Big Sky or Breckenridge?

Neither town is anywhere near a beach, and swimming outdoors is cold in both. The difference is in what replaces it. Big Sky offers a quick paddle in a pond, a riverbank picnic on the Gallatin or a hotel pool. Breckenridge has Lake Dillon for sailing and paddleboarding, plus the indoor pools at the town recreation centre for anyone who simply wants to swim.

Breckenridge gives you more choice at the table. Steakhouses, sushi, Mexican kitchens and a handful of chef-led places sit close together on and around Main Street. Green chile breakfast burritos are the local habit, and the town brews its own beer and distils its own whiskey.

Big Sky's restaurants are spread over Mountain Village, Town Center, Meadow Village and the canyon roadhouses, and the menus stay close to bison, elk, trout and hearty breakfasts. Diners wanting more variety drive an hour to Bozeman. Some kitchens in both towns shut between seasons.

Breckenridge at least has a history you can walk through. Its gold-rush district of painted Victorian storefronts and miners' cabins is among the largest in Colorado, and a mine tour with gold panning and the old river dredges add to the story. It is an afternoon's interest rather than a programme.

Big Sky was built as a ski resort from the 1970s on, and apart from the log cabins of the Crail Ranch homestead in Meadow Village, its buildings are lodges and condos. Anyone who cares about sightseeing will find more in Breckenridge.

Breckenridge is the better place for a night out. Après-ski spills from the lift base onto Main Street, and on a winter weekend the brewpubs, saloons in Victorian buildings and a couple of late dance bars carry on past midnight. Bear in mind that at this altitude a drink hits harder.

Big Sky's evenings centre on the sunny decks at Mountain Village, a few taverns in Town Center and pool tables in the old canyon saloons, and most people are gone well before late. Both towns go nearly silent in spring and autumn.

Both are first-rate mountain destinations, and the choice is about the kind of terrain. Big Sky has one vast ski area under the steep summit of Lone Peak, with wilderness right behind it in the Spanish Peaks and Lee Metcalf. Fly fishing and rafting on the Gallatin, and wildlife in Yellowstone, give it a wilder, more remote character.

Breckenridge spreads over five peaks directly above the town, with Keystone, Copper Mountain, Arapahoe Basin and Vail close enough to try several resorts in one trip. In summer, Quandary Peak and a paved path to Frisco and Lake Dillon add easy summit and cycling days. Its higher base means a day or two of acclimatisation.

Breckenridge has more worthwhile places within an easy drive. Leadville's silver-boom centre and mining museum is about 45 minutes away, Georgetown has its narrow-gauge railway, Idaho Springs has hot springs, and Vail Village and Denver's museums are both within reach.

From Big Sky, the main outing apart from Yellowstone is Bozeman and its Museum of the Rockies, with its dinosaur fossils. The gold-rush boardwalks of Virginia City and Nevada City are about two hours away. Those are good days, but there are fewer of them.

Both work for outdoor families, with ski schools, gentle beginner slopes and summer activity parks. Big Sky's extras lean towards adventure and animals: zip lines, ropes courses, horse riding and bison in Yellowstone. Its base also sits lower, at about 2,300m, which is easier on small children.

Breckenridge has more in town: playgrounds, an ice rink, a recreation centre with pools, an alpine coaster and a free gondola to the slopes. These help on days off the mountain, but the altitude near 3,000m can make the first days hard.

Breckenridge is much easier to manage without a car. The historic centre is compact, a free gondola runs from Main Street to the slopes, and free town and county buses reach Frisco, Dillon, Keystone and Copper Mountain. Arriving is the weak point: the drive from Denver's airport takes about two hours over I-70 and can stretch in snow or weekend traffic.

Big Sky has the closer airport, at Bozeman about an hour away. Once there, though, the resort is strung along some 15km of road, the free bus only links the villages, and Yellowstone or anything beyond needs a car on careful winter driving.

Breckenridge offers a proper browse. Main Street's courtyards hold galleries, boutiques, sweet shops and well-stocked gear stores, and the Silverthorne outlets are a short drive north. Big Sky's shops are mostly for replacing ski gloves or buying a fly rod, with a few Western boutiques and wildlife galleries, and real shopping means the hour's drive to Bozeman.

Both are among the most expensive mountain resorts in the American West, and summer and the shoulder seasons are cheaper in each. Breckenridge softens the cost a little: free gondolas and buses mean you can stay in Frisco or Silverthorne without a car, and many trails are free to use. In Big Sky, cheaper beds in the canyon or Bozeman come with more driving.

Breckenridge has the fuller musical life, especially in summer. In July and August the Riverwalk Center by the Blue River hosts a long-running festival orchestra and a national orchestra academy, and a local theatre company performs for much of the year.

Big Sky manages a winter season of touring acts and chamber music at its small Meadow Village arts centre, plus free lawn concerts and a short classical festival in summer. Outside those weeks there is little to see.

Big Sky is the more restful of the two. Its slower pace, dark quiet nights and full-service spas at the big lodges suit anyone who wants to unwind after the mountain, and natural hot springs lie about an hour away towards Bozeman.

Hot tubs in the snow are a nightly ritual in Breckenridge too. Still, winter there runs on early starts, and the thin air often leaves visitors worn out. Its nearest springs, at Idaho Springs, are also about an hour away.