Salt Lake City or Sun Valley?

Neither place has beaches, but the water each offers is different. Salt Lake City has the oddity of floating without effort in the Great Salt Lake off Antelope Island, a one-time experience on a muddy shore. For a proper swim, people go to mountain reservoirs such as Jordanelle and Pineview, with boats and paddleboards.

Sun Valley's best swim is Redfish Lake under the Sawtooths, an hour north. The shore is sandy but the water stays cold even in August, so the town's heated outdoor pools are the more reliable place to swim.

Neither is worth the trip for the food alone, and they eat in different ways. In Salt Lake City the best meals are in the Mexican, Pacific Islander, Peruvian and Vietnamese kitchens along State Street and across the south and west of the valley. Fry sauce, fried scones and dirty sodas are the local quirks.

Sun Valley's eating is concentrated in Ketchum and aimed at a well-off resort crowd: après-ski grills, summer patios and a few serious kitchens cooking Idaho trout, lamb and elk. There is little that is cheap, and some places cut their hours in spring and autumn.

Salt Lake City has a real, if short, list of sights. Temple Square, with the Tabernacle and its organ, the granite temple and the Beehive House, comes first. Add the Family History Library, the State Capitol and the dinosaur halls of the Natural History Museum and you have two full days.

Sun Valley has an afternoon's worth. The 1936 lodge, with its corridors of film-star photographs, recalls the birth of American destination skiing, and Hemingway's grave lies in Ketchum's cemetery. A couple of small museums and some galleries complete the list.

Salt Lake City at least gives you a choice: bars and breweries downtown and in the Granary District, a few dance clubs, a long-standing gay scene and the pubs of Sugar House, though Utah's liquor laws and early nights keep things tame. Sun Valley has no clubs. Evenings mean après-ski in Ketchum's saloons, wine bars and lounges, and outside the ski season and midsummer they finish soon after dinner.

Both are outstanding mountain bases. The difference is how you reach the mountains. From Salt Lake City you drive up Big or Little Cottonwood Canyon to Alta, Snowbird, Brighton or Solitude, with Park City over the ridge and foothill trails starting above the Avenues. To the west the scenery changes completely, with the bison on Antelope Island and the white Bonneville Salt Flats.

In Sun Valley the mountain starts in town. Bald Mountain's steep, long runs rise straight out of Ketchum, and in summer the same slopes turn into a web of singletrack. Fly fishing at Silver Creek, rafting on the Salmon and the jagged Sawtooths an hour north make it feel wilder and more remote.

Salt Lake City has more towns within a day's reach. Park City's Victorian Main Street is about forty minutes away, Heber and Midway lie in the next valley, and there are Ogden's 25th Street and the Golden Spike site. From Sun Valley most outings head into the wilderness, and the only towns to visit are Hailey's small main street, the log-cabin outpost of Stanley and Shoshone Falls, about two hours south.

Salt Lake City is the much stronger choice with children. Hogle Zoo, the Living Planet Aquarium, Discovery Gateway, the Clark Planetarium, Tracy Aviary and Lagoon's roller coasters give non-skiers and rainy days plenty to do, though you will want a car to get between them.

Sun Valley works well for families who ski or cycle, with a separate beginners' hill, a well-run ski school and quiet streets. But it has no zoo, aquarium or theme park, and the altitude and midwinter cold are hard on toddlers.

In both places you need a car beyond the centre, but the centres work differently. Salt Lake City has real public transport, with TRAX light rail from the airport and FrontRunner trains to Ogden and Provo, but its wide streets and long blocks make walking slow. The canyon roads also jam on powder days.

Sun Valley is small enough to manage without a car. Ketchum's flat grid, a free bus to the lift bases and a bike path down the valley make a car-free ski week easy. Getting there is the hard part, since the local airport is small and the bigger ones are a long, sometimes snowy drive away.

Neither is worth a trip for shopping, and both are best for outdoor gear. Salt Lake City has more range: department stores at City Creek Center, Trolley Square in its old streetcar barns, and independent and vintage shops around 9th and 9th and Sugar House. Ketchum has a few blocks of art galleries, western wear and cashmere boutiques for second-home owners. The range is narrower and dearer, though the evening gallery walks are pleasant.

Salt Lake City is by far the cheaper base. Downtown hotels are reasonable, everything on Temple Square is free and light rail is inexpensive, though ski weeks, canyon lodging and a hire car push the cost up. Sun Valley is expensive at every turn, priced by its wealthy second-home community, and has little budget lodging. Staying further down the valley and coming in spring or autumn helps, but it never makes the trip cheap.

Salt Lake City has a full season all year. The Tabernacle Choir and the organ recitals on Temple Square are the signature, alongside the Utah Symphony at Abravanel Hall, Utah Opera, Ballet West and touring shows at the Eccles Theater.

Sun Valley's performances happen in summer, but they are memorable. The Sun Valley Music Festival brings a professional orchestra to the pavilion by the lodge for free concerts with picnics on the lawn, and star figure skaters perform on the outdoor rink. Outside summer there is very little.

Sun Valley is the easier place to unwind. The resort spas and steaming outdoor pools are part of the stay, the Warm Springs valley has rough natural soaks beside the creek, and the town goes quiet once the lifts close.

From Salt Lake City, rest takes more effort. The memorable soak is the Homestead Crater in Midway, about an hour away, and the spas are up at the ski resorts and in Park City rather than in the city.