Deer Valley or Santa Barbara?

There is no real contest. Santa Barbara has a south-facing coast sheltered by the Channel Islands, with town beaches either side of Stearns Wharf, Butterfly Beach below Montecito and Carpinteria's long, shallow sands for small children. The cool water still means short swims or a wetsuit. Deer Valley sits high in the Wasatch, and its swimming comes down to Jordanelle Reservoir's sandy shore on a hot July afternoon, or more often the hotel pool.

Deer Valley eats well at the top end and stops there. The mountain lodges serve polished resort food, and Park City's Main Street has more steakhouses, sushi bars and après-ski grills than a small town usually supports. There is little regional character, few cheap options and no markets.

Santa Barbara's cooking has a clear sense of place. Spot prawns and sea urchin come off the harbour boats, the farmers' markets are well stocked and Santa Rita Hills pinot is poured in the Funk Zone tasting rooms. The taquerias along Milpas Street add an affordable counterweight to Montecito's farm-to-table dining.

Deer Valley is a purpose-built resort, so its history is borrowed from Park City next door. There you find the restored silver-mining Main Street, the museum in the old city hall and the 2002 Olympic ski jumps, which together make one afternoon.

Santa Barbara is the sight in itself. After the 1925 earthquake the town was rebuilt in white stucco and red tile, best seen from the clock tower of the County Courthouse. The Old Mission, the Presidio and two respectable museums add a couple of unhurried days.

Neither place keeps late hours, but Santa Barbara gives you a little more to do once dinner is over. Early evening in the Funk Zone means wine bars and brewery taprooms, and the lower end of State Street has pubs and a few small dance floors full of students at weekends.

Deer Valley itself goes quiet once the lifts stop, apart from fireside lounges in the lodges. For a drink, people go down to the saloons and cocktail bars on Park City's Main Street. These are lively in ski season but close early, and Utah's licensing rules always apply.

Both have mountains, but Deer Valley's are the main attraction. In winter it combines its own pristine slopes with Park City Mountain and the deep powder of the Cottonwood Canyons. In summer hundreds of kilometres of lift-served biking and hiking trails run through aspen, and the high Uinta lakes are within reach.

Santa Barbara puts sea and mountains side by side. Canyon trails such as Rattlesnake and Seven Falls start from residential streets, whale-watching boats leave the harbour and surfers head to the point break at Rincon. Channel Islands National Park adds sea caves and kayaking. It is varied and easy to reach, though there is no snow, and summer fire haze sometimes closes trails.

Santa Barbara has the stronger day out. Wine country in the Santa Ynez Valley lies over the mountains, with the Danish streets of Solvang and the restored mission at La Purisima close by. Ojai and Ventura extend the list.

From Deer Valley the main outing is Salt Lake City, with Temple Square and the State Capitol. Closer in are the Swiss-styled village of Midway, the Heber Valley steam railway and the canyon arts village of Sundance. These are pleasant but modest places, and the real grandeur nearby is the landscape.

Both work well for families but in different ways. Deer Valley is excellent for families who ski, with strong children's ski schools, wide beginner runs without snowboarders, and tubing and an alpine coaster at the Olympic Park. Lessons are expensive, though, the altitude can tire small children, and most other children's attractions are down in Salt Lake City.

Santa Barbara gives you smaller things spread across the whole year: the hilltop zoo, touch tanks at the Sea Center on the wharf, MOXI's hands-on science and calm water at East Beach and Carpinteria. Anyone who wants big rides is two hours from the Los Angeles theme parks.

Getting around is about equally easy in both, for different reasons. At Deer Valley, fare-free buses link the base areas with Main Street and Park City Mountain, and ski-in lodging means you can leave the car parked, but the resort's steep hillsides are no place for walking, and the Cottonwood Canyons or Salt Lake City mean driving on winter roads.

Santa Barbara's flat downtown runs straight down State Street to a shoreline path, and the coastal train stops near the beach. The Mission uphill, the trailheads and the wine country still mean using a car or joining a tour.

Santa Barbara is the better place to browse. Spanish-style paseos such as La Arcada lead off State Street to galleries around fountain courtyards, Coast Village Road in Montecito sells upmarket fashion, and the farmers' markets supply wine and produce to take home.

Deer Valley's shopping is concentrated on Park City's Main Street, where galleries, western boots and hats and serious ski and outdoor gear fill the old mining-town shopfronts. The outlet centre at Kimball Junction covers the bargains, and for anything else people drive to Salt Lake City.

Both are expensive, but Deer Valley is the harder on the wallet. Its slopeside lodging is almost all luxury, lift access and ski school are priced at the very top of the North American market, and the usual way to save is to stay in the Heber Valley and drive in, or to come in summer.

Santa Barbara is pricey too, especially near the beach and in Montecito, but there are more ways to save money. Beaches and hikes are free, the taquerias and farmers' markets feed you cheaply, and staying midweek or in Goleta or Ventura brings the cost down.

Santa Barbara has a stage programme that would suit a much larger city. The restored Granada hosts the symphony, opera and ballet, the historic Lobero has chamber music and jazz, the Bowl brings major touring bands to its canyon from spring to autumn, and the Music Academy of the West fills the town with concerts every summer.

Deer Valley comes alive mainly in summer, when the Utah Symphony's festival brings picnics on the lawn at Snow Park. The 1920s Egyptian Theatre on Main Street handles plays and small concerts the rest of the year.

Both are equally restful, but the setting differs. Deer Valley offers mountain comfort: hot tubs on snowy terraces, firelit lodges, polished hotel spas used to aching ski legs, and a warm soak inside the limestone dome of the Homestead Crater at Midway.

Santa Barbara relaxes you with its mild sun and slow mornings, plus yoga studios and resort spas in Montecito. For a proper retreat, the hot pools in the hills or a drive to the long-established spas of the Ojai Valley are the places to go.