Alta, Utah or Las Vegas?

Neither city is a swimming destination, but Las Vegas has a little more to offer. Boulder Beach on Lake Mead gives a gravel shore and warm summer water in a shadeless desert basin, and the Strip resorts have wave pools and lazy rivers for hot afternoons. In Alta the water is a lodge pool or a hot tub, and the Great Salt Lake below is not somewhere people swim.

This is one of the widest gaps between the two. Las Vegas gathers famous chefs' outposts, French dining rooms, tasting menus and the classic buffets on the Strip, and off it Spring Mountain Road runs for kilometres with Sichuan, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese kitchens, many open late.

Alta feeds its guests in the lodges, mostly on half board at communal tables, with lunch in slopeside cafeterias. It is solid fuel for skiing, and anyone wanting choice has to drive down the canyon to Salt Lake City, weather permitting.

Alta has no sights to speak of. It began as a silver-mining camp before becoming one of the oldest ski areas in the West, but all that survives of that past is traces of old workings on the slopes. There is no museum or historic building to tour, so visitors who want culture go down to Salt Lake City.

Las Vegas offers more, though most of it is spectacle. The themed resorts with their replica canals and skylines, the fountain show and the light canopy over Fremont Street fill an evening. Downtown, the Neon Museum's yard of retired casino signs and the Mob Museum in the old federal courthouse tell the city's short story well. Someone who travels for heritage will still have seen it all within a day or two.

Las Vegas is built for nights out: casino bars open around the clock, drinks carried along the Strip, weekend DJ residencies in vast resort clubs and dayclub pool parties before them, plus cheaper cocktail lounges and dive bars around Fremont Street and the arts district.

Alta is the opposite by design. A drink in a lodge bar after the lifts close is the whole scene, the village sleeps early so it can be first on the snow, and that quiet is what its regulars come for.

Alta has the edge because its setting is world-class rather than merely striking. The powder that storms drop on the Wasatch, the steep terrain and the backcountry bowls draw skiers from across the world, and in summer Albion Basin, Cecret Lake and Sugarloaf offer wildflowers, moose and alpine hiking at cool altitude.

Las Vegas has more variety but less depth. Red Rock Canyon's sandstone climbing, the petroglyphs of Valley of Fire, kayaking on Lake Mead and the pine forests of Mount Charleston are all within an hour or so, yet the summer heat closes desert trails for much of the year and every outing needs a car.

Alta has the better outings, mainly because it has towns within reach. Salt Lake City brings Temple Square, the State Capitol and museums, Park City has its old silver-mining Main Street, and Ogden adds a railway street, though the canyon road can close after storms and wreck a plan.

From Las Vegas the one easy excursion is Hoover Dam with Boulder City, its tidy workers' town. The Grand Canyon, Zion and Death Valley trips sold on the Strip are long drives to landscapes rather than places to explore.

Neither city suits children well, and they fall short in different ways. Alta works only for skiing families, with a children's ski school, gentle runs at the base and lodges beside the slopes, but altitude, cold and storm days spent indoors weigh on young children who do not ski.

Las Vegas fills a day or two with an indoor amusement park, a shark aquarium, the tower thrill rides and the Discovery Children's Museum. The catch is the route through casino floors and the adult atmosphere of the Strip, so many families use it as a stop on a national parks road trip.

Both are easy at the centre and awkward beyond it. In Alta the lodges sit at the lifts and a winter shuttle links the village, but everything hangs on the one canyon road from Salt Lake City, about 50km away, which jams on powder mornings and closes for avalanche control.

Las Vegas has more transport, with a monorail, round-the-clock buses and plenty of taxis and ride-hailing, but its 6km Strip is deceptive on foot, with huge resorts, footbridges and summer heat. In both places a car is the only real way into the wider landscape.

Las Vegas wins easily. The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, the luxury mall mid-Strip, the Venetian's canal-side arcade and the Fashion Show mall hold most major labels, with outlets at each end of the Strip, though local crafts and independent shops are scarce. Alta sells ski rentals, tuning and outdoor gear, and serious shopping means Park City or Salt Lake City.

With only a handful of lodges up the canyon, Alta leaves little room to economise. In season the rates are high, dinner is often included because there is nowhere else to eat, and budget beds barely exist. Lift tickets are fair for a major American resort, and the usual way to save is to sleep in the Salt Lake valley and take the bus up each morning.

Las Vegas gives a careful traveller more to work with. From Sunday to Thursday, rooms on and near the Strip can be good value for their size, downtown is cheaper still, and meals in Chinatown cost far less than resort dining. Weekends, conventions, resort fees, shows and clubs push the bill up fast, so the city only works out cheaper for those who plan around them.

Live entertainment is a main reason to visit Las Vegas: purpose-built theatres for water-based and aerial spectacles, magicians and comedians, long residencies by pop, rock and country stars, and touring musicals, the Philharmonic and ballet at the Smith Center downtown.

Alta has no stage of any kind. Evenings are spent in the lodges, and a concert or play means the drive to Salt Lake City.

The two are close on rest and relaxation but offer different kinds. Las Vegas has some of the largest hotel spas in the country, with thermal circuits, salt and ice rooms and long treatment menus, but the noisy casinos all around work against unwinding unless you pick a non-gaming hotel and go early.

Alta's facilities are modest, mainly outdoor hot tubs in the snow, saunas and small lodge spas. What it has instead is silence: a tiny village, no nightlife, and the slow, tired rhythm that follows a long day on the mountain.