Scottsdale or Taos?

Neither has a beach or any sea, so water time is a matter of making do in different ways. In Scottsdale that means the resort pool, which can easily become the centre of a stay, plus sandy coves on Saguaro and Canyon lakes and floating down the Salt River on an inner tube in summer.

Taos gives you water to look at rather than to swim in: the Rio Grande is for rafting, the mountain lakes stay cold, and a hot spring or a hotel pool is about as close as it gets.

Scottsdale gives you more choice and a broader range: steakhouses, sushi, patio grills and long brunches in Old Town, Sonoran-style Mexican across the metro area, and Phoenix's more characterful kitchens a short drive away. It is polished rather than distinctive, but you can eat well for a fortnight.

Taos is smaller and narrower, though more rooted. Northern New Mexican cooking with red or green chile, posole and blue corn, and bread from the Pueblo's ovens, has real local character, but beyond that regional kitchen there is little, and a week covers most of it.

Taos has the deeper sense of history. Taos Pueblo, a UNESCO-listed adobe village lived in for about a thousand years, is one of the most remarkable places in the American West, and the buttressed church at Ranchos de Taos and the art-colony museums and houses fill two or three unhurried days.

Scottsdale has one outstanding sight in Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's desert studio, plus a good western art museum and a small contemporary one, but the city itself is modern. For Native American heritage it sends you to the Heard Museum in Phoenix, whereas in Taos you visit a living community.

This is the widest gap between the two. Scottsdale's Old Town entertainment district fills on weekends and through spring with dance clubs, rooftop lounges and bottle service until the bars close, and quieter cocktail and wine bars sit around the edges.

In Taos the evening is a margarita in an adobe hotel bar, a taproom or a saloon band, and then bed. Anyone who wants a night out should stay in Scottsdale.

Both sit on the edge of wild country, but Taos has much more of it, and much more variety. Mountains rising to Wheeler Peak at 4,013m, demanding skiing half an hour up the canyon, rafting through the Taos Box and the Enchanted Circle's forests give it four genuine outdoor seasons.

Scottsdale's McDowell Sonoran Preserve, Camelback Mountain and the Superstitions are superb saguaro desert, with balloon flights and golf added, but from June to September the heat confines walking to dawn.

Taos has the richer drives. Santa Fe by the High Road, through Truchas, Las Trampas and the Chimayó sanctuary, is one of the finest days out in the Southwest, and O'Keeffe country around Abiquiu and the cliff dwellings at Bandelier extend the list.

From Scottsdale the best outing is Sedona's red rocks, about two hours north, ideally combined with Montezuma Castle and Jerome, while Tucson and the Goldfield ghost town make other options. The Grand Canyon is too far for a single day from either.

Scottsdale is far easier with children. Resort pools with slides and kids' clubs, the miniature trains and carousel at McCormick-Stillman, the aquarium and butterfly house and the nearby zoo give plenty to do, and relaxed spring training games are a bonus. The catch is the summer heat.

Taos works for outdoorsy families, with a good ski school, gentle river floats and horse riding, but it has no attractions made for children, and the altitude can wear out the youngest for the first day or two.

Both are car towns with a small walkable core, so plan on a hire car either way. Scottsdale is the smoother of the two: a simple road grid, light traffic, a free trolley around Old Town and the shops, and ride-hailing to fill the gaps, with the Phoenix airport close by.

Taos asks more of the driver. The nearest major airport is Albuquerque, about two and a half hours away, the local bus is basic, and the Pueblo, ski valley and High Road villages are all spread across a wide valley.

Scottsdale offers the fuller shopping trip: a luxury mall with the big fashion houses and department stores, open-air centres further north, and a serious gallery district in Old Town with high-quality Navajo and Hopi silver, Pueblo pottery and western boots.

Taos keeps to art and craft, and does that well, with galleries around the plaza, Rio Grande weaving, carved santos and micaceous pottery bought straight from makers at the Pueblo. Collectors will love it, while anyone after clothes will be done in an afternoon.

Neither is cheap, but Taos is the gentler of the two. Its simple motels and New Mexican diners are fairly priced, and spring and late autumn between the ski and summer seasons ease the bill further, though historic inns and ski lodging charge resort rates.

Scottsdale in high season is expensive across the board, from resort rooms and golf to spa treatments and resort parking. Its saving grace is summer, when the same resorts cut their rates sharply for anyone willing to face the heat.

Scottsdale has more to see on an ordinary evening, mostly thanks to its neighbours: its own Old Town arts centre, world music at the Musical Instrument Museum's theatre, and the symphony, opera, ballet and touring Broadway shows in Phoenix and Tempe.

Taos has less on, but what it does have is singular. Traditional dances at Taos Pueblo on feast days such as San Gerónimo, watched quietly and without cameras, are unlike anything in Arizona, and a summer chamber music festival adds serious classical concerts.

Scottsdale is built for pampering. A remarkable concentration of resort spas with desert treatments, outdoor pools and steam rooms, many open to day guests, makes it easy to plan a whole stay around rest, though the comfort is private and polished.

Taos offers a wilder sort of calm. The historic mineral pools at Ojo Caliente, about fifty minutes away, and the primitive hot springs reached on foot at the bottom of the gorge give it soaking that Scottsdale lacks, but its spas and yoga studios are fewer and simpler.