Anaheim or Telluride?

Anaheim is inland, but the Orange County coast is close enough for a half-day trip: Huntington Beach for wide sand and surf, Newport for the Balboa Peninsula, Laguna for small coves between headlands. You will need a car, and the water is cool except in late summer.

Telluride has nothing comparable. Its high box canyon is far from any sea, and the nearest swimming is a chilly reservoir near Ridgway, so summer water time there means rafting or fishing rather than lying on the sand.

Anaheim eats better once you leave the resort district's chains and park counters. Brookhurst Street's Little Arabia has Lebanese, Palestinian and Yemeni bakeries and grills, Little Saigon next door is famous for pho and banh mi, and good taquerias are everywhere.

Telluride has a small but serious dining scene on Colorado Avenue and in Mountain Village, cooking elk, lamb and trout with Colorado produce, plus casual places for skiers. What it lacks is range, so a week there means rotating through the same few kitchens, and tables are hard to book in peak weeks.

Neither is a culture trip, but what each offers is different. Anaheim's real piece of history is Disneyland itself, the original Disney park, and its museums, such as the Bowers in Santa Ana and the Nixon Library, are scattered across the county and need a car.

Telluride's heritage is the town you walk through: an almost intact mining-era grid, listed as a National Historic Landmark, with a museum in the old miners' hospital and mill ruins on the canyon walls. It makes a pleasant hour or two on foot rather than a day of sightseeing.

Anaheim's evenings run on the theme-park clock. The fireworks end the day, after which there are bars on the promenade between the parks, a few brewpubs and cocktail bars in the centre, and full stadium bars on hockey and baseball nights. A proper night out means driving to Long Beach or Los Angeles.

In Telluride the evening depends on the season. Après-ski and the Victorian saloons on Colorado Avenue can keep the main street busy late in peak ski weeks and on festival weekends, but there are no clubs, and in spring and late autumn the town goes to bed early.

This is where Telluride pulls far ahead. Peaks above 4,000m rise from the end of the main street, Bridal Veil Falls and the trails to Blue Lake start close to town, and the seasons bring wildflowers, gold aspens and a ski area with some of the finest views in American skiing.

Anaheim's outdoors is gentler and all reached by car: chaparral trails in the Santa Ana Mountains, tide pools at Crystal Cove and whale-watching boats from Newport and Dana Point. The mild climate makes it reliable, but the scenery is pleasant rather than dramatic.

Anaheim is a far better base for day trips. Los Angeles and its museums are about an hour away, Long Beach has the Queen Mary and ferries to Catalina, Mission San Juan Capistrano is to the south, and San Diego is within reach by train or car.

From Telluride the choices are few and the roads are slow mountain passes: Ouray and Ridgway are close, Silverton takes about two hours, and Mesa Verde's cliff dwellings are only just possible in a day. Winter weather can close the routes.

The real difference is how much of the day is planned for you. In Anaheim the parks fill whole days for children of almost any age, and many families never leave the resort area all week. The dry climate means plans rarely change, and the main costs are peak-season queues and needing a car for anything further afield.

In Telluride, families make their own fun. The free gondola up to Mountain Village is a treat in itself, beginner slopes sit right by the village, and summer brings town parks and the river path. That suits active, outdoorsy children, but there is nothing built as an attraction, and the 2,670m altitude can make the first few nights hard on little ones.

Telluride is the easier place to get around once you arrive. The historic town can be crossed on foot in a quarter of an hour, and the free gondola and buses link it to Mountain Village, so many visitors never drive. Getting there is the hard part, with a weather-prone local airport and larger airports hours away.

Anaheim is easy to reach but spread out. The resort district is walkable with shuttles to the parks, and trains run to Los Angeles and San Diego, but the beaches, food districts and malls beyond it mean a hire car or ride-hailing.

Anaheim offers far more, though almost all of it is in malls: Disney merchandise on the resort promenade, outlets and open-air centres around the county, and one of the country's largest luxury malls in Costa Mesa.

Telluride's shopping is a few blocks of galleries, Western clothing, jewellery, bookshops and outdoor gear on Colorado Avenue. It is good for browsing, but prices are high and choice is limited.

Neither is a cheap trip, but Anaheim gives you far more room to trim. The money is concentrated in one place: park tickets, plus the hotels and food in and beside the gates. Step outside that circle and costs drop to ordinary suburban levels, with a motel a short drive from the resort, dinner in Little Saigon or on Brookhurst Street and breakfast from a supermarket. The one extra that is hard to avoid is the car.

In Telluride the expense is not tied to one attraction. It runs through the whole stay. Beds are scarce and compete with second homes, and lifts, guides and dinners all charge top-end rates, with no cheaper option in town to fall back on. The free gondola and buses help a little, but the only real saving is to sleep in Ridgway or further out, which adds a mountain drive at each end of the day.

The two are close here, but differ in timing. Anaheim's offer runs all year: Disney's parades and stage musicals for families, the Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa with the Pacific Symphony and touring Broadway shows, and big pop tours at the arena.

Telluride's music is concentrated in summer. The Bluegrass Festival in Town Park, jazz and chamber music weekends and the Labor Day film festival draw visitors from far away, and the Sheridan Opera House keeps a small programme going at other times. Outside those weeks, there is little on.

Telluride is the more restful stay. The town is calm, particularly in the shoulder seasons, Mountain Village hotels have full spas, and the hot springs pool in Ouray and the springs near Ridgway make a good afternoon soak with mountain views, though the altitude can disturb the first nights.

In Anaheim, early starts and crowded park days rarely leave room to unwind. Relaxation there means a hotel pool day, a Korean-style day spa in the suburbs, or a drive to the clifftop resorts at Laguna Beach or Dana Point.