Park City or Salt Lake City?

Neither city suits a beach trip, and swimmers from both go to the same Wasatch reservoirs. Jordanelle is the nearer of them from Park City, which otherwise offers little more than hotel pools and hot tubs. Salt Lake City adds the Great Salt Lake, where you can float without effort off Antelope Island. It is a one-off novelty, though, with muddy shores and brine flies in summer.

The two eat about equally well, but in different styles. Park City offers polished mountain cooking on Main Street and at the resort bases, such as elk, bison, trout and steaks, with après-ski drinks on slopeside decks as the ritual of the day.

Salt Lake City is broader and more down to earth. Its best meals come from the Mexican, Pacific Islander, Peruvian and Vietnamese kitchens along State Street, alongside local quirks such as fry sauce, fried scones and dirty sodas. Its wine and cocktail culture is thinner than in most American cities of its size, while in Park City's resort bars visitors rarely notice Utah's liquor rules.

Salt Lake City has far more to see. Temple Square can fill a day on its own, with the granite temple, the domed Tabernacle and its organ, and the Beehive House nearby. The State Capitol, the painted Cathedral of the Madeleine and the dinosaur halls of the Natural History Museum fill a second day.

In Park City, the main sight is the town itself. You can see the restored wooden storefronts of Main Street, the mine headframes on the slopes, the Park City Museum with its basement jail cells, and the Olympic museums at Utah Olympic Park. It makes a pleasant afternoon rather than a reason to visit.

Both places go to bed early, so the difference lies in the season and the setting. In Park City, the evening starts on slopeside decks when the lifts close and moves to Main Street's short run of saloons and cocktail bars. These are lively on winter weekends and very quiet in summer. Salt Lake City has a steadier year-round mix of downtown bars, Granary District breweries, a few dance clubs and a long-standing gay bar scene, though the liquor laws still limit late drinking.

Both are excellent for the outdoors, and they share the same mountains. In Park City, Park City Mountain and Deer Valley rise directly from town. In summer, hundreds of kilometres of singletrack start in the streets, and lifts carry bikes uphill.

From Salt Lake City, you reach Alta, Snowbird, Brighton and Solitude up the Cottonwood canyons in under an hour, and foothill trails start above the Avenues. Its real extra is the country to the west: bison grazing on Antelope Island and the white Bonneville Salt Flats.

Each city is the other's best day trip, and that gives Park City the edge. Forty minutes down the canyon, it has a whole city of museums, Temple Square and restaurants within reach. Going the other way, Salt Lake City visitors get an old mining town that most people see in an afternoon.

Beyond that, the two lists overlap: Ogden's railroad-era streets, Swiss-style Midway, and the Heber Valley with its heritage steam railway, which is right next to Park City. Salt Lake City adds the Golden Spike site to the north. The famous national parks are too far from either city for a day out.

Park City keeps children busy on the mountain itself. Its ski schools are well run, Utah Olympic Park has an alpine coaster and ziplines, and the resort bases add alpine slides and climbing walls in summer. The altitude can tire small children for the first day or two.

Salt Lake City has the classic family attractions that Park City lacks: Hogle Zoo, the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium, the Discovery Gateway children's museum and the big roller coasters at Lagoon. Restaurants and public spaces expect children, but the attractions are spread across the valley, so a car makes it much easier.

Park City is much easier to get around day to day. Free buses link Old Town, both ski bases and Kimball Junction, Main Street is walkable if steep, and many hotels run shuttles. You only need a car to explore the valleys.

Salt Lake City has the rail that Park City lacks, with TRAX light rail to the airport and the FrontRunner train north and south. But its wide streets and long blocks make walks longer than they look, and the zoo, the canyons and nearby towns are hard to reach without a hire car.

Park City is for Western style and art, while Salt Lake City is for outdoor kit. On Park City's Main Street you can browse art galleries, cowboy boots, Western wear and ski fashion, and there are outlet stores at Kimball Junction.

In Salt Lake City, the real draw is the local ski, climbing and camping shops. City Creek Center's department stores, the old streetcar barns of Trolley Square and the independent shops around 9th and 9th fill out the rest. Neither is worth the journey for shopping alone.

Salt Lake City is the clear choice for keeping costs down. Downtown hotels are reasonable, everything on Temple Square is free to visit, and light rail is inexpensive. The bill climbs only with a hire car and ski passes.

Park City sits at the top of the North American resort market. Slopeside lodging, lift tickets and dinners on Main Street are all expensive, and the Christmas weeks cost even more. Summer and autumn are much kinder, and many skiers on a budget sleep in Salt Lake City and drive up.

Salt Lake City has a full arts calendar. It has the Tabernacle Choir's public rehearsals and broadcasts, daily organ recitals, the Utah Symphony at Abravanel Hall, Utah Opera, Ballet West and touring Broadway shows at the Eccles Theater. Between them, there is something on most evenings.

Park City's main stage is the Egyptian Theatre, a 1920s playhouse on Main Street with comedy, plays and small concerts. Summer is the best season, when the symphony plays outdoors at Deer Valley and free concerts fill the parks. The rest of the year, there is little on.

Park City is the better place to unwind. The big lodges at Deer Valley and the Canyons base run polished spas with massages for tired legs, and outdoor hot tubs come with almost every stay. The Homestead Crater's warm spring is only 25 minutes away in Midway.

From Salt Lake City, the crater is closer to an hour's drive, and most spas worth booking are up at the resorts. The city is calm and unhurried, but rest comes as a side effect rather than a reason to visit.