, steep climbs up Camelback Mountain and longer routes in the Superstition Mountains. This hiking is at its best in the mild winter months, but in summer the heat limits it to dawn.

Santa Fe has more places within easy reach. The High Road through Chimayo and Truchas leads to Taos Pueblo, which has been lived in for about a thousand years. Bandelier's cliff dwellings, Los Alamos, Pecos and the Turquoise Trail villages are all closer still.

From Scottsdale, the best trips take longer. Sedona's red rocks, Montezuma Castle and the mining town of Jerome are about two hours north. Tucson is a similar distance south, and the Grand Canyon really needs an overnight stay.

Scottsdale is easier with children. Resort pools with water slides and kids' clubs can fill a whole stay, and the railroad park, OdySea Aquarium, Butterfly Wonderland and relaxed spring training games make good outings. Just avoid midday in summer.

Santa Fe is safe and calm but made for adults. The altitude tires young children at first, and galleries and long dinners test their patience. It works best with older children who enjoy climbing the ladders at Bandelier or hiking in the mountains.

Santa Fe is easier on foot. The Plaza, cathedral, downtown museums, Canyon Road and the Railyard are within about twenty minutes' walk of each other, and the Rail Runner train goes to Albuquerque. Museum Hill, the trailheads and the pueblos still need a car.

Scottsdale is built for driving. The city is long and spread out, the regional light rail does not reach it, and only a free trolley in Old Town makes getting around without a car realistic. Driving at least is simple, with a grid of roads and plenty of parking.

Both cities are good for shopping, but for different things. In Santa Fe it is art and craft. Native American artists sell jewellery and pottery under the portal of the Palace of the Governors, there are galleries on Canyon Road, and the summer Indian, Spanish and Folk Art markets bring in collectors.

Scottsdale has a big luxury mall with the major fashion houses and department stores, plus open-air centres. Its Old Town galleries and Navajo and Hopi silver dealers cover some of the same ground as Santa Fe's, in a more polished setting.

Both are expensive, and neither suits a tight budget. The main difference is when prices peak. Santa Fe is most expensive during the summer markets, the opera season and Christmas, and rooms along Cerrillos Road are the usual way to save.

Scottsdale charges most in winter and spring, but its resorts cut their rates sharply in the hot summer. Cheap Mexican food across the metro area also helps. In both places a hire car adds to the cost, and hiking is free.

Santa Fe has the stronger programme, though mainly in summer. The opera performs in an open-sided theatre on a hill as the sun sets over the desert, and there is also a chamber music festival and a long flamenco tradition. In winter the town is much quieter, with the Lensic theatre and church concerts.

Scottsdale's season runs the other way, with more on in winter. It has its own arts centre in Old Town and world music at the Musical Instrument Museum, while Phoenix's symphony, opera and ballet are about half an hour away.

Scottsdale is built around rest. There are a great many large resort spas with steam rooms, desert-themed treatments and palm-lined pools, and the pace revolves around golf and early nights.

Santa Fe has fewer places, but they are rooted in the landscape. Outdoor soaking tubs sit among the pines on the road to the ski area, and the mineral springs at Ojo Caliente, a bathing resort since the nineteenth century, are about an hour north. Scottsdale has no natural springs to match them.