Colorado Springs or Park City?

Neither town has a coast, and swimming plays a small part in either trip. In Colorado Springs it means a pool or a cold reservoir, and the water day most people actually choose is rafting on the Arkansas River.

Park City's answer is Jordanelle Reservoir, which has sandy swimming areas, paddleboarding and picnic lawns for a short summer season. Most visitors there end up in a hotel hot tub instead.

The two eat at a similar level, but the food is different in style. Colorado Springs is casual and Southwestern, with green chile on the menus, Mexican and Asian places along the main roads, and brewery taprooms with food trucks outside. Its best areas for eating are Tejon Street, Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs.

Park City's food is more polished and comes at resort prices. It means elk, bison and trout on Main Street and at the ski bases, plus the ritual of après-ski drinks on slopeside decks. It has less variety than Colorado Springs, and the cheap meals are mostly chains at Kimball Junction.

Colorado Springs has more to see indoors. The aluminium spires of the Cadet Chapel at the Air Force Academy are a real sight, and the Olympic and Paralympic Museum, the Fine Arts Center's Southwestern collection and the Pioneers Museum in the old courthouse can fill a rainy day or two.

In Park City the main attraction is the old silver-mining town itself: the wooden storefronts of Main Street, the headframes on the slopes and the Park City Museum with its basement jail cells. Add the Olympic Park museums and you have seen it all in an afternoon.

Both towns are quiet after dark, and the difference is in who you go out with. On Tejon Street in Colorado Springs, weekend crowds are college students and young soldiers from the bases, but many taprooms close well before midnight.

Park City's evenings start with après-ski as the lifts close, then move to the saloons and cocktail bars on Main Street. It gets lively on winter weekends and goes very quiet in summer.

Both are true mountain bases, and Park City comes out ahead when the trip is built around the mountains. Colorado Springs has Pikes Peak above town, the climbing fins of Garden of the Gods, the waterfalls of North Cheyenne Cañon and the Manitou Incline. Its dry climate keeps the trails open for much of the year, but skiing means a two-hour drive.

In Park City, two large ski areas start right in town, and Alta, Snowbird, Brighton and Solitude are over the ridge. In summer, hundreds of kilometres of singletrack leave straight from the streets, with lifts carrying bikes uphill, and the Provo and Weber rivers are good for fly fishing.

Colorado Springs has more towns within reach. Denver's museums are a little over an hour away, and Cripple Creek and Victor show off their gold-mining past an hour up steep mountain roads. The Royal Gorge Bridge, Boulder and Manitou Springs next door round out a full week of outings.

From Park City, the main day out is Salt Lake City, about 40 minutes away, with Temple Square and the State Capitol. After the Heber Valley steam railway, Midway's Swiss-style chalets and Ogden's old railroad street, most of what is within reach is scenery rather than places to explore.

Children are equally well served, by different things. Colorado Springs gives you a string of short outings: hand-feeding giraffes at the mountainside zoo, cave tours, the Manitou Cliff Dwellings and the cog railway, although they mean a lot of time in the car.

In Park City, family life centres on ski school and the Olympic Park's alpine coaster, ziplines and freestyle jumps into the splash pool. Free buses take you to the slopes, but winter costs for a family add up fast.

Park City is much easier without a car. Free buses link Old Town, Main Street, both ski bases and Kimball Junction, many hotels run their own shuttles, and parking is awkward enough that leaving the car is the sensible choice. You will still want one to reach other valleys or ski areas.

Colorado Springs is built around the car. The sights are spread along the foothills, the buses are thin and infrequent, and only downtown, Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs are pleasant to explore on foot.

Neither is a shopping destination, and the difference lies in price. Colorado Springs has rock and gem shops, Western wear and craft galleries in the old storefronts of Old Colorado City and Manitou, with outlets and big-box stores beyond.

Park City's Main Street is more upmarket, with jewellers, upscale ski fashion, cowboy boots and galleries for browsing between meals. Kimball Junction has an outlet centre.

Colorado Springs costs much less. Interstate chain hotels are reasonably priced, and the town's best sights, Garden of the Gods and the canyon parks, are free. The main extra cost is car hire, which is hard to avoid.

Park City in ski season is among the most expensive mountain resorts in North America, and the Christmas weeks cost more still. Summer and autumn are much cheaper, and many budget travellers stay in Salt Lake City or the Heber Valley and drive up.

Neither will shape a trip, but their seasons differ. Colorado Springs has a year-round local programme: the Philharmonic at the Pikes Peak Center, the Fine Arts Center's theatre company and summer gigs at the arena and amphitheatre.

Park City comes alive mainly in summer, with the Utah Symphony on the Deer Valley lawns and free concerts in the parks. The 1920s Egyptian Theatre on Main Street keeps comedy and cabaret going the rest of the year.

Park City is better for unwinding. The big lodge spas at Deer Valley and the Canyons base are built for sore legs, outdoor hot tubs come with almost every stay, and Midway's Homestead Crater lets you swim in water at about 35°C inside a limestone dome.

Colorado Springs has its spa history at Manitou Springs, where you can still drink from the mineral fountains and use a small soaking spa. The Broadmoor's resort spa is the most complete in town, and the well-known hot-spring pools are over two hours away.