Deer Valley or Salt Lake City?

Neither place is for swimming, and both send you to the same mountain reservoirs. From Deer Valley, the sandy state-park shore at Jordanelle is a short drive downhill, so a summer afternoon on the water is easy to fit in. Most guests still end up in the hotel pool.

Salt Lake City is further from those lakes but has its own oddity. Off Antelope Island you can float without effort in the Great Salt Lake. People do it once for the experience, on a muddy shore with brine flies in summer, rather than for a beach day.

Both eat well without being food destinations, but in different styles. Deer Valley and Park City's Main Street lean upscale, with steakhouses, sushi, modern bistros, après-ski grills and the ritual turkey chili at the base area. There is little below that tier.

Salt Lake City is more varied and more casual. Fry sauce, fried scones and dirty sodas are the local quirks, and its best meals come from the Mexican, Pacific Islander, Peruvian and Vietnamese kitchens along State Street. Breweries and coffee roasters downtown and in Sugar House cover drinking, under the same Utah rules that apply in Park City.

Salt Lake City has the sights. Temple Square, laid out in 1847, holds the granite temple, the domed Tabernacle and the Assembly Hall. Add the Beehive House, the Capitol, the painted Cathedral of the Madeleine and the Natural History Museum, and you have two full days.

Deer Valley is a purpose-built resort, and its history lies next door in Park City. There you will find the restored silver-mining Main Street, the museum in the old city hall and the ski-jump towers from the 2002 Olympics. That is an afternoon, best kept for a day off the slopes.

Both places go to bed early under Utah's liquor rules, so neither suits a trip built around nights out. At Deer Valley, the evening means a fireside lounge in the lodge or a short ride to the saloons and après-ski bars on Park City's Main Street, which are busiest on weekends in ski season.

Salt Lake City has a little more range. There are bars and breweries downtown and in the Granary District, a handful of dance clubs, a long-standing gay bar scene and the neighbourhood pubs of Sugar House.

For the outdoors the two are equals, and they share the same mountains. Deer Valley puts you on the slopes from your door, with its groomed, skiers-only runs and Park City Mountain next door. In summer there is lift-served biking through aspen and fir, with the Provo River and the Uinta lakes within reach.

Salt Lake City swaps ski-in convenience for range. The Cottonwood Canyons and their deep powder are under an hour away, and foothill trails start right above the Avenues. To the west are the bison of Antelope Island and the white Bonneville Salt Flats, a desert landscape the resort cannot match.

Each place is the other's best day out, which shows how limited the choice around them is. From Deer Valley, the main outing is Salt Lake City's Temple Square and museums. Midway, the Heber Valley steam railway and the arts village at Sundance are closer.

From Salt Lake City, the obvious trip is Park City's Victorian Main Street, followed by Ogden's 25th Street and the Golden Spike site, where the transcontinental railroad was joined in 1869. Neither base puts Arches, Zion or Bryce within a day's reach.

Salt Lake City is the stronger family base overall. Large families are the norm and restaurants expect children. The zoo, aquarium, Discovery Gateway, planetarium, Tracy Aviary and Lagoon's roller coasters give plenty to fill rest days, though most of them need a car.

Deer Valley is excellent for families who ski. Children's ski schools, wide beginner runs with no snowboarders and ski-to-door lodging make mountain days easy, and the Olympic Park adds tubing and an alpine coaster. Beyond that, the children's attractions are down in the city, and the cost of lessons adds up fast.

At Deer Valley it is easier to leave the car parked. Fare-free buses link its base areas with Main Street, Park City Mountain and Kimball Junction, and much of the lodging sits on the slopes. The steep resort is no place for walking between lodges, though.

Salt Lake City has TRAX light rail to the airport and the FrontRunner train along the valley. Even so, its huge blocks make walks longer, and the sprawl puts the zoo and the canyons out of easy reach without a car. On powder days, canyon traffic can be slow.

Salt Lake City gives shoppers more to work with. There are the department stores of City Creek Center beside the creek that runs through it, shops in the old streetcar barns of Trolley Square, and independent and vintage shops at 9th and 9th and in Sugar House.

At Deer Valley, shopping means Park City's Main Street, with its galleries, western boots and hats and upmarket boutiques, plus the outlets at Kimball Junction. Both share one real strength, which is excellent ski and outdoor gear.

This is the widest gap between the two. Deer Valley is one of the most expensive places to ski in the world, with luxury slopeside lodging, lift access at the top of the market and mountain meals priced to match. Even in summer it is a high-end stay.

Salt Lake City is moderately priced for an American city. Downtown hotels are reasonable, light rail is cheap and the sights on Temple Square are free. Sleeping in the city and driving up is the usual way to cut the cost of skiing at Deer Valley.

Salt Lake City has far more on stage. The Tabernacle Choir rehearses and performs in the Tabernacle with its great organ. Abravanel Hall, Utah Opera, Ballet West and touring shows at the Eccles Theater keep the programme going all year.

Deer Valley's high point is summer, when the Utah Symphony holds its outdoor festival at the Snow Park amphitheatre and people picnic on the grass. In winter there is the 1920s Egyptian Theatre on Main Street, but evenings are mostly about dinner.

Deer Valley comes out ahead because rest is part of the stay itself. You come off the slopes straight to your lodge and its spa, with nothing to drive to and little to stay up for. In summer the trails and evenings are quieter still. Neither place has a public bathing culture, so the comfort here is private and hotel-based.

Salt Lake City makes you travel to relax. The good spas are at the resorts and in Park City, so a massage for tired legs means either booking it before the canyon drive home or making a separate trip back up. The city does have a few small hot springs to the north and in the canyons for a simple soak. Its calm streets make for easy evenings, but the pampering happens somewhere else.