Beaver Creek or Telluride?

Neither place is for swimmers. Both sit high in the Rockies, far from any coast, and their water is cold snowmelt. The difference is distance: Beaver Creek has a small sandy swimming spot at Nottingham Lake, just down the hill in Avon, while Telluride's nearest equivalent is a reservoir near Ridgway, about an hour's drive. In both places a heated hotel pool is the realistic swim.

The food is similar in quality and in its limits: Colorado lamb, elk and trout cooked well, good wine lists, and no local cuisine to find. Beaver Creek leans towards special-occasion resort dining, such as dinners at mountain lodges reached by sleigh, and you go down to Avon, Edwards or Vail for anything cheaper or more varied.

Telluride's few serious kitchens on Colorado Avenue feel more like part of a town, with bakeries, taquerias and craft beer close by. Its catch is that the circle is small, and the tables fill on festival weekends.

Telluride clearly wins here, because it is a real nineteenth-century mining town rather than a resort built around 1980. The clapboard houses and false-fronted shops, the historical museum in the old miners' hospital, the 1913 Sheridan Opera House and the mill ruins on the canyon walls make for a good morning of wandering.

Beaver Creek's stone-and-timber village and its outdoor sculpture take about an hour to see. For mining history you have to drive out to Leadville or Breckenridge.

Telluride has more life after dark. Its historic saloons on Colorado Avenue fill with locals and seasonal workers as well as skiers, and in peak weeks the main street stays busy late, although there are still no clubs. Beaver Creek was designed to wind down after dinner: après-ski by a fire pit, a hotel lounge, then bed, unless you drive to Vail.

Both are first-rate mountain destinations, and the difference is in character. Beaver Creek is mainly about the skiing: groomed runs and glades known for their quiet slopes, linked to Bachelor Gulch and Arrowhead with Vail next door. In summer there is fly-fishing and rafting on the Eagle and Colorado rivers.

Telluride feels wilder and closer to town. Cliffs, Bridal Veil Falls and 4,000m peaks rise from the end of the main street. Summer adds a via ferrata, wildflower basins and jeep roads over old mining passes, and the steep hike-to ski terrain comes with some of the best views in the country.

Beaver Creek has more within easy reach. Vail is about twenty minutes away, and Leadville, Breckenridge and the spa town of Glenwood Springs are each around an hour, so a different town each day is easy. Telluride is more isolated. Ridgway and Ouray are close enough, but Silverton is two hours over Red Mountain Pass. Telluride does have the one site of real stature in either list, the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde, though they make a long day.

Beaver Creek is designed for families in a way Telluride is not. Covered escalators, a large and well-organised ski school, an outdoor rink, warm cookies at lift close and a car-free plaza where older children can roam make the days easy. In summer the hilltop adventure area adds climbing and ropes courses.

Telluride suits active families who are happy with simpler pleasures: the gondola ride, the river path and short waterfall walks. Neither place has much for a wet day, and the altitude in both can make small children unsettled at first.

Telluride is easier to get around once you arrive. The old town is a grid you can cross on foot in a quarter of an hour, and the free gondola runs up to Mountain Village, so many visitors never use a car. Beaver Creek works well inside the resort, with shuttles and escalators, but its lodges are spread across a hillside, and errands down the valley are easier by car.

Getting there is the other way round. Beaver Creek has Eagle airport about half an hour away. Telluride's small airport is often affected by weather, and the larger ones are up to two hours away by mountain road.

Shopping is about equal, with high prices and a narrow range in both, best saved for a rest day. Beaver Creek's plaza leans towards luxury outerwear and galleries selling bronze sculpture. Telluride's Colorado Avenue feels more like a real high street, with a couple of good bookshops and plenty of outdoor gear shops among the Western boutiques.

Neither place can be done cheaply. Both rank among the most expensive vacation spots in North America, and lift tickets, rooms and meals are priced at the top of the market. The ways to save differ a little. At Beaver Creek you can sleep in Avon or Edwards on the valley bus line and go in summer, which costs less. At Telluride you can rely on the free gondola and buses, or stay in Ridgway and accept an hour's drive each way.

Both come alive in summer and are quiet the rest of the year, but their music is different. Beaver Creek has its own Vilar Performing Arts Center in the village, and in summer the Bravo! Vail festival brings major orchestras to an open-air amphitheatre twenty minutes away.

Telluride is the place for bluegrass. Its festival in Town Park has run since the 1970s, there are jazz and blues weekends and the Labor Day film festival, and the Sheridan Opera House keeps a few shows going outside summer.

Beaver Creek is the better choice for a restful stay. Its resort spas are among the largest in the Rockies, with outdoor hot tubs in the snow, and the car-free village is quiet by design. The historic hot springs pool at Glenwood Springs is about an hour away. Telluride's spas are mostly in the Mountain Village hotels, and for a soak you drive an hour to the springs at Ouray or Ridgway. Its higher altitude can also make the first nights restless.