Park City or Breckenridge?

Neither town is a swimming destination, and in both most visitors get in the water in a hot tub or an indoor pool. The lakes are what differ. Lake Dillon near Breckenridge is for sailing and paddling on cold water, not swimming. Jordanelle Reservoir below Park City has sandy swimming areas and picnic lawns for a short spell in high summer, helped by July afternoons that are far warmer than Breckenridge's.

Both towns cook the same mountain staples of elk, bison and trout, but Park City does it with more polish. Its wealthy ski crowd supports a denser cluster of upscale restaurants on Main Street and at the resort bases, and the wider choice in Salt Lake City is a drive down the canyon.

Breckenridge is more casual, with wood-fired pizza, sushi, Mexican kitchens, breakfast burritos with green chile and a long habit of brewing and distilling its own. Neither town has a culinary tradition, and some Breckenridge kitchens close in the quiet months.

Both are old mining towns whose best sight is their own main street, and you can see either in an afternoon. Breckenridge's 1859 gold-rush district is the bigger of the two, with Victorian storefronts, miners' cabins, a gold-mine tour where you can pan for gold, and old dredges in the Blue River valley.

Park City's story is silver, not gold, and it tells it in a proper museum in the old city hall, jail cells included. The Utah Olympic Park, left over from the 2002 Games, adds ski and Olympic museums.

In both towns evenings start with après-ski as the lifts close and end on Main Street, and neither has a club worth the name. Breckenridge stays out a little later on a winter Saturday, when brewpubs, saloons in Victorian buildings and a couple of dance bars keep going past midnight. At that altitude, each drink hits harder.

Park City's saloons and cocktail bars close up before the small hours. Salt Lake City, though, is close enough for a real night out, and Breckenridge has nothing like it nearer than Denver, two hours away.

Both are first-rate mountain bases in winter and in summer, and the difference is in the detail. Breckenridge sits higher, at almost 3,000m, below five peaks of the Tenmile Range. Quandary Peak, one of Colorado's highest summits, is a short drive south, and Keystone, Arapahoe Basin and Vail are all within reach. A paved path runs to Frisco and Lake Dillon for cycling and paddling, but the thin air calls for an easy first day or two.

Park City, at about 2,100m, is easier on the lungs and has slightly the stronger hand. Two large ski areas rise straight from town, Utah's light, dry powder falls all winter, and the steep terrain of Alta and Snowbird is over the ridge. In summer the lifts carry bikes uphill to singletrack that starts in the streets, and there is fly fishing on the Provo and Weber rivers.

Both towns have a short list of good outings before the map turns into other ski resorts, and what differs is the kind of place you reach. Breckenridge's best trips are to old mining towns: weathered Leadville and its national mining museum, about 45 minutes away past Copper Mountain and over Fremont Pass, then Georgetown with its narrow-gauge railway and Idaho Springs along the road towards Denver. Vail's Alpine-style village is under an hour west, while Denver itself is about two hours away when the weather allows.

Park City's strongest card is a real city about forty minutes down the canyon: Salt Lake City, with Temple Square and the domed State Capitol. Closer still are the Heber Valley steam railway and the Swiss-style chalets of Midway. Ogden, about an hour north, has a restored railroad-era street and a grand old station that make the drive worthwhile.

Park City is the easier choice with children. As well as its ski schools it has the Utah Olympic Park, where younger children ride the coaster and ziplines and watch freestyle skiers land in a splash pool. Salt Lake City's zoo and aquarium are within the hour, and the lower altitude tires small children less.

Breckenridge covers the ski basics well, with schools for young beginners, a free gondola, a summer activity park and an ice rink and pools in town. Beyond the mountain there is little for children, though, and at almost 3,000m altitude sickness can spoil the first days.

Once you have arrived, both towns work well on free buses and on foot. Breckenridge also has a free gondola from Main Street to the slopes, and county buses run to Frisco, Dillon, Keystone and Copper Mountain, so a week without a car is realistic.

The real difference is getting there. Park City's airport is about 40 minutes away. Breckenridge is roughly two hours on I-70 from Denver's airport, and snow can make that drive much longer. On the other hand, Park City's Main Street is steep and its parking is awkward.

Park City has more to buy. Its Main Street mixes galleries and outdoor stores with Western-wear and cowboy-boot shops, jewellers and upscale ski fashion, and Kimball Junction at the edge of town adds an outlet centre and chain stores.

Breckenridge's Main Street is mostly ski gear, rental shops, landscape galleries, sweet shops and souvenirs, all at resort prices. Serious shoppers drive to the outlets at Silverthorne.

Both are expensive in ski season, and Christmas and New Year are the dearest weeks in each, so neither is the budget choice. The ways to save differ. In Breckenridge, book lift access ahead, sleep in Frisco or Silverthorne and use the free buses and gondola. In Park City, budget visitors often stay in Salt Lake City or the Heber Valley and drive up. Summer and autumn are much cheaper in both.

Summer is the season for music in both towns. Breckenridge's Riverwalk Center by the Blue River hosts a long-running festival orchestra and a national academy of young professional musicians through July and August, and a small theatre company performs for much of the year.

Park City has the Utah Symphony on the Deer Valley lawns and free concerts in its parks. Its year-round asset is the 1920s Egyptian Theatre on Main Street, with comedy, cabaret and plays. Out of season there is little in either town, but from Park City you can at least drive to Salt Lake City for opera and ballet.

Breckenridge has spas in several resort hotels, and nearly every condo has an outdoor hot tub for a nightly soak in the snow. For natural hot water, though, you drive an hour to Idaho Springs or further still to Glenwood Springs. At that altitude many visitors end the day tired rather than rested.

Park City is the better place to unwind. The grand lodges at Deer Valley and the Canyons base run large, polished spas with massages for sore legs. Homestead Crater in Midway, under half an hour away, lets you swim or snorkel in geothermal water at about 35°C inside a beehive-shaped limestone dome.