Scottsdale or Telluride?

Neither place has a coast, so swimming is not a reason to choose either. In Scottsdale the water is warmer and easier to get to: the resort pool is the centre of many stays, Saguaro and Canyon Lakes have small sandy coves about an hour out, and tubing on the Salt River is a summer favourite.

In Telluride, the nearest proper place to swim is a cold reservoir near Ridgway, about an hour away. Water time there means rafting, paddling or fly fishing.

Scottsdale gives you more choice. Steakhouses, sushi, smart brunches and patio grills fill Old Town and the resort corridors, the plate-sized flour tortillas and green chile of Sonoran Mexican cooking give the area a real local flavour, and Phoenix's more characterful restaurants are a short drive away.

Telluride cooks well for its size, with a few ambitious kitchens on Colorado Avenue and in Mountain Village serving elk, Colorado lamb and trout. Over a week, though, you keep going back to the same handful of places, and at peak times tables are hard to get.

Scottsdale has more to see. Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West, part of a UNESCO listing, is a sight of real stature, and the Museum of the West, the contemporary art museum and the Old Town galleries add more. The Heard Museum's Native American collections and the Musical Instrument Museum are both a short drive away.

In Telluride, the main sight is the town itself: a mining-era grid of clapboard houses and false-fronted storefronts, protected as a National Historic Landmark. The historical museum in the old miners' hospital and the mill ruins on the canyon walls fill an afternoon rather than a whole trip.

For a big night out, Scottsdale is the only real option. Old Town's few blocks of dance clubs, rooftop lounges and sports bars stay loud until 2am at weekends and in spring, with dress codes and bottle service to match.

Telluride's evenings are après-ski drinks and wooden bars in old Victorian saloons, full of skiers and locals in peak weeks and on festival weekends. There are no clubs, and outside those times the town goes to bed early.

Telluride is in another league for scenery. Cliffs, waterfalls and peaks above 4,000m surround the town on three sides, Bridal Veil Falls is within walking distance, and the year covers wildflower meadows, a via ferrata, jeep roads over high passes, gold aspens in autumn and serious skiing in winter. The altitude takes a day or two to get used to.

Scottsdale's desert is a real asset too. The McDowell Sonoran Preserve, with its saguaro trails, and short climbs like Camelback Mountain are right on the city's edge. But in summer the heat limits hiking to dawn, and the landscape has none of the mountain drama.

Scottsdale has the wider range of day trips, on easy roads. Sedona's red rocks, the Montezuma Castle cliff dwelling and the hillside mining town of Jerome are all about two hours north, Tucson and the San Xavier mission are a similar distance south, and the Goldfield ghost town makes a short half-day.

From Telluride the choices are fewer and slower to reach: Ouray and Ridgway are about an hour away, and Silverton is over Red Mountain Pass. Mesa Verde's cliff dwellings are a long day there and back, and winter weather can close the passes.

Scottsdale is easier with children. Resorts have lazy rivers, slides and kids' clubs, and the miniature railway park, the OdySea Aquarium, Butterfly Wonderland and the Phoenix Zoo cover days off from the pool. The drawbacks are that everything needs a drive and that the summer heat keeps children indoors from midday.

Telluride suits active families who ski or hike. Riding the free gondola is an outing in itself, and the ski school is well regarded. It has no indoor attractions for wet days, though, and young children can struggle with the altitude at first.

Telluride is much easier to get around once you have arrived. The historic centre can be crossed on foot in a quarter of an hour, and a free gondola and free buses link it with Mountain Village, so many visitors never use a car. The difficulty is reaching it, since flights in and out are often hit by weather.

Scottsdale is the opposite: easy to fly into, but spread out along wide roads with no light rail. Apart from a walk and the free trolley around Old Town, you will need a hire car or ride-hailing for almost everything.

Scottsdale is a genuine shopping destination. A large luxury mall holds the major fashion houses, and the galleries and dealers around Main Street and Marshall Way sell Navajo and Hopi silver, turquoise, Pueblo pottery and western boots, with high quality at the better shops.

Telluride has only a few blocks of Colorado Avenue: galleries, a couple of good bookshops, boutiques and plenty of ski and outdoor gear. It is pleasant for an hour's browsing, but it is not a reason to go.

Neither place is cheap, but Scottsdale is far easier on a budget. Resort rates drop sharply in the hot summer months, motels and business hotels along the main roads offer a cheaper base, Mexican food is good value, and hiking in the desert preserve costs nothing.

Telluride is among the most expensive places to stay in North America, with few rooms, top-of-the-market lift tickets and meals, and higher rates still at Christmas and on festival weekends. Staying in Ridgway saves money but means driving in every day.

The two are close here, but in different ways. Scottsdale offers steady choice across the winter season: chamber music, jazz and touring acts at its performing arts centre, world music at the Musical Instrument Museum's theatre, and Phoenix's symphony, opera and ballet about half an hour away.

Telluride's music comes in summer bursts. The Bluegrass Festival has filled Town Park beneath the canyon walls since the 1970s, with jazz, chamber music and the film festival following. Outside the festival season there is little beyond the Sheridan Opera House.

Scottsdale is built for pampering. It has a remarkable number of large resort spas with desert-themed treatments, several open to day guests, and plenty of yoga and retreat options in a dry, sunny climate made for long lazy days.

Telluride is calm, and its Mountain Village hotels have full spas, but its strongest offer is natural: the public hot springs pool in Ouray and the springs near Ridgway, both about an hour away, give an outdoor soak with mountain views that Scottsdale cannot match.