Jackson Hole or Las Vegas?

Neither city is a swimming destination, and the water they offer is quite different. Jackson Hole has cold mountain lakes: shallow String Lake warms enough for a real swim by late summer, but Jenny Lake and the Snake River stay chilly. Las Vegas has warm water with little natural setting, either Lake Mead's gravel shore in a shadeless desert basin or, more likely, the wave pools and lazy rivers of the Strip resorts.

Jackson eats well for a small mountain town, and its strength is regional cooking: elk, bison, trout and huckleberries around the Town Square, plus a summer farmers' market. But there is little variety between cuisines, and almost nothing is cheap.

Las Vegas has far more range. Strip resorts hold celebrity-chef dining rooms, steakhouses and tasting menus. Spring Mountain Road runs for kilometres with Sichuan, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese restaurants open late, and the suburbs have serious Mexican cooking.

Jackson's sights are Western and pastoral, while Las Vegas's are neon and spectacle. In Jackson that means the antler arches and boardwalks of the Town Square, the National Museum of Wildlife Art above the elk refuge, and the Mormon Row barns and log chapel framed by the Tetons.

Las Vegas's version is the themed resorts, the fountain show and the light canopy over Fremont Street, while the Neon Museum and the Mob Museum tell the city's short modern story. In either city, a day or two covers the sights.

Jackson's nights are après-ski bars in Teton Village and a historic saloon with saddles for bar stools and a country dance floor. The town is asleep before midnight, and in spring and autumn the bars can be close to empty.

Las Vegas is built for the opposite. It has DJ residencies at the resort clubs, dayclub pool parties, casino bars that never close and a Strip as busy at three in the morning as at nine. For something cheaper and looser, Fremont Street and the arts district have dive bars and craft beer.

Jackson Hole is among the finest mountain bases anywhere. Grand Teton National Park starts minutes from town, Yellowstone's south entrance is about an hour and a half away, and moose, bison, elk and bears are part of a normal day. In winter, Teton Village has some of the steepest lift-served skiing in North America.

Las Vegas has striking desert close by: the sandstone cliffs and climbing of Red Rock Canyon, the flame-coloured rock of Valley of Fire and cooler pine trails on Mount Charleston. But summer heat rules out most desert hiking for four months, and the wildlife and range of landscapes are far narrower.

Almost every outing from Jackson goes into the landscape. The drive over Teton Pass to the Idaho farm towns of Victor and Driggs, or out to the ranch town of Pinedale, is pleasant but not worth a full day. Las Vegas does a little better with one solid classic, Hoover Dam and Boulder City, the town built for its workers. Beyond that, its famous tours to the Grand Canyon or Zion are long journeys to scenery rather than to places.

Jackson Hole is much the easier choice with children, provided they like being outside. They can spot wildlife from the car, earn Junior Ranger badges, ride a sleigh through the elk herd and watch the summer rodeo, and the town is small and safe. Long drives into the parks and rainy days are the weak spots.

Las Vegas has an indoor amusement park, a shark aquarium and the Discovery Children's Museum. But children are routed through casino floors in almost every resort, adult advertising is everywhere, and summer heat makes walking hard. Most families use it as a stop on a national parks road trip.

Both are places where you need a car, with Las Vegas slightly easier without one. Jackson's centre is a few walkable blocks and a bus runs to Teton Village in ski season, but there is no public transport into the parks, and winter roads need care.

Las Vegas has a monorail and buses along the Strip day and night, plus plenty of taxis and ride-hailing. Walking there is deceptive, though: routes go through casinos and over footbridges, and summer heat makes it punishing. Red Rock and Hoover Dam still mean a hire car or a tour.

Jackson's shopping fits into a few boardwalk blocks around the Town Square. The range is narrow but distinctive: galleries of Western and wildlife art, handmade cowboy hats and boots, turquoise jewellery and serious mountain gear.

Las Vegas offers far more choice. The Caesars Palace and Venetian arcades and the luxury mall mid-Strip hold the major fashion houses, Fashion Show adds department stores, and two outlet centres draw bargain hunters, all open late. What it lacks is anything local.

Neither is cheap, but Jackson Hole costs more. Rooms in summer and ski season are among the dearest in the country and often scarce, and lift tickets, rafting and meals all carry resort prices. The savings come from free trails and roadside wildlife, staying over the pass in Idaho, or visiting in late spring or autumn.

Las Vegas can be reasonable from Sunday to Thursday, especially downtown, and eating in Chinatown keeps meals down. Weekend rates, resort fees, cocktails and shows still push a stay up quickly.

Live performance in Jackson is a summer affair. The Grand Teton Music Festival brings orchestral players to the timber hall in Teton Village, with chuckwagon dinner shows and country bands around it, and the rest of the year is quiet.

In Las Vegas, shows are a reason to make the trip. There are permanent theatres for water-based acrobatic spectacles, dozens of magic, comedy and revue shows every night, and residencies by stars who rarely tour. The Smith Center adds touring Broadway musicals, ballet and the Philharmonic.

Jackson relaxes you with natural hot springs, and Las Vegas with enormous hotel spas. Jackson has a hot spring pool in a forested canyon, reached in winter by snowmobile or dog sled, and soaking pools on the banks of the Snake, in a town that goes to bed early.

Las Vegas's resort spas offer thermal circuits, saunas and salt rooms to day visitors, but they sit inside a city built to keep you awake. Choose Jackson for outdoor soaking and quiet evenings, and Las Vegas for a polished spa morning.