Scottsdale or Vail?

Neither city has a sea, and in both, swimming mostly means a hotel pool. Scottsdale's water life goes further, with sandy coves and boat hire on Saguaro and Canyon lakes about an hour away and summer tubing down the lower Salt River. Vail's small mountain lakes are for paddling and sunbathing, because the water stays cold even in July.

Scottsdale eats better, if not memorably. Old Town's steakhouses and patio grills are the same resort type you find in Vail, but Sonoran Mexican cooking gives it a local flavour, with carne asada, plate-sized tortillas and green chile in family places, and the stronger tables of Phoenix are a short drive away.

Vail's menus lean on Colorado lamb, elk and trout, fondue rooms and lodge lunches between runs. It has no cheap end and almost no street food, and many kitchens close in the quiet weeks of spring and autumn.

Scottsdale has the clear edge. Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's desert studio and part of a UNESCO listing, is well worth the guided tour. The Museum of the West and a small contemporary art museum add more, and the Heard Museum and the Musical Instrument Museum are within easy reach.

Vail is a 1960s ski resort built to look like a Tyrolean village. The Colorado Snowsports Museum, with the story of the Tenth Mountain Division, and the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens are pleasant, but sightseeing is not why anyone goes.

Scottsdale's Old Town packs patio bars, rooftop lounges and dance clubs with dress codes into a few blocks, and they stay loud until closing at weekends and through spring. Vail's evenings centre on après-ski on the slopeside terraces, festive but brief, with a small club in winter and a near-empty town after dinner in the off-seasons. For a proper night out, Scottsdale is the better bet.

Both sit on the edge of wild country, but Vail's is on a grander scale. Its huge ski area runs back into the Back Bowls and Blue Sky Basin. In summer the gondolas lift hikers and bikers towards the Gore Range and Holy Cross wilderness, and Gore Creek is known for fly fishing, which makes Vail a true mountain base.

Scottsdale's great asset is the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, with saguaro and granite boulders on the city's edge, short steep climbs up Camelback Mountain and longer routes in the Superstitions. It is excellent from late autumn to spring, but summer heat confines hiking to dawn.

Both need a car and both offer a respectable list, but the outings from Scottsdale are more varied. There is Sedona's red rock, the Montezuma Castle cliff dwelling, the hillside mining town of Jerome and Tucson's San Xavier mission, with the Grand Canyon possible as an overnight trip.

From Vail almost everything is another mountain town: polished Beaver Creek, Victorian Breckenridge and high-altitude Leadville. Glenwood Springs, down the Colorado River canyon, is the best day out, and Aspen or Denver suit a longer drive.

Both work for families, but in different ways. Scottsdale is a resort-pool vacation with lazy rivers and kids' clubs, plus the railroad park, the aquarium, the butterfly house and the Phoenix Zoo nearby. Everything needs a drive, though, and summer afternoons are spent indoors or in the water.

Vail suits families who ski, with large ski schools and a safe car-free village, and in summer there is a mountain coaster and ropes courses at the top of the gondola. It has no zoo or aquarium, and the altitude and cold can wear out small children.

Vail is far easier on the ground. Vail Village and Lionshead are pedestrian, the lifts start in town and a free bus runs the length of the valley, so many visitors never need a car once they arrive. The harder part is getting there, over a pass that can close in heavy snow.

Scottsdale is the reverse. The regional light rail does not reach it, and a free trolley covers only Old Town and the main shops. Resorts, trailheads and the airport mean a hire car or ride-hailing, though driving on its simple grid is easy.

Scottsdale is the better place to shop by some distance. A luxury mall with the big fashion houses and department stores sits alongside Old Town's galleries and dealers in Navajo and Hopi silver, turquoise and Pueblo pottery.

Vail's village lanes sell ski clothing, furs, jewellery and mountain landscapes. That is fine for gear or a smart souvenir but narrow, and serious shoppers go to Denver.

Neither is cheap, but Vail is in a league of its own, with slopeside lodging, lift tickets and ski school all far above normal American levels. Scottsdale is pricey in winter and spring, yet its resort rates fall sharply in summer. Motels and Mexican food also keep costs in check there, and the desert trails cost nothing.

The two are evenly matched but follow different calendars. Scottsdale's arts centre in Old Town and the concert theatre at the Musical Instrument Museum fill winter evenings. The symphony, opera, ballet and touring Broadway shows are close by in Phoenix and Tempe.

Vail puts its effort into summer, with Bravo! Vail orchestras and the dance festival at the open-air Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, picnics on the lawn and jazz in late summer. In winter there is little beyond après-ski bands.

Scottsdale makes rest the purpose of the trip, with a dense cluster of large resort spas, desert-inspired treatments, yoga and retreats, many open to day guests. Vail's spas are polished but serve skiers first, with massage and outdoor hot tubs under the peaks, and its best soak is an hour away in the mineral pools and vapour caves of Glenwood Springs. Neither has a bathing tradition of its own.