South Lake Tahoe or Steamboat Springs?

South Lake Tahoe has real beaches: Pope, Baldwin and Kiva on the south shore, and Nevada Beach and Zephyr Cove over the state line, all with clear turquoise water over white sand. At this altitude the water is cold and swimming really works only in July and August, but on a warm afternoon it is a proper beach day.

Steamboat has nothing like it. The reservoirs at Steamboat Lake and Stagecoach draw a few hardy swimmers in midsummer, and the Yampa is for tubing through town rather than swimming. If time in the water matters, Tahoe is the only real choice of the two.

Neither town is worth the journey for the food, and both come down to resort dining plus a few local breweries. The flavour differs, though. South Lake Tahoe's eating is shaped by the casinos, with steakhouses, buffets and late diners on the Nevada side and taquerias and brewpubs along Highway 50. Steamboat leans western, cooking Colorado lamb and beef from the ranching Yampa Valley in a walkable cluster of restaurants on Lincoln Avenue.

Both are thin on sights, and a morning covers either one. South Lake Tahoe's history is that of a summer retreat for wealthy San Franciscans. You see it in the lakeside estates of the Tallac Historic Site and at Vikingsholm on Emerald Bay, which comes with a steep walk and a fine view. Steamboat's story is ranching and skiing, told by the western storefronts of Lincoln Avenue, the Tread of Pioneers Museum and Howelsen Hill, the old ski area in town where Olympians trained.

South Lake Tahoe has the later nights. The casino towers at Stateline keep their gaming floors and bars open around the clock, and their lounges fill on long weekends and in peak weeks. You can stay out late, but there is little choice of where, and no bar district to wander.

Steamboat's evening is après-ski at the gondola base, followed by saloons and brewpubs on Lincoln Avenue. Outside the peak weeks it is over well before midnight, and there are no clubs. Steamboat suits a drink after skiing; Tahoe suits staying out.

Both are outstanding mountain bases, and they differ in character rather than quality. South Lake Tahoe is built around water: the deep blue lake, the view over Emerald Bay and kayaking on still mornings. The granite basins of the Desolation Wilderness and the Tahoe Rim Trail start close to town, and in winter Heavenly's gondola rises straight from Stateline.

Steamboat is about snow and open valley. In winter there is light, dry Champagne Powder with skiing through the aspens on the mountain, and Nordic and night skiing at Howelsen Hill. In summer come Emerald Mountain's bike trails, Fish Creek Falls and the Mount Zirkel Wilderness, with elk and moose often seen along the way.

South Lake Tahoe has far more within a drive. Virginia City's boardwalks and saloons are about an hour over the mountains by way of Carson City and Genoa. Gold Rush Coloma and the Amador wine country lie down Highway 50, and you can loop round the lake through Tahoe City and Truckee.

Steamboat is remote. Nearby ranching towns such as Hayden and Oak Creek are worth a coffee stop at most. Vail and Grand Lake are about two hours of mountain road away and Denver around three, so a day out usually means heading into the hills rather than to another town.

Both suit families who like the outdoors, and neither has a zoo, aquarium or theme park, so the difference is in the details. South Lake Tahoe adds summer sand, with shallow lake beaches, paddleboards, bike paths through the pines and the autumn salmon run at Taylor Creek. The casino strip is best passed through quickly.

Steamboat copes a little better with a bad-weather day, thanks to the warm pools, slides and climbing wall of Old Town Hot Springs in the middle of town. It is a small, relaxed place where restaurants expect children, and Howelsen Hill gives beginners a quiet first slope. The altitude can tire young children for the first day or two.

Steamboat is easier to manage without a car for part of the stay. A town bus links flat, walkable downtown with the ski base, and many slopeside lodgings put the gondola on your doorstep. You will still need wheels for the hot springs up the mountain road, the falls and the passes.

In South Lake Tahoe only the core around Stateline and the gondola is walkable. Free shuttles run along the highway and to the ski areas in winter, but the beaches, trailheads and Emerald Bay are strung out along the shore. Summer weekends mean slow traffic on Highway 50, and winter storms bring chain controls on the roads in.

Neither is a place for a shopping trip, but Steamboat makes the better stroll. On Lincoln Avenue, western-wear stores sell boots, hats and saddle-blanket goods, and the old family outfitter F.M. Light & Sons gives an hour there some local character. South Lake Tahoe's shops are practical: ski and outdoor gear, rentals and souvenirs around the gondola base, a few galleries of lake photography and no street worth wandering.

South Lake Tahoe leaves you more room to save. Its peak weeks are dear, but the casino hotels on the Nevada side drop their rates sharply midweek and in spring and autumn, a cabin with a kitchen spares you resort-priced meals, and the lake, beaches and trails cost nothing to enjoy.

Steamboat gives you fewer ways out. Ski season is costly from lift access to dinner, and Christmas, New Year and the spring school breaks are the most expensive weeks of all. Summer is gentler and the shoulder months cheaper still, though some places close then. Self-catering condos and the town bus trim the bill a little, but there is no equivalent of Tahoe's midweek casino rates.

South Lake Tahoe's live entertainment runs all year and comes from the casinos, whose showrooms and arena bring in touring rock and country acts, comedians and tribute shows. Summer adds its own outdoor season, with Shakespeare on the beach at Sand Harbor and concerts and theatre at the Tallac estates.

Steamboat's music is concentrated in the warm months and is more for listening. The Strings Music Festival fills its pavilion with chamber music, jazz and bluegrass, and Perry-Mansfield, the arts school and camp founded in 1913, stages student theatre and dance. In winter you get little more than a community orchestra and bar bands.

Steamboat is the place to soak. The town takes its name from its mineral springs, and the pools at Old Town Hot Springs are right in the centre. Strawberry Park Hot Springs, with rock-lined pools in a wooded creek valley about 11km up the road, is at its best on a snowy evening.

South Lake Tahoe's calm comes from quiet mornings by the lake and cabins in the pines, and its spas sit mostly in casino hotels and ski lodges. For hot water you have to drive, either to Grover Hot Springs about 45 minutes south or to the Carson Valley resorts over the pass.