Las Vegas or Vail?

Neither city has a coast, and on swimming they are close to level. What differs is the water. Las Vegas has warm summer water at Lake Mead's gravel Boulder Beach and big resort pools with wave machines and lazy rivers, while Vail's mountain lakes stay cold even in July, so a swim there usually means a hotel pool or hot tub.

Las Vegas has a much wider range of food. The Strip gathers famous chefs, steakhouses and tasting menus in one place, and the long Chinatown along Spring Mountain Road adds kilometres of Asian cooking served late into the night, with good Mexican food in the suburbs.

Vail's offer is polished but narrow: fondue, elk, lamb and trout in village dining rooms and lunches at slopeside lodges. Nothing in Vail is cheap, and many kitchens close in the off-season, so variety means a drive down the valley.

Neither is a heritage destination, but Las Vegas gives a sightseer more to do. The themed resorts, the Fremont Street light canopy, the Neon Museum's retired signs and the Mob Museum in the old courthouse can fill a day or two.

Vail's mock-Tyrolean village dates only from the 1960s. Apart from the Colorado Snowsports Museum, with its story of the Tenth Mountain Division, and the Alpine gardens in summer, there is very little to see.

This is the biggest gap between the two. Las Vegas runs all night, with superstar DJ residencies, pool dayclubs and the Strip as busy at three in the morning as at nine in the evening. The cheaper dive bars and cocktail lounges around Fremont Street offer a looser alternative.

Vail's nightlife is après-ski. Terraces fill as the lifts close and a few bars stay busy on winter weekends, but summer evenings are calm and the off-season town is close to empty after dinner.

Las Vegas has striking desert within reach, including Red Rock's sandstone climbing, Valley of Fire and the forests of Mount Charleston. However, every trip needs a car and summer heat rules out most of the hiking.

Vail is the stronger mountain base. You walk out of the village onto a huge ski area with the Back Bowls and Blue Sky Basin behind it, and in summer the gondolas give access to wilderness trails, fly fishing on Gore Creek and rafting rivers. Walking and riding are practical through most of the year, apart from the spring and autumn shoulder weeks.

Las Vegas has one classic outing, Hoover Dam with Boulder City. Beyond that, the Grand Canyon and Zion trips sold on the Strip are long days on the road to see landscapes.

Vail has more places within easy reach. Breckenridge's Victorian main street, the silver-boom town of Leadville, polished Beaver Creek and the canyon town of Glenwood Springs are all within about an hour, though a car is still needed.

Vail is far better suited to children, at least for families who ski or enjoy the mountains. It has large ski schools, gentle learning areas and a pedestrian village, and in summer there is tubing and a mountain coaster at the top of the gondola. The main drawbacks are the altitude and winter cold with toddlers.

Las Vegas can manage a day or two with its indoor rides, shark aquarium, fountain show and children's museum downtown. However, children have to cross casino floors to get almost anywhere, and summer heat makes walking with them hard.

Vail is much easier to get around once you arrive. The village core is car-free, the lifts start in town and a free bus runs the length of the valley. The hard parts are arriving and leaving, since the airports are a shuttle ride away and the pass can close in snow.

Las Vegas looks walkable but isn't really. The resorts are so large that the next one can be a twenty-minute walk away, and the routes take you over footbridges and through casinos. Most visitors end up relying on ride-hailing, the monorail or the all-night Strip buses.

Las Vegas is a serious shopping stop. Its resort arcades hold the big fashion and jewellery houses, Fashion Show adds department stores and two outlet centres cater to bargain hunters, all open late.

Vail's village lanes sell high-end ski wear, Western boots, fur and mountain landscape paintings. The range suits buying ski gear or a luxury keepsake, and for anything wider people go to Denver. Neither city has markets or much in the way of local craft.

Neither is cheap, but Las Vegas can be managed on a careful budget. Midweek rooms, downtown hotels and meals in Chinatown keep costs down, as long as you avoid weekends, clubs and Strip dining.

Vail has few ways to save. Lift tickets, ski school, equipment hire and slopeside rooms all cost well above American norms, and staying down the valley or coming in summer only softens the bill.

Las Vegas offers big shows every night of the year. There are dozens of permanent water and aerial spectacles, magicians and comedians, plus long residencies by pop and country stars, with touring Broadway and the Philharmonic at the Smith Center.

Vail's offer is seasonal but more serious. In July and August, Bravo! Vail brings visiting orchestras to the open-air Ford Amphitheater, and the Vail Dance Festival and the jazz festival follow. In winter there is little beyond après-ski bands.

Both rely on hotel spas rather than any bathing tradition, but Vail is the easier place to rest. You can take an outdoor hot tub under the peaks after a day outside, the village is quiet outside peak weekends, and the mineral pools and vapour caves of Glenwood Springs are an hour away.

Las Vegas has some of the country's largest spas, with thermal circuits and salt rooms. Even so, the casinos around them are lit and loud all day and night, so relaxing there means choosing a non-gaming hotel and booking spa time early in the day.