Breckenridge or Vail?

Neither town has anything to offer a beach lover. Both lie high in the Rockies, and their lakes are cold even in July. Lake Dillon near Breckenridge is good for sailing and paddling, and Vail's small reservoirs are more for sunbathing on the shore. For a swim, Breckenridge has public indoor pools at its recreation centre, while in Vail it usually means your hotel pool.

The food is much the same standard in both: resort dining built around Colorado lamb, elk and trout, with no local tradition behind it. Breckenridge is the more casual of the two, with breakfast burritos, green chile, wood-fired pizza and a long-standing local brewery and distillery.

Vail aims higher up the price scale, with fondue rooms, hotel dining rooms with long wine lists and mountain lodges for lunch between runs. It has even less at the cheap end, and only a summer farmers' market to stand in for street food.

Breckenridge has much more history to walk through. Its 1859 gold-rush district is one of Colorado's largest, and you can take a gold-mine tour with panning and see the remains of the old river dredges. It makes an easy afternoon rather than a sightseeing programme.

Vail's chalets and covered bridges copy a Tyrolean village rather than preserving anything. Its sights are the Colorado Snowsports Museum, with the story of the Tenth Mountain Division, and the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens in summer.

Both have the same kind of nightlife: après-ski that winds down early, and little going on in the off-seasons. Breckenridge feels more like a saloon town, with brewpubs in old Victorian buildings and a couple of late dance bars. Vail's crowd is wealthier and more festive than rowdy, filling slopeside terraces in Vail Village and Lionshead, with a small club for the late hours.

Both are first-rate mountain bases, so the choice comes down to terrain and height. Breckenridge spreads across five peaks of the Tenmile Range. Quandary Peak is close for a 4,000m summit, and a paved path runs to Frisco and Lake Dillon for cycling. At almost 3,000m, it sits noticeably higher than Vail.

Vail's strength is the open Back Bowls and Blue Sky Basin in winter. In summer it has the Gore Range and Holy Cross wilderness for serious hiking, plus fly fishing on Gore Creek and rafting within reach.

Both towns share Leadville as a good outing, and from either one most other trips lead to other ski resorts. From Breckenridge, the old mining towns towards Denver add a historic narrow-gauge railway at Georgetown and hot springs at Idaho Springs.

Vail looks west instead. Glenwood Springs, down the Colorado River canyon, is its best day out, and Aspen and polished Beaver Creek are also within reach, though nearly every trip needs a car.

For families who ski, the two are close, with Breckenridge slightly ahead. Its free gondola from Main Street, public pools, ice rink and summer alpine coaster give children more to do in town.

Vail's car-free village is safe for strolling, and the area at the top of the gondola has ropes courses and tubing in summer. Both are hard work with toddlers in winter, and Breckenridge's greater height makes altitude sickness a bigger risk there.

In both towns you can spend a week without a car, but they are laid out differently. Breckenridge is a compact grid with a free gondola, and free county buses go on to Frisco, Keystone and Copper Mountain, so other ski areas are easy to reach.

Vail stretches along its valley, and a free bus links the pedestrian villages with the outlying neighbourhoods. Getting to either is the hard part. There is no train, and the road over Vail Pass can close in heavy snow.

Vail has the better shopping, though it is narrow and expensive: fur, leather, jewellery, Western boots and hats, and high-end ski clothing in the lanes of Vail Village and Lionshead. Breckenridge's Main Street is more modest, with rental outfitters, sweet shops, souvenirs and galleries of Western landscapes. Its real asset for shoppers is the outlet malls at Silverthorne, a short drive away.

Neither is a place for a budget trip, and both cost the most in peak winter weeks. Breckenridge is a little easier to manage. You can stay in cheaper Frisco or Silverthorne and ride the free county buses in, and many summer trails cost nothing. Vail is among the dearest vacation places in North America, and staying down the valley only softens the bill.

Vail has the stronger summer programme. Major orchestras take up residence for Bravo! Vail at the open-air Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, where you can picnic on the lawn, and there are also a dance festival with leading ballet companies and a jazz festival.

Breckenridge has its own summer festival orchestra and a national orchestra academy at the Riverwalk Center. It is on a smaller scale, but a local theatre company stages plays for much of the year, which Vail lacks.

Vail is the better choice for unwinding. The big hotels in Vail Village and Lionshead have proper spas with saunas and steam rooms, the pace is unhurried outside peak weekends, and Glenwood Springs' historic pools and vapour caves are about an hour away.

In Breckenridge, wellness mostly means the condo hot tub after a full day on the slopes. The thinner air at almost 3,000m leaves many visitors tired rather than rested.