Breckenridge or Palm Desert?

Neither town has a beach or a lake you would want to swim in, so the real difference is water temperature. In Breckenridge everything outdoors is snowmelt. Lake Dillon is for sailing and paddling, the alpine lakes are bracing at best, and swimming means the recreation centre's indoor pools or a hot tub.

Palm Desert has heated resort pools instead, and lounging beside one is a big part of a stay. The Pacific is about two hours away over the mountains, so sand and surf take a full day out.

Both towns offer resort dining, and neither is worth the trip for the food alone. Breckenridge leans towards mountain fare: elk, bison and trout on Main Street menus, green chile and breakfast burritos in the morning, and beer and whiskey from a town that has long made its own.

Palm Desert's restaurants are more polished and suited to long patio dinners along El Paseo on warm evenings. Its real local flavour is out east, in the family-run taquerias of Indio and Coachella and the date shakes sold at the groves.

Neither is a sightseeing destination, and what little each offers comes from a different era. In Breckenridge the 1859 gold rush shows in the streets themselves: painted Victorian storefronts, miners' cabins and a mine tour where you can pan for gold.

Palm Desert was built as a resort after the war. Its culture comes down to the art museum's branch with its sculpture garden and a few galleries on El Paseo. The mid-century modern houses people associate with the desert are in Palm Springs, twenty minutes west.

Breckenridge has the livelier evenings, though only by small-town standards. Après-ski starts at the lift bases with people still in ski boots. On winter Saturdays the brewpubs and the saloons in old Victorian buildings stay open past midnight, and the thin air makes every drink hit harder.

In Palm Desert, evenings mean wine bars and patio cocktails around El Paseo, and they wind down early. A late night means driving to the valley's casinos or to the bars of Palm Springs.

Both towns are built around their landscapes, but Breckenridge is the stronger base for outdoor trips and works in both main seasons. In winter there are five peaks of the Tenmile Range above town, with Keystone, Copper Mountain and Arapahoe Basin close by. In summer you have Quandary Peak and trails through aspen and wildflower meadows. Allow a day or two to get used to the altitude.

Palm Desert's setting is desert: the Santa Rosa Mountains rise behind town, the Indian Canyons hide fan-palm oases, and Joshua Tree's granite boulders are an hour away. Summer heat limits all of it to the hours around dawn.

There is little between them, but the outings are quite different. From Breckenridge they are mostly about mining history: Leadville's silver-boom centre and national mining museum, Georgetown's narrow-gauge railway and the hot springs at Idaho Springs. Winter weather on the passes can stretch any of these drives.

From Palm Desert the trips are more varied. Palm Springs is twenty minutes away, and there are tasting rooms in Temecula, the cool mountain village of Idyllwild, and the painted folk-art hillside of Salvation Mountain near the Salton Sea.

Breckenridge works better for children, as long as the trip is about the mountain. Ski schools take them young, the beginner slopes are wide and gentle, and in summer there is an alpine coaster and climbing walls. Cold weather, ski gear and the altitude make it hard work with toddlers, though.

Palm Desert has one excellent morning out in the Living Desert, a zoo and botanical garden, and resort pools for the rest of the time. Beyond that the valley is made for golfers and adults, and every outing means a drive.

Breckenridge is far easier once you are there. The historic centre is walkable, a free gondola runs from Main Street to the slopes, and free buses reach Frisco, Keystone and Copper Mountain, so a week without a car is realistic. Getting there is the hard part: it takes around two hours from Denver's airport on I-70.

In Palm Desert a car is close to essential. The town spreads out along wide boulevards and gated communities, the buses are slow, and only a few blocks of El Paseo are made for walking. On the plus side, roads are clear and parking is easy.

Palm Desert is the better place to shop. El Paseo is a palm-lined street of upscale fashion boutiques, jewellers and galleries, a large mall covers the American chains, and a big designer outlet is half an hour west.

Breckenridge's Main Street is good for ski gear, technical clothing and Western landscape art but offers little beyond that, and its prices carry a resort premium. Serious shoppers drive to the outlets in Silverthorne.

Neither is cheap, but Palm Desert is easier on the wallet. A ski week in Breckenridge is as expensive as skiing gets, once you add up slopeside condos, lift tickets, lessons and equipment hire, and the Christmas and spring-break weeks cost the most. Summer and the shoulder months are much cheaper, and local transport is free all year.

Palm Desert's resort rooms are pricey in winter too, and a hire car adds a daily cost. Chain hotels and vacation rentals keep stays affordable all year, though, and resort rates drop sharply in summer for anyone who can face the heat.

Palm Desert has more on stage. Through the winter the McCallum Theatre brings in touring Broadway shows, ballet, orchestras and comedians, and the casinos add big-name concerts. For a few spring weekends Coachella and then Stagecoach take over the polo grounds in Indio.

Breckenridge's strength is summer classical music at the Riverwalk Center by the Blue River, where a festival orchestra and a national orchestra academy perform. A small theatre company plays in the arts district, and in winter the music moves to bands in the après bars.

For rest, Palm Desert is the clear choice. The whole valley is built for slowing down, with resort spas, long afternoons by the pool, and the hotels of Desert Hot Springs half an hour north that fill their pools straight from natural mineral springs.

In Breckenridge, wellness means a hot tub in the snow or a massage after skiing, and the early starts and thin air leave many visitors tired rather than rested. Its calmest times are summer evenings by the river and the quiet shoulder seasons.