Sedona or Vail?

Neither town is anywhere near a coast, but Sedona has the better swimming. Oak Creek gives you the natural sandstone chute at Slide Rock and deeper pools at Grasshopper Point and Red Rock Crossing, all below red cliffs, and they make a cold, welcome plunge after a summer hike.

Vail has only small mountain lakes and reservoirs, which are fine for paddling and sunbathing but stay cold even in July. For most visitors there, a swim means the hotel pool.

Both towns eat at resort level and at resort prices, so the difference is in style. Sedona leans Southwestern, with chilli, corn and grilled meat, has plenty of vegetarian and health-minded kitchens, and sets its best tables on terraces facing the sunset. Verde Valley tasting rooms are just down the road.

Vail serves steak, elk, Colorado lamb and trout, fondue rooms and sushi, with lunch in mountain lodges between runs and craft beer everywhere. Many of its kitchens close in the spring and autumn lulls, while Sedona's food is at its best at breakfast and lunch around a hike.

Sedona has more to see, though neither town is a sightseeing destination. The Chapel of the Holy Cross, built into a butte in 1956, is a real landmark, and the Palatki and Honanki cliff dwellings and the V Bar V petroglyphs bring you close to the Sinagua people. Galleries of Western and Native American art fill out a visit.

Vail's chalet village is a 1960s imitation of the Tyrol rather than a historic town. The Colorado Snowsports Museum, with its story of the Tenth Mountain Division, and the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens take a morning between them.

Vail has the livelier evenings, at least in winter. Après-ski fills the slopeside terraces of Vail Village and Lionshead as the lifts close, and on winter weekends a few bars and a small club stay open past midnight. In summer and the off-seasons the town goes quiet.

Sedona goes to bed early because its visitors are on the trail at dawn. A brewpub or resort lounge in Uptown suits a drink after dinner, and the best thing to do at night is look up at the very dark sky.

Both are outstanding outdoor bases, but the landscapes could hardly be more different. Sedona is high desert. You walk or ride among sandstone buttes and spires on Cathedral Rock, Devil's Bridge and Boynton Canyon, mountain bikers come for the slickrock singletrack, and the Grand Canyon is about two hours away.

Vail is alpine, at about 2,500m. Winter belongs to the huge ski area, and summer to the gondola-served trails, the lakes and peaks of the Gore Range and Holy Cross wilderness, fly fishing and rafting. The aspens turn gold in autumn, just as Sedona's best hiking weather returns.

Sedona has the more varied outings. Within an hour you can reach the mountainside mining town of Jerome, the cliff dwelling at Montezuma Castle, the pueblo at Tuzigoot and the Verde Canyon Railroad, and Flagstaff, Walnut Canyon and Wupatki lie beyond. Ancient sites set the region apart.

From Vail, most outings lead to other mountain towns: Beaver Creek, Breckenridge with its Victorian main street, and silver-boom Leadville. The pick is Glenwood Springs, an hour down the canyon. They are pleasant, but they feel much alike.

Vail is the easier family base. It has large ski schools and gentle children's terrain, a car-free village where children can roam, and summer extras at the top of the gondola such as the mountain coaster and ropes courses. The altitude and the winter cold do ask for patience with toddlers.

Sedona works for outdoor families on a shorter stay. Slide Rock, the lower Bell Rock paths and jeep tours are the highlights, but most hotels are aimed at couples, the trails are exposed in summer heat, and every outing means getting in the car.

Once you have arrived, Vail is far easier to get around. The village and Lionshead are pedestrian, the lifts start in town, and a free bus runs the length of the valley. Getting there is the hard part, since there is no rail and Vail Pass can close in heavy snow.

Sedona is a car town. It sprawls along two highways from the roundabout at the Y, only Uptown is walkable, and the shuttle covers just a few trailheads. Parking at popular trails fills early, and most visitors drive about two hours up from Phoenix.

Neither town is a shopping destination, and serious shoppers leave for Phoenix or Denver. Sedona's shops are about art and the spirit: the courtyards of Tlaquepaque, Native American jewellery, pottery and rugs, and crystal and metaphysical shops.

Vail sells to the slopes and to wealthy visitors. Expect upmarket ski and outdoor clothing, fur, leather, Western boots and mountain landscape paintings, all in a narrow and expensive range.

Both are expensive, but Sedona hurts the wallet a little less. Its trails need only a parking pass, picnics cost little, and staying in Cottonwood or Flagstaff brings room prices down. The costs mount with jeep tours, balloon flights and spa treatments.

In Vail the costs pile up: lift tickets, ski school, equipment hire and slopeside lodging, with peak winter weeks dearest of all. A summer or off-season visit and a bed further down the valley ease the bill, but only somewhat.

Vail has a real performing arts season, though only in summer. Bravo! Vail brings visiting orchestras to the open-air Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, where you can picnic on the lawn with mountains behind the stage, and the Vail Dance Festival and a late-summer jazz festival follow. In winter there is little beyond après-ski bands.

Sedona offers occasional chamber concerts, local theatre and Native American flute players. Its main event is the long-running film festival in late winter.

Sedona is a wellness destination in its own right. Destination spas sit against the canyons, surrounded by yoga studios, meditation, breathwork and alternative therapies, and the slow pace, sunrise vortex walks and quiet nights are the whole point of many visits.

In Vail, wellness means a massage, sauna and outdoor hot tub after a day on the slopes. Vail does have something Sedona lacks, though: the natural mineral pools and vapour caves of Glenwood Springs, about an hour away.