Beaver Creek or Durango, Colorado?

Neither town has anything like a beach, and both offer only cold mountain water. Durango has a little more variety: a swimming area at Lake Nighthorse, sandy edges at Vallecito Lake and the summer habit of floating the Animas through town on an inner tube.

Beaver Creek has the small Nottingham Lake down in Avon, and for most guests swimming means a heated outdoor hotel pool with a mountain view.

The two eat at a similar level, but in different styles. Beaver Creek serves refined resort cooking: elk and trout in polished dining rooms, plus sleigh rides up the mountain to dinner in a lodge. For anything cheaper you go down to the taquerias of Avon.

Durango is more casual and more local, with green-chile Southwestern plates, steakhouses and an unusual number of craft breweries for a town its size. It is better for a beer after a ride, while Beaver Creek is better for a special-occasion dinner.

Durango has real history and Beaver Creek has almost none. Durango was founded around its railway in 1880, and it still runs steam locomotives from the old depot. It also has a roundhouse museum, blocks of brick and sandstone Victorian buildings, and a respected collection of Native American material at the college on the mesa.

Beaver Creek was built as a ski resort around 1980. Its stone-and-timber village and outdoor art take about an hour to see, and anyone curious about mining-era Colorado has to drive to somewhere like Leadville.

Neither place keeps late hours, but Durango has more going on after dark. There are brewery taprooms, patios along Main Avenue, a saloon with a piano player, and weekend bars kept busy by college students.

In Beaver Creek the evening is fireside après-ski on the plaza, then dinner and a hotel lounge. For anything livelier you have to drive to Vail.

Both are outstanding mountain bases, and the difference is the season. Beaver Creek is a ski mountain first, with dependable snow, long groomed cruisers, steep glades and famously uncrowded slopes. Its lifts link to Bachelor Gulch and Arrowhead, and Vail's huge separate ski area is a short drive or bus ride away. In summer the lifts carry hikers and bikers towards the Holy Cross Wilderness and the Gore Range.

Durango is stronger once the snow has gone. Singletrack starts at the edge of town, the Colorado Trail begins just to the north, the high Weminuche Wilderness is close by and whitewater runs right through the centre. Its ski resort half an hour north is a good one, but it is not the main reason to come.

Durango's day trips are much better. Mesa Verde's cliff dwellings, the steam train up the Animas canyon to Silverton, the Aztec ruins and the Chimney Rock pueblo make up a list that goes back centuries, though almost all of it needs a car.

From Beaver Creek the outings are other mountain towns: Vail, Leadville, Breckenridge and Glenwood Springs. All are pleasant, but they are much alike, and none is a major heritage site.

Beaver Creek is the easier place to bring children, especially in winter. It has a large ski school, an outdoor ice rink, covered escalators, the warm cookies handed out at the end of the ski day and a plaza with no cars.

Durango wins children over with adventure instead: the steam train, tubing on the river and Mesa Verde's ladders. It also involves more driving, and it has no more rainy-day options than Beaver Creek does.

Beaver Creek is easier to get around once you are there. It has a pedestrian core, escalators between levels, ski-in ski-out lodging, free shuttles to Avon and valley buses to Vail, and Eagle airport is about half an hour away.

Durango's flat centre and riverside trail are pleasant on foot, but trailheads, the ski area and Mesa Verde all lie along highways with little public transport, so a hire car is close to essential.

Neither is a shopping destination, and Durango's Main Avenue is a little more rewarding to browse. Its outdoor stores sell bikes and fishing kit, and its shops carry Navajo and Pueblo silver, turquoise and rugs. Beaver Creek's plaza is smaller and dearer, with luxury ski wear, western boots and galleries selling bronze sculpture.

Durango is clearly the cheaper choice, although it is still a US resort town with full restaurant prices and a hire car to pay for. Its trails, river and views cost nothing, and spring and late autumn bring prices down.

Beaver Creek is among the most expensive vacations in North America. Its lodging, lift tickets, ski school and mountain dining are all priced for a wealthy clientele, and summer or a room in Avon only softens the cost a little.

Beaver Creek has the stronger programme, at least in summer. The Vilar Performing Arts Center hosts touring shows in the village through the year. Nearby Vail adds leading American orchestras at Bravo! Vail, the Vail Dance Festival and a summer jazz series.

Durango's stage is smaller and folksier, with a summer chamber festival, the college concert hall, a Victorian melodrama where the audience boos the villain, and chuckwagon cowboy shows.

Both places are equally good for unwinding, but in different ways. Beaver Creek relies on its big resort spas, with outdoor hot tubs in the snow, steam rooms and treatments for tired legs, and the Glenwood Springs pools are an hour away.

Durango's strength is natural hot springs. There are mineral pools a few minutes north of town, terraced pools at Pagosa Springs and spring-fed pools at Ouray, while its spas are mostly simpler day-spa massages.