Breckenridge or Jackson Hole?

Neither town is a place to swim, but Jackson Hole at least has a real lake swim. String Lake, shallow and sandy-bottomed at the foot of the Tetons, warms up enough by late summer. In Breckenridge the water stays too cold all year, from Lake Dillon to the snowmelt lakes of the Blue River valley, so swimming there means the recreation centre's indoor pools.

Both cook the Rocky Mountain menu of elk, bison and trout, but Jackson does it with more ambition. The wealth in the valley pays for more chef-driven dining rooms than a town its size would usually have, and you also get huckleberries in everything, some serious wine lists and a summer farmers' market on the square.

Breckenridge eats more like a ski resort, with steakhouses, pizza, sushi and Mexican kitchens built for hungry skiers. Green chile breakfast burritos and its own beer and whiskey are the local touches. Neither town is cheap or varied, but Jackson rewards a curious eater a little more.

Neither town has more than a day of sightseeing, but what you see is different. Breckenridge's strength is its gold-rush streetscape, one of Colorado's largest historic districts, full of painted Victorian storefronts and miners' cabins, plus a mine tour where you can pan for gold.

Jackson has less old town but the one serious collection of the two, the National Museum of Wildlife Art above the elk refuge. In the national park you also have the Mormon Row barns and the log Chapel of the Transfiguration, both set against the Tetons.

Both are early-to-bed mountain towns without clubs, so the difference is in style. In Breckenridge, après-ski spills straight onto Main Street, and on winter Saturdays the brewpubs, saloons in Victorian buildings and a couple of late dance bars stay open past midnight. Jackson's evenings are split between the loud après bars in Teton Village and the town itself, where the classic night out is a Western saloon with saddles for bar stools and a country dance floor, usually quiet again before midnight.

Both are superb mountain bases, but Jackson Hole has the edge. The Tetons rise sheer from the valley, Grand Teton National Park starts minutes from town and Yellowstone is within reach. Its wildlife, from moose and bison to grizzlies and the herd of elk that winters by the town, is something Breckenridge cannot match, and the tram at Teton Village serves some of the steepest lift-served terrain in North America.

Breckenridge has five ski peaks right above town, with Keystone, Copper Mountain, Arapahoe Basin and Vail all close, and in summer trails lead from the edge of town into wildflower meadows and up towards Quandary Peak. At almost 3,000m, it sits higher than Jackson, so the first days are harder work.

Breckenridge has real places to visit nearby. Leadville's silver-boom centre and mining museum lie over Hoosier Pass, Georgetown has its narrow-gauge railway, Idaho Springs has hot springs and Vail Village is under an hour away. Denver's museums are within a long drive.

From Jackson, nearly every outing goes into the landscape rather than to another town. Victor and Driggs over Teton Pass and the ranch towns of Pinedale and Star Valley are pleasant drives but not worth a whole day. Here the excursions are the national parks themselves.

Both suit active families about equally well, in different ways. Breckenridge is built around the ski mountain, with children's ski schools, the free gondola and gentle beginner slopes. In summer it adds an alpine coaster, climbing walls and mazes, and the town has pools and an ice rink.

Jackson's appeal is wildlife and the Old West: moose and bison spotted from the car, Junior Ranger badges, sleigh rides through the elk herd, the summer rodeo and the staged shootout on the square. The catch in Jackson is the long drives into the parks. In Breckenridge it is the higher altitude, which hits small children harder in the first days.

Breckenridge is far easier without a car. Free town buses, a free gondola to the ski base and free county buses to Frisco, Dillon, Keystone and Copper Mountain mean many visitors spend a whole week without driving. The weak point is getting there: around two hours by shuttle or car from Denver's airport over I-70.

Jackson is the reverse. Its airport is only a short drive from town, but beyond the walkable centre and the bus to Teton Village, about 20km away, there is no public transport into the parks, so a hire car is close to essential.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Jackson's boardwalks around the Town Square have more to offer: galleries of Western and wildlife art, handmade cowboy hats and boots, turquoise jewellery and a few upscale boutiques. Breckenridge's Main Street is better for ski gear and rental outfitters than for anything to take home, and keen shoppers drive to the Silverthorne outlets.

Both are as expensive as American mountain towns get, with resort prices for rooms, meals, lift tickets and guided trips. The difference is when you pay most. In Breckenridge, Christmas, New Year and the spring-break weeks are the dearest, and summer and the quiet months of spring and autumn are much cheaper. Jackson is very costly in both summer and the ski season, so the real savings there come only in late spring and autumn.

There are also different ways to save. In Breckenridge you can buy lift access in advance and stay in Frisco or Silverthorne, and local transport costs nothing. In Jackson a hire car adds to the bill, but staying over the pass in Idaho helps. Once you are there, trails and roadside wildlife cost nothing beyond modest park entry fees.

Both towns come alive musically in summer around a classical festival. Breckenridge has the fuller programme, with its festival orchestra and a national academy of young professionals at the open-sided Riverwalk Center through July and August, and a local theatre company that stages plays and musicals for much of the year.

Jackson's Grand Teton Music Festival brings players from leading American orchestras to a timber hall in Teton Village, with chuckwagon shows and country bands as a Western extra. Outside summer, though, there is even less going on than in Breckenridge.

Jackson is the better place to unwind because it has natural hot springs of its own. There is a pool in a forested canyon south of town, reached by snowmobile or dog sled in winter, and soaking pools on the banks of the Snake River. Quiet evenings and the lower altitude also help you rest.

In Breckenridge, relaxing mostly means a condo hot tub in the snow or a resort spa, and the nearest springs are an hour away at Idaho Springs. The thin air and early starts on the slopes leave many visitors tired rather than rested.