Breckenridge or Moab?

Neither town will give you a beach day, and the difference is only in how you cool off. Breckenridge's water is snowmelt cold, and Lake Dillon is for sailing and paddling rather than swimming, so in practice you swim in the recreation centre's indoor pools or sit in a hot tub.

In Moab the summer heat at least makes a dip tempting. Locals use Mill Creek's shallow pools, Ken's Lake and the sandbars of the Colorado, but the river is fast and silty, and most visitors end up in the motel pool.

Breckenridge offers more choice and more ambition at the table. Beside the steakhouses and pizza on Main Street there are sushi counters and a few chef-led kitchens using Colorado lamb, elk, trout and bison, and the town brews its own beer and distils whiskey.

Moab is plainer, with burgers, tacos and big portions to refuel after a long day on the trail. Utah's alcohol rules make a drink with dinner more formal than in Colorado. Neither town has a real culinary tradition, but Breckenridge is better for a good dinner out.

Breckenridge has the stronger townscape. Its 1859 gold-rush historic district of painted Victorian storefronts and miners' cabins makes an attractive walk, with a mine tour where you can pan for gold and the old dredges in the Blue River valley adding a little depth.

Moab's town offers a short Main Street and a small local museum. Its real interest lies out in the cliffs: the Ancestral Puebloan and Fremont petroglyph panels along Potash Road and Kane Creek, and the dinosaur trackways. These are rewarding, but they fill a morning rather than a stay.

Breckenridge has an evening scene and Moab barely does. In Breckenridge the après-ski crowd fills the bars at the lift bases and along Main Street, and on winter Saturdays the saloons in Victorian buildings and a couple of dance bars stay open past midnight. Remember that the altitude makes every drink stronger.

In Moab, a couple of brewpubs full of bikers and rafters wind down by about eleven. What the night offers instead is a vast, dark sky full of stars, which many visitors value more than a late bar.

Both towns are first-rate outdoor bases, and the difference is in the landscape. Breckenridge is alpine, with ski terrain above the treeline, Quandary Peak close by, and aspen and wildflower trails leading straight out of town. Its seasons are winter snow and a mild summer.

Moab is red-rock desert: Arches minutes away, the canyon maze of Canyonlands below Dead Horse Point, the Slickrock Trail, and rafting on the Colorado. It is best in spring and autumn. In Breckenridge the drawback is the thin air, and in Moab it is the summer heat.

Breckenridge has more places within reach. The silver-boom town of Leadville with its mining museum, the narrow-gauge railway at Georgetown, the hot springs at Idaho Springs and Vail's Alpine-style village all make good days out, and Denver's museums are around two hours away.

From Moab, the days out are mostly more landscape. The towns nearby are small, and the best cultural outing, to Edge of the Cedars in Blanding or the stone towers of Hovenweep, takes most of a day's driving.

Breckenridge is easier with children, as long as the family skis. Ski schools take children young, the free gondola takes the walk out of getting to the slopes, and in summer the mountain becomes an activity park with an alpine coaster and climbing walls, with an ice rink and pools in town. Altitude sickness in the first days is the main worry.

Moab suits older, active children who love scrambling over rock. They will enjoy the short walks to Sand Dune Arch, the dinosaur tracks, gentle raft floats and Junior Ranger badges. But unfenced drops, midday heat and long hours in the car make it hard going with toddlers.

This is one of the sharpest differences between the two. Once you have arrived in Breckenridge you hardly need a car: the centre is walkable, a free gondola runs to the ski base, and free buses link the town with Frisco, Keystone and Copper Mountain. Getting there means about two hours from Denver's airport over a pass road that snow can slow down.

In Moab a car is essential. Apart from the walkable Main Street and a cycle path to the Arches entrance, there is no useful public transport. Trailheads often lie at the end of dirt tracks, so a high-clearance vehicle opens up much more of the backcountry.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Breckenridge offers a little more: ski and outdoor shops, galleries of Western landscapes, a few clothing boutiques along Main Street, and outlet malls at Silverthorne a short drive away.

Moab's shops serve hikers and bikers, with bike, climbing and camping gear. Its rock shops selling geodes and fossils, and its galleries with Navajo jewellery and weavings, are the more distinctive souvenirs of the two.

Moab is the cheaper of the two, though neither is a bargain. In ski season Breckenridge charges full resort prices for lodging, lift tickets, lessons and meals, and the Christmas, New Year and spring-break weeks cost the most. Staying in Frisco or Silverthorne helps, and summer is far cheaper.

Moab's simple motels are still overpriced in spring and autumn, and you have to add car hire and guided trips. The savings come from the land itself: a park pass lasts a week, public campgrounds and free camping are close by, and the best hikes cost nothing.

Breckenridge has much more live music and theatre. In July and August the Riverwalk Center by the river hosts a long-running festival orchestra and a national orchestra academy, and a local theatre company stages plays and musicals for much of the year.

Moab has one standout event, its chamber music festival at the end of summer. Some of its concerts are held in canyon grottoes reached by boat. Outside the festival there is little more than a weekend band in a brewpub.

Both are active trips with early starts, but Breckenridge makes rest a little easier. Resort hotels have full spas, almost every condo has a hot tub to steam in under the snow, and the natural springs at Idaho Springs are about an hour away.

Moab has only a few small massage studios. Its restful side is the quiet of the desert: cliffs turning red at sunset and very dark nights. For real rest, people head to a ranch or a cabin in the La Sals.