Breckenridge or Salt Lake City?

Neither place is for swimming, but Salt Lake City has a little more to offer. Breckenridge's water is cold Lake Dillon, which is good for sailing and paddleboarding, plus snowmelt tarns, so a real swim means the recreation centre pool.

Salt Lake City has the novelty of floating without effort in the Great Salt Lake off Antelope Island, despite the muddy shore. On a hot day, the Wasatch reservoirs such as Jordanelle and Pineview have sandy stretches where a swim is genuinely pleasant.

Salt Lake City eats a little better, mostly because it is a real city with immigrant kitchens. You'll find Mexican, Pacific Islander, Peruvian and Vietnamese cooking along State Street, alongside local oddities such as fry sauce and dirty sodas. Utah's rules make wine and cocktails thinner on the ground.

Breckenridge feeds hungry skiers reliably along Main Street. Elk, bison and trout appear on the better menus, and green chile breakfast burritos are the local habit. The town brews its own beer and distils whiskey, but tables are hard to get in peak weeks and some kitchens close between seasons.

Salt Lake City has much more to see. Temple Square alone fills a morning with the granite temple, the domed Tabernacle and its organ, and the Conference Center. The State Capitol, the painted Cathedral of the Madeleine and the Natural History Museum fill out two days.

Breckenridge has a large gold-rush historic district of painted Victorian storefronts and miners' cabins, a mine tour with gold panning, and old dredge remains in the river valley. It makes a good afternoon stroll but not a sightseeing programme.

Neither place stays out late, but the evenings feel different. In Breckenridge it is après-ski: people still in ski boots at the bars by the lifts, brewpubs and saloons in Victorian buildings, and a couple of dance bars that fill on winter Saturdays. In spring and autumn the town is almost silent after dinner.

Salt Lake City's quieter scene is spread over downtown, the Granary District and the pubs of Sugar House, with a few clubs and a long-established gay bar scene. Utah's liquor laws shape all of it.

Both are outstanding mountain bases, and the real difference is where you sleep. In Breckenridge you are already at almost 3,000m, with ski terrain on five peaks above Main Street, Quandary Peak just down the road and trails leaving from the edge of town. The altitude means taking the first day or two gently.

Salt Lake City sits lower. Alta, Snowbird, Brighton and Solitude are less than an hour up the Cottonwood Canyons, and the foothill trails begin above the Avenues. It also has contrast that Breckenridge can't match: bison on Antelope Island and the white Bonneville Salt Flats.

Breckenridge has the better range of outings. Leadville's silver-boom streets and mining museum, Georgetown's narrow-gauge railway, the hot springs at Idaho Springs and Vail Village are all within about an hour, and Denver is further down the interstate when the roads allow.

From Salt Lake City, Park City's Victorian Main Street is the clear favourite, and Ogden's 25th Street or Midway make a good half day. Utah's famous red-rock national parks are too far for a day trip.

Salt Lake City is the easier place to bring children. Restaurants and public spaces expect large families. The zoo, the aquarium, Discovery Gateway, the planetarium and Lagoon's roller coasters give you something for every day, and there are ski schools in winter. You will need a car to reach most of it.

Breckenridge is very good for a family ski week, with the free gondola, wide beginner runs and a summer coaster and climbing walls on the mountain. However, altitude sickness and winter gear can wear small children down, and off the mountain there is little for them.

Breckenridge is simpler once you are there. The centre is compact, a free gondola goes to the slopes, and free buses run around town and across Summit County, so a week without a car is realistic. The difficult part is the two-hour drive from Denver's airport over I-70.

Salt Lake City is easy to reach, with TRAX light rail running from the airport into downtown. After that it gets harder: the wide grid makes walking slow, and the canyons, the zoo and nearby towns are much easier with a car.

Salt Lake City has more complete shopping. There are department stores at City Creek Center, shops in the old streetcar barns of Trolley Square, and independent and vintage shops around 9th and 9th and in Sugar House. Both places are strong on outdoor gear.

In Breckenridge, shopping is a short browse along Main Street through ski shops, galleries of Western art and souvenir stores, all at resort prices. For anything more, people drive to the Silverthorne outlets.

Salt Lake City is much the cheaper base. Downtown hotels are reasonable, Temple Square costs nothing and light rail is cheap, so most of the spending goes on lift tickets and a hire car.

In winter, Breckenridge is expensive at almost every step. Slope-side lodging, lessons and meals cost full ski-resort rates, and the Christmas and spring-break weeks cost the most. Summer and the shoulder months are far kinder, helped by free trails, buses and the gondola.

Salt Lake City has a proper arts calendar. The Tabernacle Choir and the great organ at Temple Square are open to the public, and the Utah Symphony, Utah Opera, Ballet West and touring shows at the Eccles Theater run through the year.

Breckenridge's music season is mainly July and August, when the festival orchestra and the young orchestra academy play at the open-sided Riverwalk Center by the river. In winter it is mostly bands in après bars.

Salt Lake City has a small edge here. Its best soak is at Homestead Crater in Midway, warm mineral water inside a beehive-shaped limestone dome, and the city itself moves at a calm pace.

In Breckenridge, relaxing means a steaming outdoor hot tub in the snow or a resort spa, and the nearest natural springs are an hour away. Early lift starts and thin air leave many visitors tired rather than rested.