Breckenridge or Telluride?

Neither town is a place to swim outdoors. In Breckenridge the water life is on Lake Dillon, a short drive north, for sailing and paddling, with indoor pools at the recreation centre for an actual swim.

Telluride is even further from a usable shore: the nearest swimming area is a cold reservoir near Ridgway an hour away, so summer water here means rafting or fly fishing rather than bathing.

The two eat at much the same level, with mountain menus built on Colorado lamb, elk and trout, but the character differs. Breckenridge spreads wider across steakhouses, sushi, pizza and Mexican kitchens, and its own beer and whiskey give it a stronger drinks identity, along with the green chile and breakfast burrito habit.

Telluride has fewer places but a sharper top end, with serious kitchens along Colorado Avenue and in Mountain Village and wine lists deeper than such a small town would suggest. Over a week, expect to circle back to the same few tables in either.

Both are mining towns whose main sight is their own streets, and neither has major museums. Breckenridge offers the larger Victorian district plus hands-on extras, such as a gold-mine tour with panning and the old dredges in the Blue River valley.

Telluride's whole grid is a National Historic Landmark, and its Historical Museum in a former miners' hospital tells a darker story of labour wars. Add the Sheridan Opera House and the mill ruins clinging to the canyon walls, and it is the more atmospheric afternoon, if not a longer one.

Breckenridge has the livelier evenings. Après-ski spills from the lift bases onto Main Street, and on a winter Saturday the brewpubs, old saloons and a couple of late dance bars run past midnight.

Telluride's after-dark life is a few historic saloons on Colorado Avenue, busy late only in peak ski weeks and on festival weekends. The rest of the year it is an early town, so anyone who wants a night out should lean towards Breckenridge.

Both are first-rate mountain bases, so the choice is about the kind of landscape. Breckenridge gives breadth: five peaks of skiing above town, Keystone, Copper Mountain and Arapahoe Basin close by, Quandary Peak for a high summit, and a paved path to Frisco and Lake Dillon for cycling.

Telluride gives drama in a tighter space. Cliffs and peaks rise straight from the main street, Bridal Veil Falls and the high basins are walkable from town, and there is a via ferrata, jeep roads over the passes and steep hike-to ski terrain. Telluride also sits lower, which makes the altitude a little gentler on arrival.

Breckenridge has more within easy reach. Leadville's silver-boom streets and mining museum are under an hour away, Georgetown's narrow-gauge railway and the Idaho Springs hot springs line the road to Denver, and Vail and Denver itself make longer outings.

From Telluride every trip is a mountain drive. Ouray and Ridgway are close enough, and Silverton is about two hours over Red Mountain Pass, while Mesa Verde's cliff dwellings, the one site of real stature, sit at the very edge of a day out.

Breckenridge is the stronger family base. Beyond the ski schools and gentle beginner slopes, the summer mountain turns into an activity park with an alpine coaster and climbing walls, and the town adds pools and an ice rink for bad-weather days.

Telluride suits active families who are happy with gondola rides, river paths, waterfall walks and fishing, but it has nothing laid on indoors. Altitude can trouble small children in both, and slightly more so at Breckenridge's greater height.

Both are car-free once you arrive, with a walkable historic centre, a free gondola and free town buses. Breckenridge's advantage is the free county buses linking it to Frisco, Dillon, Keystone and Copper Mountain, and its route in is a fixed two hours or so from Denver's airport, though snow on I-70 can stretch it.

Telluride is the more compact place to stay, with a gondola straight up to Mountain Village, but harder to reach: the local airport is prone to weather delays and anything beyond the valley needs a car fit for winter passes.

Shopping is a small, pricey browse in both. Breckenridge has the gear shops, Western art galleries and sweet shops of Main Street, with the outlet malls in Silverthorne a short drive away for anything more serious.

Telluride's few blocks of Colorado Avenue lean more towards jewellery, Western clothing and a couple of good bookshops, plus resort boutiques in Mountain Village, but there is no outlet escape nearby.

Both are among the costliest mountain towns anywhere, and the Christmas and New Year weeks are the dearest in each. The difference is in how you soften the cost. Breckenridge has cheaper beds in Frisco and Silverthorne linked by free buses, and prices drop sharply in summer and the shoulder seasons.

Telluride's rooms are scarce and priced for second-home owners, and summer festival weekends push them up as well. Staying in Ridgway saves money but commits you to a daily drive.

Summer is the season in both, but the music differs. Breckenridge leans classical, with a festival orchestra and a national orchestra academy at the open-sided Riverwalk Center by the river, and a small theatre company for plays and musicals.

Telluride is about festivals in Town Park beneath the canyon walls, above all bluegrass, alongside jazz, blues and its famous film festival, and the Sheridan Opera House keeps shows going through the year. Book far ahead for either town's festival weeks.

Telluride is the better place to slow down. The town is calmer, the Mountain Village hotels have full spas, and the public hot springs pool in Ouray and the springs near Ridgway make an easy afternoon soak with mountain views.

Breckenridge's version of rest is the condo hot tub in the snow after a full day on the mountain. Its pace is more active, the thinner air leaves many visitors tired, and the closest natural springs at Idaho Springs mean an hour's drive.