Jackson Hole or Sonoma?

Neither is a swimming destination, and they fall short in different ways. Jackson Hole has only mountain lakes, with sandy String Lake warm enough by late summer and the rest bracing. Sonoma has hotel pools and the gravel beaches of the Russian River, while the coast at Bodega Bay is for looking at, not swimming in.

Food is Sonoma's real strength and the main reason many visitors come. Wineries from the Carneros hills to Glen Ellen are a short drive away, and seasonal Californian cooking with local cheese, olive oil and coast oysters is made to go with their wine.

Jackson eats better than most mountain towns, with elk, bison and trout, huckleberries in everything and a few serious wine lists around the Town Square. The meals there are hearty food after a day outside. Neither town has much street food or variety.

Sonoma has more history to walk through. The plaza where the Bear Flag Revolt played out, Mission San Francisco Solano, the adobe barracks and Vallejo's house give it a compact half day of early California.

Jackson's sights are fewer and more tied to the landscape: the antler arches, the National Museum of Wildlife Art, and the Mormon Row barns and log chapel framed by the Tetons. Either fits easily between other plans.

Jackson Hole has more going on after dark, mostly in winter, when the après-ski bars in Teton Village fill as the lifts close and the saddle-stool saloon in town has a country dance floor. It still winds down well before midnight.

Sonoma's evenings end with dinner and perhaps a glass in a wine bar on the plaza. Anyone wanting a proper night out has to drive to Santa Rosa or San Francisco.

Jackson Hole is among the great mountain bases anywhere. The Tetons rise straight from the valley floor, Grand Teton and Yellowstone offer bears, bison, moose and elk, and winter brings some of the steepest lift-served skiing in North America.

Sonoma's nature is softer: vineyards between two ranges, oak hills, redwood groves at Sugarloaf Ridge, quiet back roads for cycling and balloons at dawn. It is pleasant rather than wild, and high summer brings heat and the risk of fire smoke.

Sonoma is far better placed for day trips. San Francisco is about an hour away, Napa's towns are just over the hills, and Healdsburg, Petaluma and Sausalito all make easy outings, even if many of them are more wine country.

From Jackson, the excursions are into the parks themselves. The farm towns over Teton Pass and the ranch towns to the south are pleasant drives but not destinations.

Jackson Hole is much the better choice with children who like being outside. Wildlife from the car, flat lakeside trails, scenic floats, sleigh rides, the summer rodeo and the staged shootout on the square give them plenty to enjoy, though rainy days and long drives can be hard.

Sonoma is calm and safe but built for adults who taste wine. Beyond the plaza playground, the miniature railway park and the African wildlife park near Santa Rosa, families tend to run out of things to do.

Both have walkable centres and both need a car beyond them, but Jackson Hole is slightly easier. A local bus links town with Teton Village, about 20km away, which covers most ski days, and the airport is a short drive north.

In Sonoma the local buses are of little use, so tasting days mean a hired driver, a tour or a bicycle on the flat roads to wineries nearby.

Both are small-scale boutique strolls with no department stores, so the difference is what you bring home. Jackson's boardwalks are lined with Western and wildlife art galleries, handmade cowboy hats, boots, turquoise and high-end mountain gear. Sonoma's plaza and arcades sell wine straight from the producers, olive oil, cheese and kitchenware, the kind of food gifts that fit in a suitcase.

Both are costly, and neither offers an easy budget trip. Jackson's expense comes from resort-priced rooms, lift tickets and guided trips, though trails and roadside wildlife cost nothing once you are there. Sonoma's adds up through wine-country rooms, tasting fees and the need for a car or driver. In both, staying nearby helps, over the pass in Idaho or in Santa Rosa or Petaluma.

Summer is when there is something on stage in either town, and they differ in what that is. Jackson Hole's centrepiece is the Grand Teton Music Festival, which has brought players from leading American orchestras to a timber hall in Teton Village since the 1960s. For a looser evening there are chuckwagon dinner shows and country bands in the saloons.

Sonoma's summer means Broadway-style concerts outdoors among the ruins and oaks of Jack London's park, plus concerts at wineries. For serious classical music it relies on the Green Music Center, a fine hall about half an hour away that draws touring orchestras. For opera or theatre, people go to San Francisco. Outside summer, neither town has much to attend.

Sonoma is the more restful base. The mineral water at Boyes Hot Springs feeds a historic spa right on the edge of town, and the town's slow mornings and long terrace afternoons are the point of a stay. Calistoga's mud baths are an hour away.

Jackson's hot springs are wilder, one in a forested canyon reached by sled in winter and another beside the Snake River. There, a soak or massage is mostly a reward after skiing or hiking.