Alta, Utah or Whitefish?

Neither town has a sea, but Whitefish at least has water you would want to swim in. City Beach on Whitefish Lake has a swimming dock and paddleboards, and Flathead Lake, about forty minutes south, has clear water and pebbly state park shores. It is swimmable from mid-July to late August.

Alta has nothing like this at the head of its canyon. The Great Salt Lake below is not a place for swimming, so in summer bathing means a lodge pool or a hot tub.

Whitefish gives you a choice of where to eat, which Alta mostly does not. Central Avenue has grills, wood-fired pizza and a few more serious dining rooms serving Montana beef, trout and elk, and late summer brings huckleberry pies and milkshakes. There are craft breweries and a local distilling tradition too, though after a week the same few places start to repeat.

In Alta most meals happen in the lodges. Guests eat set dinners at long communal tables on half board and lunch in slopeside cafeterias. For variety you have to drive down the canyon to Salt Lake City.

Neither is a place for sightseeing, and what little there is differs in kind. Alta's history is out on the mountain, in the traces of the silver-mining camp that became one of the West's oldest ski areas. Whitefish has the timber Great Northern depot with its small museum on the railway and logging days, plus a few blocks of early twentieth-century shopfronts. Either way, you go to the mountains, not to the town, for anything you will remember.

Whitefish has a modest night out, which is more than Alta offers. Its saloons and taprooms fill with ski bums, ranchers and visitors. After skiing the crowd drifts down from the mountain, and summer evenings move out onto patios. It can get rowdy, but there are no clubs.

Alta is an après-ski drink in a lodge bar and then bed, and its regulars like it that way. For anything livelier you go to the neighbouring resort or to Salt Lake City.

Both are superb for the outdoors, but at different times of year. Alta is a winter place above all. It sits at around 2,600m and storms off the Great Salt Lake bury it in powder, often well over 12m in a season. The steep terrain is for skiers only, and the backcountry touring crosses real avalanche ground. In summer it shrinks to the Albion Basin wildflower meadows and hikes up to Cecret Lake and Sugarloaf.

Whitefish is at its best in summer, with Glacier National Park about forty minutes away. There you get the Highline Trail, Grinnell Glacier, Lake McDonald and a real chance of seeing grizzlies. Closer to town there are lakes and rivers for kayaking and fly fishing, and Big Mountain has skiing in winter. The high country is only reliably open from July to September.

Alta has the better day out, because Salt Lake City is under an hour down the canyon, with Temple Square, the State Capitol and real museums. Park City's old silver-mining Main Street and Ogden's railway street add a couple more options, though a storm can close the road.

From Whitefish the towns nearby are small. Kalispell has the Conrad Mansion, Bigfork has galleries and summer theatre, and there are cherry orchards along Flathead Lake. Most days out from here head into the park rather than to another town.

Whitefish gives children more to do. In summer the ski slopes run a zip line, an alpine slide and a scenic chairlift, City Beach is calm enough for toddlers, and Glacier's Trail of the Cedars is flat enough for short legs. Children who don't like hiking or paddling can still get bored, and the drives into the park are long.

Alta is fine for families who ski, with lessons and gentle runs near the base. Otherwise there is almost nothing for children. The altitude, the cold and storm days spent indoors also weigh against it.

The two are equally easy, or equally awkward, in different ways. In Alta you barely move once you arrive. The lodges are ski-in, ski-out and a village shuttle links the base areas, but everything depends on one canyon road from Salt Lake City, about 50km away. That road jams on powder mornings, closes for avalanche control and often needs chains.

Whitefish has a walkable downtown, a long-distance train that stops at the depot and a free ski shuttle. Outside the ski season you still need a car to reach Glacier, Flathead Lake and the trailheads.

In Alta the shops are ski shops. They rent and tune skis and sell some outdoor gear and branded souvenirs, so anything more means a trip to Salt Lake City or Park City. Central Avenue in Whitefish is good for an afternoon's browsing, with outdoor outfitters, western-wear and boot shops, galleries of wildlife art and Montana-made gifts such as huckleberry jam.

Both are costly, but Whitefish leaves more room to save. Beds are scarce in high summer and the ski season, but late spring and autumn are noticeably easier, and staying in Kalispell or Columbia Falls cuts costs. Once you are inside Glacier it is good value, though you will need to budget for a hire car.

Alta has only a handful of lodges and charges high rates in season, usually with dinner included. Its lift tickets are fair for a major American resort. Skiers watching their budget stay in the Salt Lake valley and come up by bus each day.

Whitefish has a small but real stage calendar. A community arts centre hosts local theatre and visiting shows, and a summer company stages professional productions. The valley's symphony plays in Kalispell and holds a summer festival, and there are free outdoor concerts on summer evenings.

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

Neither has thermal water, and both offer about the same amount of rest, in different settings. Alta's version comes after a ski day: hot tubs steaming in the snow, saunas, small lodge spas and deep silence on storm days, in a village with nothing to keep you up late. Whitefish has more on offer, with resort spas around the lake, yoga studios in town and hot springs a couple of hours' drive away. Its peak summer and ski weeks are busier, so it never gets as quiet as Alta.