Aspen or Los Angeles?

There is nothing to compare on Aspen's side. The nearest swimming is in cold alpine lakes, small reservoirs or a hotel pool, and the sea is days away by road.

Los Angeles has more than 100km of shore, from the Malibu coves to the volleyball nets of the South Bay. The Pacific stays cool, though, so it is a place to surf, wade and people-watch rather than spend long, warm hours in the water.

Aspen eats well for a town of its size. It has chef-led dining rooms, steak and sushi, and après-ski terraces at the foot of Aspen Mountain, but almost everything is aimed at wealthy visitors and there is little cheap, everyday food in between. Many kitchens close between the seasons.

Los Angeles is in another league because of its immigrant cooking. You can work through Koreatown's charcoal grills, the regional Chinese kitchens of the San Gabriel Valley, Thai Town and Oaxacan Mid-City, and graze at Grand Central Market. The only cost is the driving between them.

Aspen's sights fill an afternoon. They include the red-brick Victorian blocks of the silver boom, the Wheeler Opera House, the painted cottages of the West End, the Aspen Art Museum and Herbert Bayer's modernist Institute campus. The Ashcroft ghost town adds some history.

Los Angeles has no old quarter either, but its museums run far deeper. You could spend days at the Getty Center and Getty Villa, LACMA, the Broad and the Huntington, along with Griffith Observatory, the Hollywood studio lots and the Disney Concert Hall.

Aspen's nights depend on the season. Après-ski spills from the slopeside decks into a few downtown bars, and hotel bars stay busy late in the peak winter weeks. Summer is quieter, with drinks on patios, and the town goes almost silent in spring and autumn.

Los Angeles offers much more choice at any time of year. You can pick between velvet-rope clubs in Hollywood, the gay bars of West Hollywood, downtown rooftop bars and the dive bars of Echo Park. Bars close at 2am, though, and a night usually stays in one neighbourhood.

Both have serious wild country, but in Aspen the outdoors is the whole reason to come. At 2,400m in the Elk Mountains, it has four ski mountains in winter. In summer there are trails from the edge of town, the Maroon Bells a short bus ride away, summits above 4,000m and the Roaring Fork for rafting and fly-fishing.

Los Angeles offers a remarkable amount for a city of its size. You can hike Griffith Park and the Santa Monica Mountains, walk among the pines of the San Gabriels, surf at Malibu and take boats to the Channel Islands. Traffic and the inland summer heat get in the way more than anything in Aspen does.

From Aspen, the outings are small mountain towns: Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, the quarry village of Marble and, in summer, Victorian Leadville over Independence Pass. When the pass closes in winter, the choice shrinks noticeably.

Los Angeles gives far more variety. You can visit the Spanish Colonial streets and mission of Santa Barbara, take the ferry to Avalon on Catalina, or go to the galleries of Laguna Beach, the orange groves of Ojai or mid-century Palm Springs. Leave early, though, as traffic can stretch any of these drives.

Aspen works best for a ski vacation with children, with the ski schools and kids' areas at Buttermilk and Snowmass. Summer brings alpine coasters and ropes courses at the lift tops. Beyond that it is a town for adults, and the altitude can tire young children for the first day or two.

Los Angeles has much more for children. There are Disneyland, Universal Studios and Magic Mountain, the space shuttle at the California Science Center, the La Brea Tar Pits, the Long Beach aquarium and the Santa Monica Pier. Plan one area a day to keep the time in the car down.

Aspen is the easier place to get around. You can cross the flat downtown grid in minutes, and the gondola leaves from its edge. Free buses link the town with all four ski mountains, and in summer a separate shuttle bus runs out to the Maroon Bells. You only need a car for trips out of the valley.

Los Angeles is the opposite. The Metro rail links downtown with Hollywood, Pasadena, Long Beach and Santa Monica, but most visitors still hire a car or rely on ride-hailing across a huge basin where the roads are often jammed.

Aspen's few pedestrian blocks hold designer boutiques, ski wear, jewellers, Western leather and commercial galleries. They are fine for luxury window-shopping, but there is little for anyone browsing for bargains or crafts.

Los Angeles has the same luxury labels on Rodeo Drive, and much more besides. There are streetwear and vintage on Melrose, independent shops on Abbot Kinney, records and design in Silver Lake, and the Rose Bowl flea market for serious vintage hunting.

Neither is cheap, but Aspen is among the costliest places to vacation at all. Lodging, lift tickets, ski school and meals are all priced for a very wealthy crowd. Staying down the valley in Glenwood Springs or Carbondale only softens the bill.

Los Angeles is expensive too, with costly hotels, tips and tax on meals, and a hire car with parking. Still, taco trucks and Koreatown feed you well for little, and the beaches, Griffith Observatory and the Getty collections are free.

Aspen's high point is the summer music festival. For about eight weeks there are orchestral, chamber and opera performances in the Benedict Music Tent, and you can listen free from the lawn outside. The rest of the year rests mostly on the Wheeler Opera House and one club in ski season.

Los Angeles keeps going all year. The Philharmonic plays the Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, LA Opera performs at the Music Center, and there are Broadway tours, rock rooms on the Sunset Strip, comedy and improv theatres, and jazz in Leimert Park.

The town of Aspen is calmer to be in, with clear air, riverside paths and resort spas, though it has no bathing tradition of its own. For pools you go an hour down the valley to Glenwood Springs, or hike a long way up to Conundrum Hot Springs.

Los Angeles has more to book. Koreatown's Korean bathhouses have hot and cold pools, scrubs and heated floors, open late or around the clock, and there are yoga studios everywhere. For real quiet, Ojai and the desert spas around Palm Springs are within a drive.