Breckenridge or Scottsdale?

Neither city is anywhere near a sea, so in both, swimming comes down to pools. In Breckenridge the water is cold. Lake Dillon is for sailing and paddling in snowmelt, so a swim means the recreation centre's indoor pools or a hot tub.

Scottsdale's water is warmer and plays a bigger part in a stay. There are big resort pools, small sandy coves at Saguaro and Canyon lakes, and tubing down the Salt River in summer.

Neither town is a reason to travel for food, but Scottsdale gives you more choice. Old Town and the resort corridors add smart brunches, patio grills and long happy hours. The Sonoran-style Mexican cooking across the wider Phoenix area, with carne asada and plate-sized flour tortillas, is a real local food culture within easy reach.

Breckenridge eats like a ski town: hearty plates for tired skiers, a few kitchens doing good things with elk, trout and bison, and green chile at breakfast. It is stronger in the glass than on the plate, with beer brewed in town and local whiskey. Tables are hard to get in the peak winter weeks.

Scottsdale has clearly more to see. Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's desert studio, is a sight of real stature. The museum of the West, the small contemporary art museum and the Old Town gallery streets fill another day, and the Heard Museum and the Musical Instrument Museum are a short drive over the city line.

In Breckenridge the town itself is the culture. Its large gold-rush historic district has painted Victorian storefronts and miners' cabins, and there is a mine where you can pan for gold and the remains of old dredges along the Blue River. It fills an afternoon, not a sightseeing programme.

Scottsdale has the bigger night out. It is packed into a few blocks of Old Town, with dance clubs, rooftop lounges and dress codes, and it is loud and party-minded at weekends and through the spring. Breckenridge's evenings start earlier and end sooner: après-ski in ski boots at the lift bases, then brewpubs, saloons in old Victorian buildings and a couple of late dance bars on winter Saturdays.

This is where Breckenridge pulls clearly ahead. Skiing across five peaks of the Tenmile Range starts at the end of Main Street, and Keystone, Copper Mountain, Arapahoe Basin and Vail are all close. In summer the same mountains give hiking, mountain biking and a climb of Quandary Peak, which tops 4,000m. The thin air takes a day or two to get used to.

Scottsdale's desert makes a fine contrast. The McDowell Sonoran Preserve has saguaro and granite boulders, Camelback and Pinnacle Peak are short, steep climbs, and the Tonto National Forest further east has riding and kayaking. For much of the summer, though, the heat limits all of it to dawn.

Scottsdale reaches a little further. To the north, Sedona's red rocks, the cliff dwelling at Montezuma Castle and the hillside mining town of Jerome make a full day. Tucson and the San Xavier mission lie to the south, and Phoenix is next door.

Breckenridge's outings are about mining history and mountain towns. Silver-boom Leadville is over Hoosier Pass, Georgetown has its narrow-gauge railway and Idaho Springs its hot springs, while Denver is around two hours away. Winter roads can stretch any of these drives, a problem Scottsdale rarely has.

Both work well with children, but for different kinds of trip. Breckenridge is a ski-school vacation, with gentle beginner slopes, a free gondola and a summer activity park with a coaster, climbing walls and mazes. Against that, some children suffer from the altitude, and cold-weather gear makes every outing hard work.

Scottsdale is a pool vacation built around resort lazy rivers and water slides. There is also a miniature railway park, an aquarium and butterfly house, and relaxed spring training baseball. The catches are the constant driving and a summer heat that keeps children indoors from midday.

Breckenridge is far easier without a car. The historic centre is walkable, the gondola and town buses are free, and free county buses run to Frisco, Keystone and Copper Mountain. The hard part is the two-hour trip from Denver's airport over I-70.

Scottsdale is the opposite: easy to drive, with a simple grid and plenty of parking, but hard to manage without a car. The light rail does not reach it, so apart from Old Town and its free trolley, nearly everything means a car or ride-hailing.

Scottsdale is the shopping destination of the two. It has a luxury mall with the big fashion houses and department stores, open-air centres further north, and Old Town dealers in Navajo and Hopi silver, Pueblo pottery and western boots. Breckenridge's Main Street does ski gear, outdoor clothing and Western landscape galleries well but not much else, so serious shoppers drive to the outlets in Silverthorne.

Neither is cheap, but Breckenridge costs more. A winter week of slopeside lodging, lift tickets, lessons and gear hire costs as much as skiing anywhere, and the festive and spring-break weeks cost more still. Staying in Frisco or Silverthorne helps, as does coming in summer, and local transport costs nothing.

Scottsdale's high season is also expensive, but resort rates drop sharply in summer. Motels and business hotels line the main roads, and Sonoran Mexican food keeps meals affordable. The one extra is the hire car, which visitors to Breckenridge can often do without.

In Breckenridge, music belongs to summer. The festival orchestra and the academy of young professionals play symphonic and chamber programmes at the open-sided Riverwalk Center by the Blue River. In winter it narrows to bar bands and acoustic sets after skiing.

Scottsdale gives you more evenings out, especially in winter. Its Old Town arts centre puts on jazz, chamber music and dance, and the Musical Instrument Museum's theatre hosts world music. The symphony, opera and ballet are in Phoenix, about half an hour away.

Scottsdale is built for rest. It has a dense cluster of large resort spas, many open to day guests, with desert-inspired treatments, yoga retreats and slow days of golf, the pool and early nights. Breckenridge offers hot tubs in the snow and hotel spas after skiing, but its days are active and the thin air tires people more than it restores them.

Neither town has a bathing tradition of its own. From Breckenridge the nearest natural springs are at Idaho Springs, about an hour away.