Big Sky or Denver?

Neither place is for swimming, so this shouldn't decide your trip. What differs is the summer fallback. In Big Sky the Gallatin is too cold and rocky for a proper swim, so you get a hotel pool or a riverbank picnic. Denver has sandy reservoir beaches at Cherry Creek and Chatfield on the edge of the city for a hot afternoon.

Big Sky feeds you well after a day outdoors: bison, elk, trout, wood-fired pizza and big breakfasts in Mountain Village and the canyon roadhouses, plus a few more ambitious lodge kitchens. The choice is narrow, and some places cut their hours between seasons.

Denver gives you far more to eat. There are brewery taprooms in old warehouses, green chile smothered over burritos, Vietnamese and Mexican cooking along Federal Boulevard and chef-run places in Highland. It is casual rather than grand, but you could eat somewhere different every night.

Big Sky was built from the 1970s on as a ski resort. Apart from the Crail Ranch log cabins in Meadow Village, there is almost nothing to visit, and the buildings are mostly timber condos and lodges.

Denver is a young city too, but it has two or three days of real sightseeing. Around Civic Center Park you'll find the gold-domed Capitol, the Denver Art Museum with its Native American collection and the Clyfford Still Museum. Nearby are the brick warehouses of LoDo and the Beaux-Arts hall of Union Station.

An evening out in Big Sky means après-ski. You start in your boots on the sunny decks at the lift base, then have a drink in a Town Center tavern or an old canyon saloon with a pool table. Most people are in bed early so they can catch the first lift, and in spring and autumn the place is almost silent.

Denver gives you a proper night out, built on bars rather than clubs. There are sports crowds in LoDo, cocktail bars and taprooms in RiNo, dives on East Colfax and easy neighbourhood bars on South Broadway. It's a sociable city for an evening of bar-hopping, though a night here rarely runs on until dawn.

Big Sky has the edge because the wilderness starts where you stay. Lone Peak rises to 3,403m above a huge ski area, and in summer the lifts carry hikers and bikers. You can fish for trout or raft on the Gallatin, and Yellowstone's geysers and wolves are close enough for a day out.

Denver is very good mountain country too, but you have to drive to it. Red Rocks and the foothills above Golden are within half an hour, and the Flatirons behind Boulder are a little further on. Rocky Mountain National Park is a couple of hours away, and in winter the ski resorts sit at the far end of a crowded I-70.

From Big Sky the outings are few and long. Bozeman, about an hour away, has a Western main street and the dinosaur fossils of the Museum of the Rockies. The preserved gold-rush boardwalks of Virginia City and Nevada City are about two hours away.

Denver has many more towns within reach. You can go to Boulder under the Flatirons, Golden's brick downtown, the Georgetown narrow-gauge railway and the old spa town of Manitou Springs. Fort Collins, Estes Park and Breckenridge's Victorian main street are a little further.

Big Sky works best for active children. It has a gentle ski school in winter and a summer base area with zip lines, ropes courses and gondola rides, plus horse riding and bison in Yellowstone. On a wet day there is nothing indoors to fall back on, and the 2,300m altitude tires small children at first.

Denver gives families more options. City Park has both the zoo and the Museum of Nature & Science, with its dinosaurs and planetarium. The Children's Museum, an aquarium and an amusement park are grouped by the South Platte, and the mountain railways and mining towns are still easy outings.

Big Sky stretches along about 15km of road. A free bus links the canyon, Meadow Village, Town Center and Mountain Village, and slopeside stays let you ski to the lifts. Bozeman airport is an hour away, though, and you need a car to reach Yellowstone.

Denver is easier without a car, at least in the centre. A train runs from the airport to Union Station, and downtown is flat and walkable, with a free shuttle along the 16th Street Mall. Buses and light rail reach the neighbourhoods, but the mountains still call for a hired car.

In Big Sky you can shop for what you need on the mountain: ski gloves, a fly rod, a Western-style shirt or a wildlife painting from a Town Center gallery. Denver offers a real shopping day. Cherry Creek has a large upscale mall surrounded by boutiques, South Broadway has vintage clothes and records, and the big outdoor-gear stores and cowboy-boot shops are better stocked than anything at the resort.

Both are costly, but Big Sky is in a different bracket. Slopeside lodging, lift passes, ski school and guided fishing all cost a great deal. Staying down the canyon or in Bozeman saves money but adds driving.

Denver has ordinary big-city prices. Hotels near the light rail, meals at taquerias and breweries, and free parks and trails keep a trip within reach. The hired car is the main extra cost.

Big Sky has more than its size suggests, but only in season. A small arts centre in Meadow Village hosts touring acts and chamber music in winter, and there are free summer concerts on the Town Center lawn. Outside those times there is very little.

Denver has year-round culture and one famous stage. Red Rocks Amphitheatre sets summer shows between giant sandstone walls. Downtown, the Denver Center hosts theatre, Broadway tours, the Colorado Symphony, opera and ballet, and Five Points has a long jazz history.

The two are evenly matched here, but the setting differs. In Big Sky relaxation is part of the resort itself: an outdoor hot tub after a ski day, lodge spas for sore legs, and quiet, starry nights. Denver has city spas and yoga studios at home, and its best soak is a short drive away, at the historic mineral pools and steam caves of Idaho Springs.