Denver or Steamboat Springs?

Neither place is a swimming destination, and both put you a very long way from the sea. Denver's version is the sandy reservoir beaches at Cherry Creek and Chatfield on the city's edge, plus outdoor public pools. In Steamboat the summer water is a lazy tube float down the Yampa through town, or a cold dip at Steamboat Lake or Stagecoach in July and August.

Denver gives you far more to eat. Its brewing culture fills warehouse taprooms in RiNo and around Coors Field, Southwestern cooking puts green chile on everything, and Federal Boulevard has a long stretch of Vietnamese and Mexican kitchens. Chef-run places in Highland and LoHi add some ambition.

Steamboat eats like a ranching resort. You get steakhouses, Colorado lamb and beef, pizza and a few brewpubs along Lincoln Avenue and at the ski base. That is satisfying after a day on the hill, but you will run through the choices within a few nights.

Denver has a couple of days' worth of sights. Around Civic Center you have the gold-domed Capitol, the Denver Art Museum with its Native American collection and the Clyfford Still Museum, and the brick warehouses of LoDo and the Beaux-Arts hall of Union Station round it out.

Steamboat's story is ranching and skiing, and an afternoon covers it: a walk along Lincoln Avenue's western storefronts, the Tread of Pioneers Museum, and a look at Howelsen Hill, where generations of Olympic ski jumpers trained.

Denver gives you a real night out across several neighbourhoods. You can watch the game in a LoDo bar, go to taprooms and cocktail bars in RiNo, or end up in a dive bar on East Colfax, with last orders at 2am. It is a bar and brewery city more than a club city, but there is plenty of variety.

In Steamboat the evening starts at the gondola base when the lifts close and moves to a few saloons and brewpubs downtown. In peak ski weeks that can carry on into the late evening. Out of season the town is asleep well before midnight.

Both are outstanding mountain bases, but they work in different ways. Denver is a gateway: Red Rocks and the Golden foothills are half an hour away, Boulder's Flatirons a little further, and Rocky Mountain National Park and the I-70 ski resorts around two hours. That gives you great range, as long as you are happy to drive.

Steamboat puts you inside the landscape. The ski mountain, known for its dry Champagne Powder, starts at the edge of town, and in summer Emerald Mountain's bike trails, Fish Creek Falls and the lakes of the Mount Zirkel Wilderness are close by. The Yampa has fly fishing, and moose and elk are part of everyday scenery.

Denver is the far better base for exploring. Boulder, Golden and the Victorian mining towns of Idaho Springs and Georgetown, with its narrow-gauge railway, are all within an hour or so. Colorado Springs, Fort Collins and Estes Park extend the list further.

Steamboat is remote. The neighbouring ranch towns are worth only a coffee stop, and Vail or Grand Lake take about two hours of mountain roads, so a day out from here almost always means heading up into the hills.

Both work well with children, in different ways. Denver has the attractions: the zoo and the Museum of Nature & Science, with its dinosaurs, in City Park, and the Children's Museum, aquarium and amusement park grouped by the South Platte. Mountain trails and scenic railways are a drive away.

Steamboat is an outdoor playground with no zoo or museum to fall back on. It offers a strong ski school, gentle first slopes at Howelsen Hill, slides and a climbing wall at Old Town Hot Springs, and tubing and the rodeo in summer. At about 2,050m it sits well above the Mile High City, so young children may need a slow first day.

Steamboat is a little easier to manage on a typical stay. A town bus links the Lincoln Avenue downtown with the ski base, and many slopeside lodgings let you walk to the gondola. Strawberry Park, Fish Creek Falls and the passes still need a car with good winter tyres.

Denver has the better transport links: a train from the airport to Union Station, light rail and a free shuttle along the 16th Street Mall. However, the city spreads widely beyond its compact centre, and Red Rocks, the mountains and most day trips need a hired car.

Both do western wear well, but Denver has much more besides. There is the upscale mall and boutique blocks of Cherry Creek, vintage and record shops on South Broadway, and big flagship outdoor-gear stores.

Steamboat's shopping fits into an hour on Lincoln Avenue. The century-old F.M. Light & Sons outfitter is the landmark, along with a few galleries and ski shops.

Neither is a bargain, but in Denver the spending is spread out and easier to control. A big city has beds at every level, so a room out along the light rail line costs far less than one downtown. Some of the best cheap eating is at the taquerias of Federal Boulevard and in brewery taprooms. The main extra is the hired car, and once you have it the foothill trails and city parks cost nothing.

In Steamboat most of the money goes on the mountain itself. A ski week adds up lodging near the gondola, lift passes, equipment and resort-priced dinners, and a small town has few cheaper places to fall back on. The festive weeks push all of it higher. Coming in summer, or taking a condo with a kitchen and using the town buses, brings the bill down, but it is still the dearer trip in any month.

Denver is much stronger for live performance. Red Rocks Amphitheatre, set between its sandstone monoliths, is a reason to visit in itself. In town, the Denver Center's blocks of stages host theatre, touring musicals, the symphony, opera and ballet, and Five Points keeps its jazz tradition going.

Steamboat's music is mostly in summer, with the Strings Music Festival's long-running pavilion season, free outdoor concerts and student productions at Perry-Mansfield. In winter you are mostly left with bar bands.

This is Steamboat's strongest suit. The town is named after one of its springs, locals soak in the Old Town pools all year, and an evening in the rock-lined pools at Strawberry Park with snow falling is unforgettable. The slow small-town pace helps too.

Denver has no bathing culture of its own, only hotel spas and yoga studios. For mineral water you drive to Idaho Springs, under an hour away.