Jackson Hole or Napa?

Neither is a place to come for the water, but Jackson Hole has slightly better natural swimming. In late summer, shallow, sandy String Lake at the foot of the Tetons warms enough for a proper swim between hikes, though Jenny Lake and the river stay cold.

In Napa the summer swim is usually in a hotel pool. Lake Berryessa in the eastern hills is the local escape, and the Sonoma coast is over an hour away and too cold and rough for swimming.

Napa is one of the great food and wine destinations in America, and Jackson cannot match it. Tasting rooms line Highway 29 and the Silverado Trail, Yountville and St Helena have a run of nationally celebrated kitchens, and the Oxbow Public Market puts oysters, cheese and bakeries under one roof.

Jackson eats well for a mountain town, with elk, bison, trout and huckleberries around the Town Square and some ambitious dining rooms. But the choice is small, and there is nothing like Napa's depth of cellars and farm-led cooking.

Both are thin on sights and can be covered in a day, but the sights are very different. Jackson's best ones belong to the landscape: the barns of Mormon Row and the log chapel framing the peaks, plus the National Museum of Wildlife Art above the elk refuge.

Napa's are about townscape and wine: the restored 1880 Opera House, Victorian streets along the river, old stone wineries and contemporary art at di Rosa in Carneros.

Jackson Hole has a little more going on after dark, mainly in ski season. Après-ski crowds fill the bars at the base of Teton Village, and in town a historic saloon with saddles for bar stools hosts country dancing.

A night in Napa is a long dinner and maybe a glass at a riverfront wine bar. Anyone wanting more drives an hour to San Francisco. Neither has clubs, and both go quiet early.

Jackson Hole is one of the world's great mountain bases, and here Napa is in a different league. The Tetons rise without foothills above a valley with grizzlies, moose, bison and thousands of wintering elk, with Grand Teton on the doorstep and Yellowstone close by. There is rafting in summer, golden aspens in autumn and some of North America's steepest skiing in winter.

Napa's outdoors are gentler and more cultivated. You can take a balloon flight over the vineyards at dawn, cycle the valley trail, walk among the redwoods at Bothe-Napa or climb Mount St Helena for the view. These make good half-days, not a reason to come.

Napa is far better placed for days out. Yountville, St Helena and Calistoga are minutes up the valley, while Sonoma's plaza and mission and the Healdsburg wine country make a change of scene. San Francisco, Sausalito and Berkeley are about an hour away, with Sacramento not much further.

From Jackson, nearly every outing is into the parks rather than to another town. The Idaho farm towns of Victor and Driggs over Teton Pass make a pleasant drive but not a destination.

Jackson Hole is much easier with children. They can watch wildlife from the car, take a gentle float on the Snake, ride a sleigh through the elk refuge and see the summer shootout on the square, and the ski school is good. The long drives and altitude tire small children, though.

Napa is mostly a place for adults. A theme and animal park in Vallejo, Calistoga's geyser and hotel pools help, but days of tastings in the summer heat are hard going.

You need a car in both, but Jackson is slightly easier without one. Its compact centre is walkable, and a bus runs about 20km out to Teton Village in ski season, although there is no public transport into the parks.

Napa's wineries are spread along some 50km of road, and buses are too infrequent to plan around. Tasting and driving don't mix either, so many visitors pay for a driver or join a tour.

Neither is much of a shopping destination, and what each sells reflects what the town is about. Jackson's boardwalks are lined with galleries of Western and wildlife art, handmade cowboy hats and boots, turquoise jewellery and technical ski gear.

In Napa, most people's main purchase is cases of wine shipped home from the cellars. St Helena's cookware and design shops, food gifts at the market hall and an outlet mall fill in the rest.

Both are among the most expensive places to stay in the United States, with resort prices for rooms, meals and guided days. In Jackson, though, the main attractions cost little once you arrive: trails, viewpoints and roadside wildlife are free beyond the park entry fees. Staying over Teton Pass in Idaho, or coming in the quiet months of late spring and autumn, cuts the bill noticeably.

In Napa the tastings, celebrated restaurants and hired drivers are the reason for the trip, and they are also what costs the most. To save, stay in a chain hotel further south, eat at the taquerias and the market hall, and choose smaller cellars over the famous estates. Even then it is not a cheap trip.

Neither offers much, and both are at their best in summer. Jackson's highlight is the Grand Teton Music Festival, with orchestral players filling a timber hall in Teton Village, alongside chuckwagon shows and country bands.

Napa has more variety through the year. The 1880 Opera House and an Art Deco theatre take touring acts, a summer classical festival plays in winery venues and a big rock festival comes in late spring. For serious opera or theatre, San Francisco is close.

Napa is the more restful choice. Calistoga has been a spa town since the nineteenth century, and its volcanic mud baths and mineral pools are the classic end to a day of tastings, backed by large resort spas and a deliberately slow pace.

Jackson's hot springs feel wilder. One pool sits in a forested canyon reached by dog sled or snowmobile in winter, and another is on the banks of the Snake. Beyond those and the hotel spas, there is little spa culture.