Deer Valley or Santa Monica?

This is the widest gap between the two. Santa Monica's whole shoreline is a broad band of pale sand with lifeguard towers and the pier, and the quieter Malibu coves lie further up the coast. The limit is the water: the Pacific here is cool, and many visitors wade rather than swim.

Deer Valley's nearest beach is the sandy shore of Jordanelle Reservoir below the resort. It is worth an hour on a hot July afternoon but never a reason to book, and anyone who wants to swim on a mountain vacation will mostly use the hotel pool.

Santa Monica eats better and more broadly. The downtown farmers market sets the tone for seasonal Californian cooking and seafood, with neighbourhood places on Main Street and Montana Avenue and more casual food over in Venice. Deer Valley splits between polished lodge dining on the mountain and a cluster of steakhouses, sushi bars and après-ski grills on Park City's Main Street. That is good for a town its size, but there is little below the upscale tier.

Neither has a cuisine of its own or cheap street food. From Santa Monica a drive east brings the tacos and Korean barbecue of Los Angeles within reach. In the mountains, the turkey chili at the base is about as close to a local dish as it gets.

Neither is a sightseeing destination, but Santa Monica has more within reach. The pier, the galleries of Bergamot Station and the Spanish Colonial Revival and Art Deco buildings near the ocean fill a morning. The Getty Center and the Getty Villa, both close by car, hold collections of real weight.

Deer Valley's heritage belongs to Park City: a restored silver-mining Main Street, the museum in the old city hall and the ski-jump towers of the Olympic Park. That makes an interesting afternoon before the mountain takes over again.

Both are places for an early night, though Santa Monica keeps going a little longer. Rooftop and wine bars around the Third Street Promenade, pubs on Main Street and the looser crowd in Venice give a choice of evenings, and Hollywood's clubs are a long taxi ride away.

In Deer Valley itself the lodges offer fireside lounges. The livelier evenings are in Park City's saloons and après-ski bars, which fill up on ski-season weekends but close early, with Utah's liquor rules always in the background.

Here Deer Valley comes out ahead. Its own carefully groomed slopes, the vast Park City Mountain next door, and Alta and Snowbird about an hour away make it a winter base of real depth. In summer the same hillsides carry hundreds of kilometres of biking and hiking trails, with fly-fishing on the Provo River and the high lakes of the Uintas beyond.

Santa Monica's outdoors is gentler but open all year. There are chaparral trails in Topanga and Temescal Canyon behind the town, the long beach path for cycling, surf lessons on the beach breaks, and whales offshore in winter and spring.

Santa Monica has the longer and more varied list. Santa Barbara's mission and red-tiled streets, the valley town of Ojai, Laguna Beach and Catalina Island all make a day out, and Los Angeles adds Pasadena's Huntington Library and Hollywood, though traffic decides how much you see.

From Deer Valley, the main outing is to Salt Lake City for Temple Square and the State Capitol. Closer by are the Swiss-styled village of Midway, the Heber Valley steam railway and Sundance. These are modest places, and the grand sights nearby are landscapes rather than towns.

Santa Monica is the easier choice for most families. It has a wide, lifeguarded beach, the pier's Ferris wheel, carousel and small aquarium, and mild weather in every month. Theme parks take more effort, because Universal Studios and Disneyland each use up most of a day once the traffic is counted.

Deer Valley works very well for families who ski, with well-run children's ski schools and beginner runs with no snowboarders, plus tubing and an alpine coaster at the Olympic Park. Away from the slopes there is little aimed at children, and the altitude can tire the youngest for a day or two.

Both are easy to get around locally and hard beyond that. In Deer Valley, fare-free buses link the base areas with Park City's Main Street and much of the lodging is on the slopes. The resort itself is too steep to walk between lodges, though, and the canyons or Salt Lake City mean driving on winter roads.

Santa Monica's compact centre is easy to walk, the beach path is good for cycling, and the E Line light rail reaches downtown Los Angeles in about an hour. The Getty, Hollywood and the Malibu canyons are another matter, with jammed freeways and patchy public transport.

Santa Monica has far more variety, from the chains and flagships of the Third Street Promenade to the boutiques on Montana Avenue, the surf shops on Main Street and the concept stores of Abbot Kinney in Venice, with Rodeo Drive a slow drive away. Deer Valley's shopping is Park City's Main Street of galleries, western boots and ski shops, plus the outlets at Kimball Junction. Mountain gear is the one thing it does especially well.

Both are expensive, but Deer Valley is in a class of its own. Slopeside lodging is luxury, lift access is priced at the very top of the North American market, and ski school comes on top. Summer is easier on the budget, and staying in the Heber Valley helps.

Santa Monica is costly too, especially ocean-view hotels and car hire. But the beach, the trails and the bike path are free and the buses and light rail are cheap, so once the room is paid for, a day out need not cost much.

Santa Monica has a little more on its own doorstep and much more within reach. The Broad Stage hosts chamber music, dance and theatre, and small venues keep a long folk and acoustic tradition going. The Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl are a long drive across the city.

Deer Valley's highlight comes in summer: the Utah Symphony's outdoor festival at Snow Park, where people picnic on the grass. In winter, the 1920s Egyptian Theatre on Main Street puts on some plays and small concerts.

Deer Valley is the more restful stay, built around quiet slopeside lodges, hot tubs on snowy terraces and polished hotel spas where a massage after skiing is routine. The warm spring pool inside the limestone dome of Homestead Crater in Midway makes an unusual place for a soak.

Santa Monica's version is active rather than pampered: yoga on the sand, a morning run along the ocean and sunset over the bay, with beachfront spas if you want them. Neither has a public bathing tradition.