Alta, Utah or Colorado Springs?

Neither place is for swimming. In Alta, water time means a lodge pool or hot tub, since the Great Salt Lake below is too shallow and salty for bathing. Colorado Springs adds public pools and a cold reservoir dip in summer, and its best water day is rafting on the Arkansas River.

Eating in Alta means eating at your lodge: set dinners at communal tables on half board, cafeteria lunches on the mountain, and Utah's liquor rules shaping how drinks are served. For anything else you drive down the canyon to Salt Lake City.

In Colorado Springs you choose where to eat each evening. The options run from Southwestern plates with green chile and barbecue to brewpubs and food trucks on Tejon Street, in Old Colorado City and in Manitou Springs. The food is casual rather than memorable, but the local beer is good and the Broadmoor's dining rooms cover a formal night.

Alta has nothing to tour. The only history on show is the traces of old silver mines on the slopes, left from its years as a mining camp before it became one of the West's oldest ski areas.

Colorado Springs has a modest but real list of sights. The aluminium spires of the Air Force Academy's Cadet Chapel come first, followed by the Olympic and Paralympic Museum, the Southwestern collection at the Fine Arts Center and the Pioneers Museum in the old courthouse. They are spread out, so a day of sightseeing needs a car.

In Alta the evening ends with a drink in the lodge bar and then bed, which is how its regulars like it. The louder après-ski is at the neighbouring resort. Colorado Springs at least has a weekend scene on Tejon Street, where sports bars, cocktail bars and a few dance spots fill with students and young soldiers. Even there the taprooms close early and weeknights are quiet.

Both are mountain places first, but they suit different seasons and different activities. Alta, at around 2,600m, is about winter: steep skiing in deep powder at a skiers-only resort, plus serious backcountry touring. In summer, Albion Basin's wildflower meadows and the walk to Cecret Lake take over.

Colorado Springs offers outdoor activity all year, helped by its dry, sunny climate. You can hike, drive or take the cog railway up Pikes Peak, walk or rock-climb among the red sandstone fins of Garden of the Gods, ride the mountain-bike trails and raft the Arkansas. The skiing, however, is two hours away.

From Alta the realistic choices are Salt Lake City and Park City, both about an hour away. In winter even those depend on the canyon road, which closes for avalanche control after heavy storms.

Colorado Springs has much more within reach. Manitou Springs is next door, Denver is a little over an hour north, the gold-mining streets of Cripple Creek and Victor are up in the hills, and the Royal Gorge Bridge is to the south-west. Almost all of it means driving.

Alta works only if the whole family skis. It has a ski school, gentle terrain at the base and lodges close to the lifts, but nothing made for children. The altitude and storm days spent indoors can also wear young ones down.

Colorado Springs is much easier with children who have different interests. The giraffes at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Cave of the Winds, the Manitou Cliff Dwellings and the small Christmas-themed park are all short outings. The strong sun and long car journeys need some planning.

Once you are up the canyon, Alta is the simpler place to be without a car. The lodges sit at the lifts, many with ski-in, ski-out access, and a winter shuttle links the village. The catch is the single road from Salt Lake City, about 50km away, which backs up with traffic on powder mornings and closes after storms.

Colorado Springs is harder to manage without your own transport. Its sights are spread along the foothills, the buses are thin and infrequent, and only downtown, Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs are pleasant on foot.

Alta sells ski rentals, tuning and a few souvenirs, and nothing more. Colorado Springs is no shopping destination either, but the old storefronts of Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs hold galleries, Western wear, rock and gem shops and local crafts. Outlets and malls sit on the edges of town.

Alta is the more expensive stay. Its few beds are almost all in ski lodges with high rates in season, usually with dinner included. The cheaper option is to sleep in the Salt Lake valley and travel up the canyon each day.

Colorado Springs is moderately priced for an American trip. There are motels and chain hotels along the interstate, and the parks and trails are free, though a hire car adds to the bill.

Alta has no stage of any kind, so a concert or a play means going down to Salt Lake City. Colorado Springs can fill the odd evening. The Philharmonic plays at the Pikes Peak Center, the Fine Arts Center's theatre company stages plays and musicals, and the outdoor amphitheatre has summer concerts. None of it is reason enough to plan a trip around.

Neither is a spa destination, and the two differ more in kind than in degree. In Alta, wellness means a hot tub in the snow and a sauna after skiing, along with real stillness in a tiny village where nothing keeps you up.

Colorado Springs has a history as a health resort. Manitou Springs grew up around its naturally carbonated mineral springs, which still flow from public fountains, and has a small soaking spa with mountain views. The Broadmoor adds a full resort spa.