Branson or Copper Mountain?

Branson at least gives you a summer swim. From June to early September, Table Rock Lake warms to bathing temperature, and you can swim from public swim areas or from a rented pontoon in a quiet cove. Skip Lake Taneycomo in town, which stays cold all year.

Copper Mountain's reservoirs are fed by snowmelt and stay too cold for swimming even in July. The nearest you'll get to a swim is a heated lodge pool or an outdoor hot tub under the slopes.

Neither place is somewhere to travel for food, and the meals differ more in setting than in quality. Branson serves big Southern comfort plates of fried chicken, catfish and barbecue, plus buffets and dinner-theatre set menus. Its own Ozark flavours are fresh lake trout, skillet cooking and fudge.

At Copper Mountain you eat resort food: burgers and chilli in the mountain lodges, and pizza or Mexican in the village. Many guests cook in their condos. For more choice, people drive to Frisco or Breckenridge.

Neither has much heritage, but Branson has more to show. At its 1880s-themed park, craftspeople demonstrate glassblowing and blacksmithing, and the Ralph Foster Museum at College of the Ozarks is worth an hour. The strip's wax and novelty museums are entertaining, if slight.

Copper Mountain is a purpose-built village of condos and lifts with no sights of its own. Its mining-era history is in the Victorian towns nearby.

Both go to bed early, but at different times of day. In Branson the night out is the show itself, followed by a quiet drink in a brewpub or hotel lounge by the lakefront. At Copper Mountain the lively hours come in the late afternoon, when skiers in boots fill the bars at the base of the lifts. By late evening tiredness and altitude have emptied the village. For a later night, Breckenridge is half an hour away.

Branson's Ozark setting is attractive in a modest way, with forested ridges, limestone bluffs, caves and the coves of Table Rock Lake for kayaking and bass fishing. The Lakeshore Trail and Hercules Glades are good for walking, best in the dogwood season or among the autumn colours.

Copper Mountain is in another league. It's a major ski area with treeless bowls above 3,600m, Vail and other Summit County resorts are a drive away, and the snow lasts from November into spring. In summer the Colorado Trail, the paved path over Vail Pass and peaks such as Mount Elbert make it serious hiking and cycling country.

Branson's outings are spread across the Ozarks of two states, and every one of them needs a car. The best is Eureka Springs, about an hour south in Arkansas, an old spa resort whose Victorian streets climb the hillside in tight bends. Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, under two hours away, has a serious collection of American art set among trees, and Springfield adds a Civil War battlefield. After that the list thins to a couple of smaller historic homes and monuments.

Copper Mountain has a closer and more varied set of places nearby, most of them within about half an hour. Breckenridge and Leadville both grew out of mining booms. Breckenridge has become polished, with galleries and boutiques along its old main street, while Leadville is higher and rougher, with its nineteenth-century buildings largely intact. Vail, over the pass, is a ski village built to look European, and Georgetown has an old mountain railway. Denver's museums are about an hour and a half away, though weekend ski traffic on I-70 can make the trip much longer.

Branson was built around families, with a theme park, water parks, go-karts, cave tours and stage shows meant for children. The town's drawbacks for families are midsummer heat and long drives along a congested strip.

Copper Mountain's appeal for children is more focused: a car-free village core, a respected ski school, snow tubing and a mountain coaster. At almost 3,000m, though, the first nights can bring headaches and poor sleep, and the place offers little for children beyond the slopes.

Branson barely works without a car. Its theatres and hotels are strung out over kilometres of hilly highway, pavements are patchy, and traffic crawls on busy evenings.

Copper Mountain is easy once you're there. Walkways, lifts and a free shuttle link its villages, and free county buses run to Frisco and Breckenridge, so a hire car can sit unused for days. The hard part is getting there, two hours from Denver on a mountain interstate that can be slow in snow.

Branson has reasonable shopping. There are mainstream brands at the lakefront Branson Landing and the strip's outlet malls, and Ozark crafts such as blown glass, quilts and ironwork are often made in front of you.

Copper Mountain sells ski hire, outdoor gear and resort-branded clothing, and not much else. For anything more, drive to the outlets at Silverthorne or the boutiques of Breckenridge.

A week in Branson costs a good deal less. Motels, condos and lake cabins are cheap outside the peaks, and buffets keep meals modest. Most of what you spend goes on show tickets, park entry and the hire car.

Copper Mountain is an expensive vacation, especially in winter, when lift access, equipment and slope-side rooms all cost a lot. Cooking in a condo, staying in Frisco or Silverthorne, or coming in summer all lower the bill noticeably.

This is Branson's main draw. Dozens of theatres stage country, bluegrass, gospel, tribute acts, magic and large biblical productions from morning to night, and Christmas is as busy as summer. The range is narrow and old-fashioned, but the musicianship is often strong.

Copper Mountain offers summer bands on the plaza and acoustic sets at après-ski. For a classical concert or a play, you'll have to go to Breckenridge.

Neither place has a bathing tradition, so how restful the trip is depends on where you stay. In Branson that means a lodge resort on Table Rock Lake with a full spa, or a cabin on a wooded cove, well away from the neon and traffic of the strip.

At Copper Mountain, relaxing means an outdoor hot tub facing the slopes, plus the pools and massages at the resort's athletic club. The clean air and quiet evenings help, though the altitude can disturb your sleep for the first night or two.