Palm Desert or Telluride?

Neither place has a beach. Palm Desert is two hours from the Pacific and Telluride is deep in the Rockies, so neither is any use for a seaside vacation.

What differs is the water you do get. In Palm Desert it is the pool, heated in winter and found at almost every resort and rental. In Telluride it is cold mountain water: a chilly reservoir swim near Ridgway, or rafting and fishing on the rivers.

The two eat about equally well, in different ways. Palm Desert offers polished, rather samey resort dining on El Paseo, and its real local flavour is out east in the Indio taquerias and the date groves, where a date shake is the thing to try.

Telluride packs a few ambitious kitchens into a tiny town, cooking Colorado lamb, elk and trout, with good craft beer and deeper wine lists than you would expect. The choice is small, though, and tables are hard to get on busy weeks.

Neither is a destination for sightseeing, and each needs only a morning or two. Palm Desert is a post-war resort town with little history of its own. Its art comes from the branch of the Palm Springs Art Museum, with a sculpture garden, and the galleries along El Paseo, while the valley's mid-century modern architecture is in Palm Springs.

Telluride's appeal is the town itself. The mining-era grid of clapboard houses and false-fronted shops is a National Historic Landmark, and the museum in the old miners' hospital, the Sheridan Opera House and the mill ruins on the canyon walls tell its silver and gold story.

Both are early-to-bed towns. Palm Desert's evenings are patio cocktails and wine bars with a retiree and golfing crowd. Anyone wanting a late night drives to the tribal casinos or to the bars of downtown Palm Springs.

In Telluride, evenings mean après-ski and old saloons on Colorado Avenue, which can stay lively late in peak ski weeks and on festival weekends. Outside those times it goes very quiet, and there are no clubs or casinos to fall back on.

Palm Desert has fine desert scenery: steep trails into the Santa Rosa Mountains, palm oases in the Indian Canyons, the tramway up to pine forest and Joshua Tree an hour away. All of it depends on the cooler months, though, as summer heat restricts you to the hours around dawn.

Telluride is on another level. It is surrounded by peaks above 4,000m, with Bridal Veil Falls, the high basins and the wildflower meadows all starting from town, and it has a real ski mountain in winter and golden aspens in autumn. The one catch is the altitude, which takes a day or two to adjust to.

Palm Desert has far more within an easy drive. Palm Springs is twenty minutes away and Joshua Tree about an hour, with Temecula's wine country, cool Idyllwild, Pioneertown and the painted Salvation Mountain all doable in a day.

From Telluride, every trip goes over mountain roads. Ridgway and Ouray are charming but small. Silverton takes two hours over Red Mountain Pass, and Mesa Verde's cliff dwellings are just about possible as a long day, with winter weather able to close the passes.

Palm Desert has the edge for children because of The Living Desert, a large zoo and garden in town with giraffes and cheetahs, plus resort pools with slides to fill the afternoons. The downsides are a long summer that is too hot at midday and a valley mostly built around golf.

Telluride suits active families. Children love the free gondola, the ski school is good, and summer brings easy waterfall walks and fishing. However, there is almost nothing for wet days, the altitude can disturb young children's sleep at first, and the cost adds up fast for a family.

Palm Desert is built for cars. It spreads out along wide boulevards with slow buses, and only a few blocks of El Paseo are pleasant to walk, though roads are clear and parking is easy.

Telluride is the reverse. You can cross the historic grid on foot in a quarter of an hour, and the free gondola and buses connect it with Mountain Village, so many visitors never drive. The difficult part is getting there and back, with an airport often hit by weather and larger ones up to two hours away.

For shopping, Palm Desert is clearly ahead. El Paseo is a palm-lined street of upscale boutiques, jewellers and galleries, there is a large mall nearby, and a big designer outlet centre is half an hour west, with vintage and mid-century furniture in Palm Springs.

Telluride has only a few blocks of galleries, Western wear, bookshops and outdoor gear on Colorado Avenue. It is pleasant for an hour's browse, but prices are high and the choice is limited.

Neither is cheap, but Palm Desert is much easier on the wallet. Chain hotels and rentals offer reasonable stays all year, and from June to September resort rooms drop to a fraction of their winter rates. The main extra costs are a hire car, golf and spa treatments.

Telluride is near the top of the North American market for everything: scarce rooms, lift tickets, guided activities and meals out. It is at its most expensive at Christmas and on festival weekends. Staying in Ridgway saves money but means a daily drive over the mountains.

Both are broadly level here, and both rely on seasons. Palm Desert's strength is the McCallum Theatre, with a winter run of touring Broadway shows, ballet and orchestras, plus casino concerts, and Coachella and Stagecoach in nearby Indio each spring.

Telluride is a summer festival town. The Bluegrass Festival in Town Park is famous, there are jazz, blues and chamber music festivals, and the film festival comes at the end of summer, with the historic Sheridan Opera House open year-round. Outside the festivals, both are quiet.

Palm Desert does relaxation better. The whole place runs at a winter-retreat pace, with resort spas, poolside afternoons and dry sunshine, and Desert Hot Springs half an hour away fills its small spa pools from natural mineral springs.

Telluride is calm too, particularly in the shoulder seasons, and Mountain Village has hotel spas for sore legs after skiing. To soak in the hot springs at Ouray or near Ridgway you need an hour's drive, and the thin air can make the first nights restless.