Keystone or Tucson?

Neither city has a beach, and the water you do find is used differently. In Keystone, Dillon Reservoir is for sailing and enjoying the view, because the snowmelt water is too cold to swim and swimming is mostly not allowed. A hot tub is the usual way to get into water there.

In Tucson the pool is how you cool off in the heat. After the rains, small pools form along the creek in Sabino Canyon. The nearest sea is around four hours away, in Mexico.

Tucson eats much better. Its Sonoran Mexican cooking includes mesquite-grilled carne asada, very thin flour tortillas and the bacon-wrapped Sonoran hot dog. Long-running family kitchens in the southern barrios serve it, and desert ingredients such as tepary beans and prickly pear add something you won't find elsewhere.

Keystone serves resort food: burgers and craft beer after skiing, plus elk, lamb or trout in its more ambitious dining rooms. Many visitors cook in their condo or drive to Breckenridge for more choice.

Tucson has much more to see. Mission San Xavier del Bac, with its gilded painted interior, is the highlight, and the adobe houses of Barrio Viejo, the Native American collections at the Arizona State Museum and the huge aircraft park at Pima Air & Space easily fill two or three days.

Keystone was built for skiing in the 1970s and has almost nothing to visit inside the resort. Its history is out in the old mining cabins up the Snake River valley and in the Victorian towns nearby.

Tucson has the better evenings, though it is no party city. Fourth Avenue has student dive bars and patios, and Congress Street has cocktail bars and rooftops, all within walking distance of each other. Weekends during the university term are the liveliest.

Keystone's night out is après-ski. The decks at River Run are busy in the late afternoon, and the resort is quiet soon after dinner. If you want more, Breckenridge's Main Street is a short bus ride away.

Both are excellent for the outdoors, but Keystone comes out ahead. It has bowls above 3,600m and Arapahoe Basin just up the road, plus Breckenridge, Copper Mountain and Vail within an hour, all with dry, reliable snow. In summer the same country offers fourteeners, alpine tundra at Loveland Pass and lift-served biking, though the altitude takes a day or two to get used to.

Tucson's landscape is completely different: saguaro forests on both sides of the city, the canyons of Sabino and Catalina, and the drive up Mount Lemmon from cactus to pine. The birdwatching is world-class. The limit is the summer heat, which pushes outings to dawn.

The day trips are about equally good, and both cities lead you into old mining country. From Keystone it is Colorado silver: Breckenridge is close enough for the free bus, and Georgetown has its loop railway. Leadville and Vail are further out, and Denver is a drive of about an hour and a half.

From Tucson it is copper and the Wild West: Bisbee's steep Victorian streets and Tombstone, with Tubac and the Tumacácori mission ruins nearer the city. Each of these is a longer drive, and all of them need a car.

Keystone is better set up for children, at least in winter. The ski school and gentle lower slopes are made for beginners, there is a snow fort on the mountain and a huge skating rink at Lakeside Village, and with condos and free shuttles you hardly need the car. Plan for the cold and for children feeling the altitude in the first days.

Tucson has more to do away from the outdoors: the Desert Museum's mountain lions and hummingbirds, the zoo, the planetarium and the giant aircraft. Those sights are spread out, though, and only comfortable from October to April.

Once you have arrived, Keystone is the easier place to manage without a car. Free shuttles link its three bases, and free county buses run to Frisco and Breckenridge. The hard part is getting there: the drive up I-70 from Denver can be slow in snow.

In Tucson the Sun Link streetcar only covers downtown, Fourth Avenue and the university. The national park, the mission and Mount Lemmon all need a hire car, but traffic is light and parking is easy.

Tucson is the better place to shop, for things you can only find there. Look for Native American silver jewellery, Tohono O'odham baskets and Mexican folk art in the old-town galleries and in Tubac, or vintage shops on Fourth Avenue. In winter the gem and mineral show fills the city with dealers.

Keystone mostly sells ski gear and rentals. The one big draw is the outlet centre in Silverthorne, about ten minutes away.

Tucson costs a lot less. Mid-range hotels are cheaper there, family Mexican restaurants make eating cheaply easy, and summer brings real bargains. A hire car and tipping still add to the bill.

Keystone is expensive, and most of all at Christmas and spring break, when lifts, ski school, rentals and slopeside rooms all cost a lot. A condo kitchen, the supermarkets in Dillon and the free buses help, and summer costs less, but it is still not cheap.

Tucson has a proper season from autumn to spring, with its symphony orchestra, Arizona Opera, touring Broadway shows at Centennial Hall and concerts at the restored Fox Theatre. Mariachi is a strong local tradition.

Keystone's live performance is mostly in summer and outdoors: festival stages in the village, the amphitheatre beside Dillon Reservoir and Breckenridge's classical music festival. In winter the main option is the theatre company in Silverthorne.

Tucson is the place for a wellness trip. It is one of the original homes of the American destination spa, and resorts in the Catalina foothills offer fitness programmes, desert walks and meditation, set in quiet, sunny winter weather.

In Keystone wellness means recovering after skiing: a massage at a resort spa, and a hot tub outdoors while the snow falls. For natural hot springs you have to drive over the pass to Idaho Springs. Neither city has a public bathing tradition.