Park City or Sonoma?

Neither town is a place to swim, and for both the water is a side activity. Park City's version is Jordanelle Reservoir down the valley, with sandy swimming areas and cool water for a brief summer, plus the hotel hot tubs most visitors actually use.

Sonoma has a real coast within reach, but the Bodega Bay headlands are for looking at rather than swimming in. Summer swimming happens on the gravel banks of the Russian River, where the water warms enough for a slow afternoon.

Sonoma is the better place to eat and drink, because food and wine are what the valley is for. Tasting rooms ring the plaza, wineries lie a short drive away, and the cooking leans on local cheese, olive oil, produce and coast oysters. It rewards a long lunch with a good bottle more than a hunt for variety.

Park City eats well for a ski town, with elk, bison and trout on Main Street and a lively après-ski ritual on the slopeside decks. Beyond that the range narrows to chains at Kimball Junction, and there is no local food culture to explore the way there is in Sonoma.

Sonoma has the richer history for a short visit. Its broad plaza saw the Bear Flag Revolt, and the Franciscan mission, the adobe barracks and General Vallejo's house all stand within a short walk, with Jack London's ruined Wolf House up in Glen Ellen.

Park City's heritage is silver mining, told well at the museum in the old city hall and visible in the headframes above Main Street, and the Olympic Park adds ski history. It fills an afternoon, a little less than Sonoma's half day.

Park City has more of an evening, though only by small-town standards. Après-ski on the decks rolls into a run of saloons and cocktail bars on Main Street, with the odd DJ or band, and winter weekends can get loud.

Sonoma winds down after dinner, with a few wine bars, a brewpub and quiet streets by late evening. In both towns a real night out means driving, to Salt Lake City from one and Santa Rosa or San Francisco from the other.

Park City is the stronger choice by a long way. At about 2,100m in the Wasatch, it has two big ski areas starting in town, light Utah powder all winter and Alta and Snowbird within an hour. In summer, lifts carry bikes uphill to a huge trail network, and there is fly fishing on the Provo and Weber.

Sonoma's landscape is softer. Vineyard roads are good for cycling, there are walks up to the Sonoma Overlook and among the redwoods at Sugarloaf Ridge, and Point Reyes is within an hour. It is lovely countryside rather than a playground for sport.

Sonoma is far better placed for days out. San Francisco is about an hour away and makes a full day of city sights, Napa, Yountville and St Helena are just over the hills, and Petaluma, Healdsburg and Sausalito add towns with real character. The repetition of wine valley after wine valley is the only drawback.

From Park City, Salt Lake City and its Temple Square are the main outing, with the Heber Valley steam railway, Swiss-style Midway and Ogden's station beyond. After that the choices are mostly scenery.

Park City is much easier with children. Ski schools and gentle slopes in winter, and coasters, alpine slides, climbing walls and easy bike trails in summer, fill the days. The free buses spare parents a fight with car seats, although the altitude can tire small children at first.

Sonoma is calm and safe but built for adults who are tasting wine. A playground on the plaza, a miniature railway and an African wildlife park near Santa Rosa are about all there is, which is why families often base themselves in San Francisco instead.

Park City works without a car. Free buses link Old Town, both ski bases, the lodging areas and Kimball Junction, and parking is awkward enough that leaving the car behind makes sense, though you will want one for other valleys.

In Sonoma only the plaza and a few nearby tasting rooms are walkable. The wineries, parks and coast are spread out, buses are of little use, and most visitors hire a car, book a driver or join a tour, with a bike as an option for nearby wineries.

Neither town is a shopping destination, and what differs is what you carry home. Park City offers resort browsing along Main Street, with galleries, cowboy boots, ski fashion and outdoor gear, plus an outlet centre at Kimball Junction. Sonoma's plaza arcades lean towards kitchenware, olive oil, cheese and wine bought straight from the producers, with a summer farmers' market that Park City lacks.

Both are expensive, and the costs come from different places. In Park City it is lift tickets, ski school and slopeside lodging, at their steepest over Christmas and New Year, while summer and autumn are much gentler. Budget visitors stay in Salt Lake City or the Heber Valley.

Sonoma's bill builds from scarce wine-country rooms, tasting fees and the near-necessity of a car or driver, with summer and harvest the dearest times. Staying in Santa Rosa or Petaluma and picnicking among the vines are the usual ways to save.

Both are summer towns for live performance, with thin programmes in the other months and the serious stage an hour away in a bigger city. Park City's advantage is the Egyptian Theatre on Main Street, which has comedy and plays all year, and the Utah Symphony's lawn concerts at Deer Valley.

Sonoma answers with Broadway-style shows among the ruins of Jack London's estate, winery concerts and, half an hour away, the Green Music Center, a proper concert hall for touring orchestras.

In Park City, unwinding means thawing out after the slopes. The big lodge spas at Deer Valley and the Canyons base offer massages for tired legs, and nearly every stay has an outdoor hot tub under the snow. The most unusual soak is in Midway, about 25 minutes away, where the Homestead Crater lets you swim or snorkel in a warm spring inside a limestone dome.

Sonoma rests more slowly. At Boyes Hot Springs, on the edge of town, mineral water has fed a historic resort spa for well over a century, and it sells day passes to non-guests. Calistoga's mud baths are about an hour over the hills. Mostly, though, rest here means quiet mornings on the plaza and long afternoons on a shaded terrace, which suits a couple taking it easy rather than anyone recovering from a day of sport.