Branson or Keystone?

Neither place is on the coast, but only Branson offers a real swim. From June into early September, Table Rock Lake warms up enough for its public swim areas and the quiet coves you can reach by rented pontoon.

Keystone's Dillon Reservoir looks lovely from the slopes, but it is snowmelt-cold and mostly closed to swimmers. Here a dip means a hotel pool or an outdoor hot tub.

Neither town is a place to come for the food, and they are about level. The difference is in style. Branson serves large plates of Southern and Ozark comfort food: fried chicken, catfish, barbecue and buffets, plus set meals at the dinner theatres.

Keystone eats like a ski resort. There are grills and pizza at the bases, burgers and Colorado craft beer at après-ski, and elk or lamb in the better dining rooms, one of them reached by gondola. For more choice, people cook in their condos or drive to Frisco or Breckenridge.

Neither place is for serious sightseeing, but Branson at least has things to see without leaving town. Its sights are built to entertain, from the novelty museums on the strip to the eclectic collection at College of the Ozarks, and they fit easily into a free afternoon between shows. The real history is thin, and nothing here would hold someone who travels for great museums or old buildings.

In Keystone, the resort itself has nothing to see at all. It is a modern ski base, and the area's mining past survives only out in the valleys and older towns of Summit County. Here even a little history means a half-day outing, where in Branson it is a short drive down the road.

Both towns go to bed early, and neither is a place for a night out. In Branson the evening is the show itself. Afterwards there are only a few brewpubs by the lakefront and some hotel lounges.

Keystone is busiest at après-ski, when the decks at River Run fill with people in ski boots, but it empties soon after dinner. The difference is that Breckenridge's Main Street is a short bus ride away for anyone who wants to stay out later.

This is the biggest gap between the two, and it favours Keystone. You get bowls and tree skiing above 3,600m, Arapahoe Basin just up the road, and in summer Grays and Torreys Peaks and the tundra of Loveland Pass. Few places in the country can match it. The one catch is the altitude, which takes a day or two to adjust to.

Branson's Ozark setting is gentler: forested ridges, limestone bluffs, caves, bass fishing on Table Rock Lake and trout below the dam. It is lovely in dogwood season or autumn colour, but this is quiet walking and paddling, not mountain sport.

Branson's outings make a respectable short list. There is Eureka Springs, the Victorian spa town on steep streets about an hour south, the American art at Crystal Bridges in the woods at Bentonville, and the Wilson's Creek battlefield near Springfield. Every one of them means driving, and there is no major city within easy reach.

Keystone has more variety close by. Breckenridge's mining-town centre, Frisco and Dillon are all on the free county buses. With a car you can reach the silver towns of Georgetown and Silver Plume with their loop railway, Leadville's boom-era streets and opera house, and Vail's Tyrolean-style village. Denver's museums are about an hour and a half away when I-70 traffic allows.

Branson is the stronger choice for children because it caters to them all year. There is the hill-country theme park, water parks, a paddlewheel showboat, caves, go-karts and dinner shows with horses and stunts. The downsides are the midsummer heat and a lot of driving.

Keystone is excellent for a family ski week, with a large ski school, a snow fort on the mountain and a huge outdoor rink at Lakeside Village. Outside the snow there are paddle boats and easy trails, and not much more. Very young children can also struggle with the altitude at first.

Once you are in Keystone, it is far easier to get around without a car. Free shuttles link the River Run, Mountain House and Lakeside bases, and free county buses go to Frisco, Dillon and Breckenridge. The hard part is getting there: the winter drive up I-70 from Denver can be slow and snowy.

Branson is spread for several hilly kilometres along Highway 76, pavements are patchy and buses are of little use to visitors. Everyone hires a car, and on show nights you join the traffic or learn the colour-coded back roads.

Branson gives a shopper more to do. Branson Landing by Lake Taneycomo has mainstream stores and the strip has outlet malls. Best of all are the Ozark crafts: glass, pottery, quilts and ironwork, often made while you watch.

Keystone's shops are mostly ski rental and outdoor gear, with a few gift stores at River Run. Most visitors who want to shop drive ten minutes to the Silverthorne outlets.

Branson costs much less. Motels, condos and lake cabins are good value outside the summer and Christmas peaks, and buffets keep meals cheap. The real costs are the hire car and the tickets for shows, parks and boats, which add up over a week.

In Keystone you pay at almost every step in winter: lift access, slopeside rooms, equipment, ski school and resort meals. Free buses, condo kitchens and Silverthorne's supermarkets take off some of the pressure, and summer is cheaper, but the bill stays high.

Live shows are the main reason people go to Branson. Dozens of theatres run country and bluegrass acts, gospel quartets, tribute shows, magicians and large biblical productions with live animals almost all year, and the Christmas season is as busy as summer. The range is narrow, though, with no opera or serious drama.

Keystone's offer is mostly in summer: festival stages in the village, concerts at Dillon's amphitheatre by the reservoir and Breckenridge's classical festival. Silverthorne's professional theatre company keeps plays going through the year, but winter evenings here are mostly acoustic sets at après-ski.

In Branson, quiet means staying by the water. A lodge resort with a full spa on Table Rock Lake, or a cabin on a wooded cove, is genuinely restful, as long as you keep well away from the neon and traffic of the strip.

Keystone's way to unwind is recovery after skiing: a massage at a resort spa, or an outdoor hot tub while the snow falls. For natural hot springs you have to drive over the pass to Idaho Springs. For a slow few days the two are evenly matched. You are choosing between a warm lakeside cove and a snowy mountain evening.