Monterey or Snowbird?

Neither is a swimming destination, but Monterey at least has beaches worth visiting. Carmel's white sand, the Asilomar dunes and Del Monte Beach are lovely for walks, picnics and kayaking, though the bay stays cold and rip currents are common.

Snowbird is high in the Wasatch and far from any coast. Swimming here means the heated resort pools, or a drive of about an hour to the cold reservoirs of the Heber Valley.

Monterey eats much better. Squid, Dungeness crab and sand dabs come from the bay, Salinas Valley produce comes from just inland, and Carmel Valley Pinot Noir is poured in nearby tasting rooms. The good cooking is in Old Monterey's side streets, Pacific Grove and Carmel rather than on the wharf.

At Snowbird you eat at the resort. That means lodge restaurants, slopeside cafeterias and après-ski burgers, all competent and none of it local. Most guests drive down to Salt Lake City for a night or two of variety.

There is a real gap here. Monterey was the capital of Alta California, and you can walk between the Custom House, Colton Hall and the Royal Presidio Chapel, with the Carmel Mission ten minutes away and Steinbeck's canneries on Cannery Row. It is small-scale history rather than great museums.

Snowbird has almost nothing in this line. Its concrete lodges date from 1971 and little remains of the canyon's mining past, so any museum visit means Salt Lake City.

Both are quiet at night, but Monterey gives you more choice. Alvarado Street has a short run of pubs, wine bars and brewpubs, and Cannery Row picks up a little at weekends. At Snowbird the evening peaks with après-ski on the base deck and is over by mid-evening, since everyone is aiming for the first tram.

Both places are outstanding, and Snowbird edges ahead for sheer mountain scale. It has a tram to Hidden Peak, famously deep powder, steep chutes and bowls linked to Alta, and in summer hikes through Albion Basin's wildflowers and climbing on granite walls.

Monterey's strength is wildlife. Whales pass over the submarine canyon, sea otters float in the kelp, and Point Lobos and Big Sur's redwood canyons are a short drive south. It suits people who like the coast, the water and gentler walks rather than altitude.

Monterey has the better spread of short outings. Carmel, Pacific Grove and the Carmel Valley wineries are all minutes away, with Steinbeck's Salinas, the mission at San Juan Bautista and the Santa Cruz boardwalk not much further.

From Snowbird the two main outings are good ones. Salt Lake City has Temple Square and the State Capitol, and Park City has its Victorian Main Street. After those, Midway, Sundance and Ogden are pleasant but minor.

Monterey is the easier family choice. The aquarium alone fills a day, and children can watch otters and sea lions from the waterfront path, poke around tide pools, go out on a whale-watching boat and run around Dennis the Menace Park. The cold sea means sandcastles rather than swimming.

Snowbird works best for families who already ski, ideally with teenagers or confident young skiers. Its car-free base is easy to manage, and summer brings an alpine slide and a ropes course, but small children may tire in the thin air.

These two are about equal, but the difficulties are different. Monterey's flat coastal trail links the wharf, downtown, Cannery Row and the aquarium on foot or by bike. For Point Lobos, Big Sur or the 17-Mile Drive, though, you need a car, because the buses are sparse.

Snowbird is all short walks inside a car-free base. The weak point is the single canyon road, which jams on powder mornings and can close for avalanche control, so trips to the city and the airport depend on it.

Monterey itself sells mostly taffy and sea-otter souvenirs. Still, Carmel's galleries and independent boutiques and Pacific Grove's antique shops make a good afternoon. Snowbird has a few base-area shops selling ski gear and resort-branded clothing, handy for lost goggles and nothing more. For real shopping you have to go to Salt Lake City or Park City.

Both are expensive, and the costs fall in different places. In Monterey the outlay goes on rooms priced for Californian weekenders, resort-level dinners and the aquarium. It helps to stay in Seaside or Marina, come midweek or in winter, and enjoy the free pleasures of the coast.

At Snowbird the big costs are lift tickets, rentals and slopeside rooms. Multi-resort passes help regular skiers, staying in Salt Lake City cuts costs if you are willing to drive up each morning, and summer is noticeably cheaper.

Monterey has real musical history. The Monterey Jazz Festival has run every September since 1958 and the 1967 Pop Festival was held on the same fairgrounds, while in summer the Carmel Bach Festival fills the peninsula's churches. Outside festival time there is the symphony and touring acts at the Golden State Theatre.

Snowbird offers outdoor concerts on the plaza in summer, Oktoberfest oompah bands and the odd après-ski band in winter. Anything more ambitious, from opera to theatre, means the drive down to Salt Lake City.

Neither has a bathing tradition, so the difference is in the setting. In Monterey, rest comes from slow walks along the Pacific Grove shore, quiet days in Carmel and resort spas among the vineyards of sunny Carmel Valley.

Snowbird has a single strong option: the rooftop spa pool and hot tubs looking onto the canyon walls, best after a day on the slopes. For a change, you can soak in Homestead's geothermal crater in Midway.