Denver or Sun Valley?

Neither place is for a beach trip, but Sun Valley has the more memorable swim. In high summer Redfish Lake, under the Sawtooth peaks, has a sandy shore, though the water stays cold, and the resort's heated outdoor pools are reliable all year.

Denver's options are more ordinary: the reservoir beaches at Cherry Creek and Chatfield on the edge of the city, plus public and hotel pools for cooling off on a hot afternoon.

Denver gives you much more to eat and drink. It has a serious brewing culture, with taprooms in the RiNo warehouses, green chile smothered over burritos, and a long run of Vietnamese and Mexican cooking on Federal Boulevard. Highland and LoHi add casual chef-run places.

Ketchum does well for a small resort town, with trout, lamb and elk at a few ambitious kitchens and lively breakfast spots on ski mornings. Still, there is little cheap food, no local cuisine to seek out, and some places cut their hours in spring and autumn.

Denver has enough to fill two or three days. Around Civic Center Park are the gold-domed Capitol, the Denver Art Museum with its Native American collection, and the single-artist Clyfford Still Museum. Add the Victorian streets of Larimer Square and the Beaux-Arts hall of Union Station.

Sun Valley's history is a good story rather than a set of sights. America's first destination ski resort, the first chairlifts, a lodge lined with photographs of film stars, and Hemingway's grave in Ketchum make a pleasant afternoon, and then you are done.

Denver has a real evening scene built on bars rather than clubs. There are game-night crowds in LoDo, cocktail bars and taprooms in RiNo, and dive bars along East Colfax that stay open until closing time.

In Sun Valley a night out means après-ski in a few Ketchum saloons and hotel lounges, sometimes with a band on a winter weekend. Outside the ski season and midsummer, the town is usually quiet soon after dinner.

Both places are first and foremost about the mountains, and Sun Valley has a slight edge because you need no drive to reach them. Bald Mountain's long, steep runs start in Ketchum itself. In summer the same slopes turn into a dense network of singletrack, and the Big Wood River, Silver Creek and the Sawtooth lakes are close by.

Denver gives you more variety, but you have to drive for it. Red Rocks and the Golden foothills are half an hour away, the Flatirons and the 4,000m summits are a bit further, and Rocky Mountain National Park is about two hours off. The ski resorts are a similar distance along a busy I-70.

Denver is much the better base for day trips. Boulder's pedestrian main street, Golden's brick downtown, the Victorian mining towns of Georgetown and Idaho Springs, and Colorado Springs with Manitou Springs are all an easy drive, and Estes Park and Breckenridge are only a little further.

Around Sun Valley the land is wild and the towns are few. There is Hailey's short main street, the log-cabin outpost of Stanley, and Shoshone Falls two hours south. Most outings from Sun Valley go into the mountains rather than to other towns.

Denver has far more built for children. City Park holds the zoo and the Museum of Nature & Science with its dinosaurs and planetarium. By the South Platte, the Children's Museum, an aquarium and an amusement park sit close together, which helps a lot on a bad-weather day.

Sun Valley works well for families who ski. There is a gentle beginner hill away from the main mountain and a good ski school, and the streets are quiet and easy with children. Without skiing or sunshine, though, children and especially teenagers can run out of things to do.

The two are broadly level, but in different ways. Denver has a train from the airport to Union Station and a walkable downtown with a free shuttle along the 16th Street Mall. Beyond that it is a spread-out city, and the mountains need a hired car.

Sun Valley works as a self-contained resort. A free bus links Ketchum, the village and the lift bases, so a ski week without a car is realistic. Getting there is the harder part: the local airport is small, and the bigger ones are a long winter drive away.

Denver offers more variety. There is the upscale mall and boutique blocks of Cherry Creek, vintage clothes and records on South Broadway, and large flagship outdoor stores alongside shops for cowboy boots and hats.

Ketchum's few blocks are aimed at second-home owners: western art galleries with evening gallery walks, cashmere and home decor, and very good ski and fly-fishing shops. It is a narrow range, and expensive.

Neither is a bargain, but Denver gives you far more ways to save. You can stay out along the light rail, eat at taquerias and breweries, and spend your days on free trails and in parks. The hired car is the main extra cost.

In Sun Valley, wealthy second-home owners set the prices for rooms, meals and lift access, and there is little budget lodging. Staying down the valley and visiting in the quiet spring or autumn months help, but only so much.

Denver has performances all year. Red Rocks Amphitheatre, set between sandstone monoliths, is a reason to visit in itself. The performing arts complex downtown hosts theatre, the symphony, opera and ballet, and Five Points keeps its jazz tradition going in small rooms.

Sun Valley packs its live performance into summer. The free music festival brings a professional orchestra to the lawn by the lodge, and figure skaters perform on the outdoor rink. Come at another time of year and there is very little.

Sun Valley is the more restful place to stay. It has full resort spas and outdoor heated pools that are at their best when snow is falling, and rough natural hot springs by the creek in the Warm Springs valley, just west of Ketchum. Evenings are slow and early.

In Denver, relaxing in town means day spas and yoga studios. The mineral pools and steam caves at Idaho Springs are under an hour away, but you have to drive out for them rather than soaking at the end of your day on the slopes.