Big Sky or Santa Fe?

Neither city has a beach, so a swim on either trip means a hotel pool. The difference is what comes closest. In Big Sky it is a cold, rocky river and a few small ponds. Around Santa Fe it is a lake outing to Abiquiu or a float on the Rio Grande.

Big Sky feeds skiers and hikers well, with bison, elk, trout and big breakfasts, but the choice is narrow, prices are high and some kitchens close between seasons.

Santa Fe has a cuisine of its own. Red and green chile, blue corn and posole are served in old adobe dining rooms, and there is a fine-dining tier and a long-running farmers' market in the Railyard. Food is a reason to go to Santa Fe. In Big Sky it is fuel.

Big Sky was built in the 1970s, and apart from the Crail Ranch log cabins it is all lodges and condos. You go there for the scenery, not for its history.

Santa Fe was a Spanish colonial capital from 1610 and still looks the part, with low adobe walls around the Plaza, the Palace of the Governors and the Loretto Chapel's spiral staircase. Museum Hill and the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum add collections far larger than you would expect in a town this size. A culture-minded visitor could fill two or three days happily.

Both are early-to-bed places, and neither has a club. Big Sky's evenings revolve around après-ski: beer on sunny decks at the lift base, then a few taverns and canyon saloons, and almost nothing open outside the snow and summer seasons. Santa Fe has a little more going on. Evenings are built around a long dinner, a margarita on a rooftop at sunset and the livelier summer Plaza.

Both are true mountain places, but Big Sky is built entirely around the outdoors. Lone Peak's steep terrain and huge ski area, wilderness hiking in the Spanish Peaks, fly fishing and rafting on the Gallatin, and Yellowstone's wildlife an hour south add up to a richer outdoor trip.

Santa Fe offers more variety than scale. There are piñon foothills at the edge of town and golden aspens on the ski road, with the Pecos Wilderness behind them. The desert side has the Valles Caldera crater and the red cliffs of Abiquiu. Its ski area is small, and its pleasures are the light and the contrasts rather than big mountain days.

Outings from Big Sky mostly go further into the landscape. Bozeman, with its dinosaur museum, is the main town, and the gold-rush boardwalks of Virginia City are two hours away.

Santa Fe has a long list of places to visit. The High Road climbs through Chimayo to Taos Pueblo, Bandelier's cliff dwellings and Los Alamos are close, and Pecos, Ghost Ranch and the Turquoise Trail villages fill more days. You will want a car from either base, but Santa Fe's drives lead to history as well as scenery.

Big Sky suits active families better. Ski school and beginner slopes make winter easy, and summer brings zip lines, ropes courses, gentle rafting and bison in Yellowstone. It has no rainy-day museums, though, and the high base takes some getting used to.

Santa Fe has a children's museum, the toys in the folk art collection and the ladders at Bandelier. Most of the town is still built around galleries and dinners, so it works best with older children who enjoy history and hiking.

Both trips need a car for anything beyond the base. Santa Fe's historic core is easier to explore on foot, since the Plaza, Canyon Road and the Railyard are a short walk apart, and the Rail Runner train reaches Albuquerque. Big Sky stretches 15km along one road, with a free bus between its villages and ski-in lodgings at the top, but you cannot walk from one village to the next.

In Big Sky, shopping means replacing gloves, buying a fly rod or looking at wildlife paintings, and serious shoppers drive to Bozeman.

Santa Fe is a destination for art and craft. Native American artists sell silver, turquoise and pottery directly under the Palace portal, galleries line Canyon Road, and the summer Indian, Spanish and Folk Art markets draw collectors from far away. Neither town is a place to buy fashion.

Neither is a budget trip, but Big Sky is the harder one on the wallet. Slopeside lodging, lift passes, ski school and guided fishing all cost a lot, and the cheaper beds in the canyon or Bozeman mean more driving.

Santa Fe is pricey for its size, especially during the summer markets and opera season. Cheaper motels along Cerrillos Road help, and hiking, the Plaza and gallery browsing cost nothing, which makes the trip noticeably easier to manage.

Santa Fe has the real draw: the open-sided opera house on its hill, where summer performances begin as the sun goes down over the desert. Add a chamber music festival, flamenco, and touring shows at the historic Lensic, and a midsummer visit has a full programme.

Big Sky offers a small arts centre in winter, free lawn concerts and a short classical festival in summer, and bands at après-ski, which is pleasant but limited.

In Big Sky, relaxing means a deck hot tub under the stars and a lodge spa massage for sore ski legs. The nearest natural springs are an hour away.

Santa Fe has more ways to unwind. There are onsen-style soaking tubs in the pines on the ski road, plenty of spas and yoga studios, and the old mineral pools of Ojo Caliente about an hour north. Quiet adobe courtyards help too.