Aspen or Jackson Hole?

Neither town is a swimming destination, but Jackson Hole at least offers a real lake swim in late summer. String Lake is shallow, sandy-bottomed and warm enough by August to enjoy after a hike, even if Jenny Lake stays bracing.

In Aspen the reservoirs and alpine lakes stay cold even in July, so a hotel pool is the realistic place to swim, with the Roaring Fork kept for rafting.

Both towns eat well above their size, and both have the same gaps: hardly any street food and little that is cheap. The difference is in style. Aspen leans international and polished, with sushi, Italian and steak on its downtown grid, après-ski terraces at the base of Aspen Mountain, and the Food & Wine Classic each June.

Jackson Hole tastes more of its region. Elk, bison and Rocky Mountain trout are on most menus, and huckleberries turn up everywhere from cocktails to ice cream, served in steakhouses and saloons around the Town Square.

Neither offers more than a day of sightseeing, and the character differs. Aspen's story is silver mining, told through the red-brick Victorian downtown, the Wheeler Opera House, the painted West End cottages and Herbert Bayer's modernist Aspen Institute campus.

Jackson Hole's sights are tied to the West and its wildlife: the antler arches on the Town Square, the National Museum of Wildlife Art above the elk refuge, and the Mormon Row barns and log chapel framed by the Tetons.

Aspen goes out harder. In ski season, après-ski moves from the slopeside decks into downtown bars, hotel lounges and a few small clubs that stay busy late, especially over Christmas, New Year and the X Games.

Jackson Hole's evenings are earlier and more Western. They mean loud après-ski in Teton Village, then the saddle-stool saloon with its country dance floor and a few brewpubs. With no clubs and a crowd that rises early to ski or hike, the town is mostly asleep by midnight.

Both are among the finest mountain bases on the continent, so the choice comes down to what you want from the mountains. Aspen is a skier's town above all, with four mountains on one ticket system, the gondola rising straight from downtown, and in summer the Maroon Bells, Independence Pass and 4,000m summits in the Elk Mountains.

Jackson Hole adds national parks and big wildlife. The Tetons rise straight from the valley floor, the steep terrain under the Teton Village tram is legendary among expert skiers, and moose, bison, bears and wintering elk make every drive a safari. Yellowstone sits within reach.

Aspen has more towns within reach. Glenwood Springs, with its railway-era centre, is about an hour down the valley past Carbondale. From Carbondale a side road climbs the Crystal River valley to Redstone's coke ovens and the quarry village of Marble. Ashcroft's ghost town is closer still, and in summer Independence Pass opens the road to Leadville's Victorian main street.

From Jackson Hole, excursions lead into landscape rather than towns. The Idaho farm towns over Teton Pass and the ranch towns to the south make pleasant drives, but none fills a day, and Yellowstone's old lodges belong to a park visit.

Aspen is easier to manage with children, though there is less here to keep them busy. Free buses link the gentle slopes and ski schools of Buttermilk and Snowmass, so you never need to drive. In summer the lifts carry families up to alpine coasters and ropes courses, and the environmental centre runs nature programmes in the valley.

Jackson Hole is the stronger family pick overall, especially for children who like being outside. They can walk the flat lakeside trails beneath the Tetons, take a gentle float on the Snake and watch the staged shootout on the Town Square, and the Teton Village ski school covers winter. You pay for this in time spent in the car, because the parks are spread out. In both towns the altitude tires small children.

Aspen is far easier without a car. The flat downtown grid is walkable in minutes, free buses run to all four ski mountains, a valley line reaches Glenwood Springs, and a summer shuttle goes to the Maroon Bells.

In Jackson Hole only the few blocks round the Town Square and the bus to Teton Village work on foot or by public transport. Grand Teton and Yellowstone have no public transport, and dawn and dusk wildlife drives need your own wheels.

Aspen is the place for serious shopping. Its pedestrian malls hold international luxury boutiques, designer labels, jewellers and high-end ski wear, so window-shopping can be part of an evening out.

Jackson Hole's boardwalks are more Western in character than fashionable. Galleries of wildlife art and bronzes, handmade cowboy hats and boots and turquoise jewellery are the things to look for, with plenty of T-shirt shops in between.

Neither is a budget trip, and the savings are found in different places. In Aspen, the free buses take care of getting around, and many visitors keep the cost of rooms down by staying in Glenwood Springs or Carbondale and travelling up the valley.

In Jackson Hole, much of what you came for is close to free once you are there: trails, viewpoints and roadside wildlife, after modest park fees. Rooms over the pass in Idaho and visits in late spring or autumn are the usual savings, though a rental car is hard to avoid.

Aspen's summer arts calendar is much fuller. The Aspen Music Festival brings orchestral, chamber and opera performances to the Benedict Music Tent for about eight weeks, with free listening on the lawn. Jazz, the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and a year-round programme at the Wheeler Opera House add to it.

Jackson Hole's Grand Teton Music Festival offers fine classical concerts in Teton Village for a few weeks. Beyond that, the choice is mostly chuckwagon shows, country bands in the saloons and community theatre.

Both are restful outside peak ski weeks, and both rely on resort spas in town. The difference is how close the hot water is. In Jackson Hole, a hot springs park on the Snake is an easy drive, and a forested canyon pool reached by snowmobile or dog sled in winter makes a soak into an outing.

Aspen's big mineral pools and cave vapour baths are an hour down the valley in Glenwood Springs. The town itself makes up for that with riverside paths, yoga in the parks and altitude-recovery treatments in the large hotels.