Boulder or Breckenridge?

Neither town is a beach destination, so the difference is in what water each has. Boulder at least offers a summer swim, at the small sandy area by Boulder Reservoir or floating down Boulder Creek on an inner tube, and both make easy afternoons in July heat. Lake Dillon near Breckenridge is for sailing and paddling and is too cold for swimming, so a swim there means the recreation centre's indoor pools or a hot tub under falling snow.

Boulder is the better place to eat because its food has a character of its own: seasonal farm-to-table menus, strong vegetarian cooking, good bakeries and coffee, and a Saturday farmers' market by the creek. The Dushanbe Teahouse adds a lunch in a hand-carved Tajik pavilion, which is not something a ski town offers.

Breckenridge feeds skiers well, with steaks, wood-fired pizza, elk and bison and a good breakfast burrito. But it cooks for appetite rather than curiosity, and some kitchens close between seasons. Both towns brew good beer, and Breckenridge distils its own whiskey as well.

Neither is a sightseeing destination, but Boulder has a little more variety. It has the 1898 Chautauqua colony under the Flatirons, the sandstone and red-tile university campus, I.M. Pei's atmospheric research laboratory with its free weather exhibits, and a few small museums.

Breckenridge has one real asset, a large gold-rush historic district of painted Victorian storefronts and miners' cabins, plus a gold-mine tour where you can pan for gold. It makes a pleasant afternoon. Boulder's mix of architecture and science fills a full day.

Both towns go to bed early, but for different reasons and at different times of year. In Boulder, going out means taprooms, cocktail bars and pubs around Pearl Street, with the student bars on University Hill loudest during term. Denver is close for anything bigger.

Breckenridge comes alive in winter. Après-ski starts in ski boots at the lift bases, and on a Saturday the saloons in old Victorian buildings and a couple of dance bars stay open past midnight. In spring and autumn it goes quiet after dinner, and the altitude makes each drink hit harder.

Both are outstanding, and the choice is between foothills and high mountains. Boulder's trails start in town at Chautauqua and climb towards the Flatirons and Bear Peak. Eldorado Canyon, a great climbing wall, is ten minutes away, cyclists train on the canyon roads, and Rocky Mountain National Park is an hour's drive.

Breckenridge is already in the high country at almost 3,000m. It has skiing on five peaks above town and Nordic trails and snowshoeing in winter, then Quandary Peak and wildflower meadows in summer. Boulder is gentler on visitors arriving from sea level, while Breckenridge puts you higher with less effort.

Boulder has the edge because of Denver. Its art museum, domed capitol and Union Station are about forty minutes away by express bus, so you can go without a car. Beyond Denver the choice is modest: Golden's western main street, relaxed Fort Collins, and Estes Park at the gate to the national park.

Both towns can reach the old mining towns of Georgetown and Idaho Springs. Breckenridge adds Leadville over Hoosier Pass and Vail Village under an hour west, but Denver is around two hours away, and winter roads can make any outing longer.

Families do well in both, and the difference is in the kind of days. Boulder suits children who like gentle outdoor time: the creek path, the Chautauqua meadow, the reservoir beach and tubing. For a rainy afternoon there are a planetarium and a natural history museum, and street performers on Pearl Street keep younger children busy in the evening.

Breckenridge is built around ski school, with lessons from a young age, a free gondola and wide beginner slopes. In summer the mountain becomes an activity park with an alpine coaster and climbing walls. Its altitude is much harder on small children than Boulder's, and cold-weather gear makes winter days with toddlers heavy work.

Breckenridge is easier to manage without a car once you arrive. Free town buses, a free gondola to the ski base and free county buses to Frisco, Keystone and Copper Mountain cover most of a week. Getting there is the hard part: about two hours from Denver's airport on I-70, longer in snow.

Boulder is simple to reach by express bus, and its creekside bike paths and underpasses make it a pleasure to cross by bike. However, the trailheads outside town, Eldorado Canyon and the national park mostly need a hired car.

Boulder is the better place to browse. The Pearl Street Mall's four brick-paved blocks hold independent bookshops, galleries and toy shops, Twenty Ninth Street adds mall-style stores, and the climbing, running and cycling shops are unusually good.

Breckenridge's Main Street is mostly ski shops, rental outfitters, Western landscape galleries and souvenirs at resort prices. It is pleasant on a snowy evening, and for anything more the Silverthorne outlet malls are a short drive north.

Both are expensive, but Breckenridge in the ski season costs more. Slope-side lodging, lift tickets, equipment hire and lessons add up, and the Christmas, New Year and spring-break weeks are the dearest of all. Summer and the shoulder seasons are much cheaper, and its local transport is free.

In Boulder, rooms and meals come at affluent American prices, but the main attraction, the open space, costs almost nothing. The usual saving is the same in both places: sleep down the road, in Denver for Boulder, or in Frisco or Silverthorne for Breckenridge.

Boulder has the fuller calendar. Touring rock, bluegrass and roots bands play small rooms most nights, and in summer the wooden Chautauqua Auditorium hosts the Colorado Music Festival while the Colorado Shakespeare Festival plays outdoors on campus. Red Rocks Amphitheatre is about 45 minutes away.

Breckenridge's strength is summer orchestral music at the open-sided Riverwalk Center by the Blue River, with a festival orchestra and a national academy of young players. Outside July and August it comes down to bar bands and a small local theatre company.

Boulder is the more restful stay. Yoga and meditation studios, a Buddhist-inspired university and easy access to massage and acupuncture give it a contemplative side, and the days move at an unhurried pace.

In Breckenridge, wellness means a resort spa or an outdoor hot tub in the snow after skiing, and early starts and thin air leave many visitors tired. Neither town has a real bathing culture. Both depend on Idaho Springs, about an hour away, for hot springs, though Boulder also has the spring-fed summer pool at Eldorado Springs close by.