VacationSelector
Skiers among snow-covered firs, Beaver Creek
Beaver CreekSkiers among snow-covered firs
White sand and the turquoise Gulf of Mexico, Gulf Shores
Gulf ShoresWhite sand and the turquoise Gulf of Mexico

Photos: Beaver Creek by Joe Lin, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Gulf Shores by ourgulfshoresvacation.com, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Beaver Creek or Gulf Shores?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Beaver Creek for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Beaver Creek’s own page.

Choose Gulf Shores for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Gulf Shores’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Beaver Creek 6, Gulf Shores 84: Gulf Shores leads by 78 points.
Food & drink. Beaver Creek and Gulf Shores are level on 38.
Culture & sights. Beaver Creek 7, Gulf Shores 12: Gulf Shores leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Beaver Creek 12, Gulf Shores 32: Gulf Shores leads by 20 points.
Nature & outdoors. Beaver Creek 90, Gulf Shores 52: Beaver Creek leads by 38 points.
Day trips. Beaver Creek 40, Gulf Shores 52: Gulf Shores leads by 12 points.
Good for families. Beaver Creek 62, Gulf Shores 75: Gulf Shores leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Beaver Creek 45, Gulf Shores 15: Beaver Creek leads by 30 points.
Shopping & style. Beaver Creek and Gulf Shores are level on 22.
Affordability. Beaver Creek 5, Gulf Shores 42: Gulf Shores leads by 37 points.
Live music & performing arts. Beaver Creek 36, Gulf Shores 27: Beaver Creek leads by 9 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Beaver Creek 55, Gulf Shores 28: Beaver Creek leads by 27 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Beaver Creek and Gulf Shores.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Beaver Creek
35match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and getting around with your weighting.

Gulf Shores
Best match
40match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Beaver Creek in July

29 °Cdaytime high
10 °Cnight-time low
31 mmrain in the month
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Gulf Shores in July

32 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
165 mmrain in the month
29 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Beaver CreekGulf Shores

Where the figures come from

Beaver Creek's temperatures are measured 34 km from the centre, at Eagle County / Gypsum.

Beaver Creek's station stands 268 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Beaver Creek has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Gulf Shores has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Beaver Creek: 1992-2020 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Eagle County / Gypsum (33.8 km from centre). Gulf Shores: 2006-2020 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Gulf Shores / Bay Village Mobile Home Park (3.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBeaver CreekGulf Shores
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-7, UTC-6 in summerUTC-6, UTC-5 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation2,264 m2 m
Main airportEagle County Regional Airport (EGE)34 km from centre16 non-stop destinationsPensacola International Airport (PNS)54 km from centre27 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureBeaver CreekGulf Shores
City population-15,014
People per km²-207
Museums within 10 km01
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C-8 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Beaver Creek or Gulf Shores somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Ground elevations sampled from the Mapzen terrain tiles via OpenTopoData, merging SRTM, ASTER, NED, EU-DEM and national sources. Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.