Park City or Sun Valley?

Neither town is really a place for outdoor swimming, and in both the heated pools and hot tubs get more use than any shore. The difference is distance. Park City has sandy swimming areas at Jordanelle Reservoir, a short drive away. Sun Valley's best lake swimming is at Redfish Lake under the Sawtooths, about an hour north, where the setting is grander and the water colder.

Both eat better than their size suggests, with the same kind of mountain menu of elk, trout and steak for a wealthy crowd. Park City's restaurants line historic Main Street and the resort bases. Cheaper meals come from the chains at Kimball Junction, and Salt Lake City's wider choice is just down the canyon.

Ketchum feels a little more homespun, with breakfast spots full on ski mornings, pizza places, après-ski grills and a summer farmers' market. It has no city within easy reach for variety, and some kitchens cut their hours in spring and autumn.

In both towns an afternoon covers the sights, but the stories differ. Park City's story is silver mining. You see it in the restored wooden storefronts of Main Street, the headframes on the slopes and the Park City Museum with its old jail cells, and the Utah Olympic Park adds the 2002 Winter Games.

Sun Valley's story is the resort itself. The Union Pacific built the lodge in 1936 with the world's first chairlifts, and its corridors are lined with photographs of film stars. Ketchum adds Hemingway's grave and his memorial by Trail Creek.

Park City has the livelier evenings. Once the slopeside decks empty, Main Street's saloons, cocktail bars and a few places with DJs or bands stay busy on winter weekends. It can get rowdy at peak season, although it still closes well before the small hours.

Sun Valley is quieter still. Ketchum has a handful of saloons, wine bars and hotel lounges, plus a couple of loud western bars, and no clubs. In both towns, nights outside the main seasons end early.

Both are serious mountain destinations, and the difference is one of character. Park City offers scale: one of North America's largest ski areas and Deer Valley's groomed runs start from town, and the steep powder of Alta, Snowbird, Brighton and Solitude is within an hour.

Sun Valley is built around one steeper mountain. Bald Mountain has long fall-line runs with hardly any traverses, and there is Nordic skiing and backcountry touring nearby. In summer, Park City's strength is lift-served biking straight from the streets, while Sun Valley's is wild country, with the Sawtooths, the Salmon River and Silver Creek.

Park City has far more within reach. Salt Lake City is about 40 minutes away, with Temple Square, the State Capitol and its museums. The Heber Valley steam railway, Swiss-style Midway, Ogden's old railroad street and the canyon road past Sundance can fill more days.

Most outings from Sun Valley go into empty country. There is small Hailey, the log-cabin outpost of Stanley and Shoshone Falls about two hours south, but Boise is too far for a comfortable day.

Park City is the stronger choice with children. Beyond its two ski schools, the Utah Olympic Park has an alpine coaster, ziplines, and freestyle skiers flipping into a splash pool. The resort bases add slides and climbing walls in summer, and Salt Lake City's zoo and aquarium are within an hour.

Sun Valley's separate beginner hill is a real help for children learning to ski, and summer brings horse rides, an outdoor ice rink and pools. But nothing here is built for children, and rainy days are hard to fill. In both towns, the altitude and the cost weigh on families.

In both towns you can spend a ski week without a car, thanks to free buses. Park City's network reaches further, linking Old Town, both ski bases, the outlying lodging areas and Kimball Junction, and the main airport is a short shuttle ride away.

Ketchum is flat and easier to walk than Park City's steep Main Street, and a bike path runs the length of the valley. Beyond town, though, Sun Valley's nearest airport is small, and the trailheads, hot springs and Sawtooths all need a car.

Park City has more to browse. Main Street mixes art galleries, Western-wear and cowboy-boot shops, jewellers and ski fashion, and Kimball Junction adds an outlet centre and chain stores, which Sun Valley lacks.

Ketchum's few blocks focus on fine and western art galleries, fly-fishing and outdoor gear, and cashmere and home-decor boutiques for second-home owners. Evening gallery walks during the main seasons make browsing more fun.

Park City's budget workaround lies outside the resort. Staying in Salt Lake City or the Heber Valley and driving up for the day saves a good deal, and summer and autumn cost far less than ski season, when the Christmas and New Year weeks are the steepest of all.

Sun Valley has hardly any budget lodging, so the savings come from staying further down the valley and visiting in the quiet spring or autumn months. Neither town is cheap, and there is little to choose between them overall.

Park City keeps a programme going all year, with plays, comedy and cabaret at the 1920s Egyptian Theatre and touring shows at the Eccles Center. In summer it adds the Utah Symphony on the Deer Valley lawns and free concerts in parks and plazas around town.

Sun Valley saves almost everything for one bigger event. Its Music Festival brings several weeks of free orchestral and chamber concerts to the open pavilion by the lodge, and figure skaters perform on the outdoor rink on summer evenings. Outside summer, there is very little on.

Park City's best soak is developed and unusual: the Homestead Crater in Midway, about 25 minutes away, is a warm pool inside a limestone dome where you can even snorkel.

Sun Valley's springs are wilder. Rough, undeveloped pools sit beside the creek up the Warm Springs valley at the end of a dirt road, and there is a simple hot springs pool north of town. Otherwise the two are much alike, with resort spas and steaming outdoor pools after a day on the slopes and no public bathing tradition.