Aspen or Taos?

Neither town has any real swimming, and both sit far from any coast. What differs is the substitute: in Aspen it is a cold alpine lake, a raft on the Roaring Fork or a hotel pool, while in Taos the warm-water option is a soak in a hot spring, with the Rio Grande gorge kept for rafting.

Aspen offers the wider and more polished table: chef-led dining rooms, steak, sushi and Italian, serious wine lists, après-ski terraces at the foot of Aspen Mountain and the Food & Wine Classic each June. The catch is that none of it is local, there is little in the cheap middle, and many kitchens shut in spring and autumn.

Taos has one kitchen and cooks it with conviction. Red or green chile over enchiladas, posole and carne adovada, plus horno bread from the Pueblo, give meals a sense of place that Aspen cannot offer, but variety runs out within a week.

Taos is the far richer place for history and art. Taos Pueblo, a UNESCO World Heritage site still home to a Tiwa-speaking community, is a sight of real weight, and the buttressed San Francisco de Asís church painted by O'Keeffe is a second landmark. Small museums from the art-colony era, the Fechin House and the Martínez hacienda fill two or three days.

Aspen's story is the 1880s silver boom, told through red-brick downtown blocks, the Wheeler Opera House and West End miners' cottages, with the Aspen Art Museum and Herbert Bayer's Aspen Institute campus adding modern interest. It is a pleasant afternoon rather than a reason to come.

Aspen has an actual night out, at least in winter. Après-ski moves from the slopeside decks to downtown lounges, and around Christmas, New Year and the X Games a few small clubs and hotel bars stay full late with a well-dressed crowd. Out of season it goes quiet.

Taos does not compete. A margarita in an adobe hotel bar, a brewery taproom or a saloon band is the evening, and most nights end soon after dinner.

Both are outstanding mountain bases, and Aspen has the edge in sheer range. Four ski mountains, from gentle Buttermilk to steep Highlands and vast Snowmass, sit minutes apart, and in summer trails leave from town, with the Maroon Bells, Independence Pass and summits above 4,000m close by.

Taos offers a different landscape rather than a lesser one: the Sangre de Cristo range dropping onto a sagebrush plateau cut by the Rio Grande gorge. Its single ski valley is known for steep terrain, Wheeler Peak and Williams Lake make fine summer hikes, and Taos Box rafting and huge desert skies give it a character Aspen's enclosed valley lacks.

Taos has much the better list of outings. Santa Fe, reached by the High Road through Truchas, Las Trampas and the sanctuary at Chimayó, is a full day in itself, and O'Keeffe country at Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch or the cliff dwellings at Bandelier follow.

Aspen's options are smaller: historic Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, the quarry village of Marble and the ghost town of Ashcroft. Leadville is a good summer drive over Independence Pass, but the pass closes in winter and the choice shrinks further.

Aspen is easier with children, above all on a ski trip. Buttermilk and Snowmass have gentle slopes, ski schools and kids' areas, free buses do the shuttling, and in summer the lifts lead to alpine coasters and ropes courses, with downtown fountains for an easy afternoon.

Taos welcomes families who like the outdoors, with Rio Grande float trips, horse riding and a public pool, but every outing involves the car. Neither has a zoo or theme park, and both sit high enough to tire small children for the first days.

Aspen is one of the rare mountain resorts that works without a car. The flat downtown grid takes minutes to cross, the gondola starts at its edge, free buses run to all four ski areas, a shuttle serves the Maroon Bells and the airport is just outside town. Only trips beyond the valley need wheels.

Taos is the opposite. Beyond the walkable plaza, the Pueblo, the gorge, the ski valley and every village are spread across a wide valley, and most visitors drive about two and a half hours from Albuquerque, so a hire car is part of the trip from the start.

Aspen is the place for labels: international luxury boutiques, high-end ski wear, jewellers and Western leather crammed into a few pedestrian blocks, with window-shopping as part of the evening.

Taos sells the handmade instead. Turquoise and silver, Pueblo micaceous pottery, Rio Grande weaving and carved santos fill the galleries around the plaza and Kit Carson Road, and buying straight from makers at the Pueblo beats anything in Aspen for a meaningful souvenir.

Taos is much the cheaper stay. Simple motels and casual diners are fairly priced, although historic inns and ski-valley lodging charge resort rates and the hire car adds to the total.

Aspen sits among the most expensive vacation places anywhere, with lodging, lift tickets, ski school and meals all aimed at the very wealthy. Staying down the valley in Glenwood Springs helps a little, and in both towns spring and late autumn are the gentlest times on the budget.

Aspen's summer gives it the stronger programme. The Aspen Music Festival fills about eight weeks with orchestral, chamber and opera performances in the Benedict Music Tent, where people listen free from the lawn, and the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and the Victorian Wheeler Opera House add more.

Taos offers rarer moments rather than a season. Feast-day dances at Taos Pueblo, notably San Gerónimo in late September, can be watched under strict rules, and a summer chamber festival and a small arts centre fill some gaps, but most nights it is a local band in a bar.

Taos is the better place to unwind. Ojo Caliente, with its outdoor pools fed by different mineral waters under the cliffs, is under an hour away, wild hot springs lie at the bottom of the Rio Grande gorge, and retreat centres and yoga studios suit the quiet of the plateau.

Aspen relies on its resort hotel spas, with Glenwood's large mineral pools an hour down the valley and Conundrum Hot Springs at the end of a long hike. In summer and the shoulder seasons it is restful, but peak ski weeks are too busy for real calm.