Steamboat Springs or Vail?

Neither town is a place to swim, and both sit hundreds of kilometres from any coast. The difference is in how you get into the water in summer. Steamboat has tubing on the Yampa River right through town, and a few hardy swimmers use Steamboat Lake and Stagecoach reservoir. In Vail, the nearby lakes are mostly for paddling and sunbathing, and swimming usually means a hotel pool.

Both towns eat like ski resorts, and neither has street food or a market culture worth seeking out, but the flavour differs. Steamboat's cooking along Lincoln Avenue is hearty and western, rooted in the valley's ranching, with steakhouses, casual Mexican places, pizza and local brewpubs.

Vail aims higher and more international, with Alpine fondue rooms, sushi counters, hotel dining rooms with long wine lists and lodge lunches on the mountain. It is more polished, but in the spring and autumn lulls many of its kitchens close.

Sightseeing is thin in both, and an afternoon covers either. What differs is authenticity. Steamboat's past is real: old western storefronts, the Tread of Pioneers Museum in a Victorian house, and Howelsen Hill, one of North America's oldest ski areas.

Vail is a 1960s creation built to look like a Tyrolean village. Its Colorado Snowsports Museum tells a good story about the Tenth Mountain Division ski troops, and the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens make a pleasant summer visit.

Vail has the busier evenings. Après-ski packs the slopeside terraces in Vail Village and Lionshead, and on winter weekends a few bars and a small club keep going past midnight, with an affluent, festive crowd.

Steamboat's evenings are a quieter round of gondola-base bars, then saloons and brewpubs on Lincoln Avenue, with no club at all. Outside peak weeks both towns go quiet early, Vail almost completely so.

Both are first-rate mountain bases, and either will satisfy a skier or hiker. What they offer differs in kind. Steamboat is known for its light Champagne Powder and tree skiing through aspen glades, with night skiing on Howelsen Hill and backcountry on Rabbit Ears Pass. In summer you have Fish Creek Falls close to town and the alpine lakes of the Mount Zirkel Wilderness, and elk and moose are common sights.

Vail's terrain is bigger and more open, with the huge Back Bowls and Blue Sky Basin behind the front side. The town sits noticeably higher, at about 2,500m, so the thin air is felt sooner. In summer the gondolas carry hikers towards the Gore Range and Holy Cross wilderness, where the peaks rise above 4,000m, and you can reach rafting rivers.

Vail wins easily here because it sits in the middle of Colorado's resort country. Beaver Creek is a short drive away, Breckenridge's Victorian main street is under an hour, and old silver-boom Leadville makes a good half day. Glenwood Springs, down the Colorado River canyon, is the best full day out.

Steamboat is remote. The nearby ranching towns are coffee stops, and Vail itself is two hours of mountain driving away. Days out from Steamboat mean the hills, not other towns.

Steamboat works better for families, chiefly because there is more to do once the skis come off. The Old Town Hot Springs, with warm pools, slides and a climbing wall, is in the middle of town. Howelsen Hill is a calm spot for first lessons, and summer brings river tubing, waterfall walks and the rodeo.

Vail's ski schools are large and its car-free village is safe for children. The summer ropes courses and mountain coaster at the top of the gondola are a hit. Its greater altitude and long cold days make it harder going with toddlers.

Vail is the easier town to be in without a car. The village core is pedestrian, the lifts start from town and a free bus runs the length of the valley, so many visitors manage a whole week on foot and by bus. Getting there is the hard part, with a shuttle from the airports and a pass that can close in heavy snow.

Steamboat splits into downtown and the ski base, linked by a town bus. Strawberry Park, Fish Creek Falls and the lakes all lie up roads that need your own wheels and some winter driving confidence.

Vail offers more to browse, though only at the top end. Its pedestrian lanes are lined with upmarket ski clothing, fur, leather, jewellery and galleries of mountain landscapes, which suits anyone buying serious gear or a luxury keepsake.

Steamboat's Lincoln Avenue is a shorter, more western stroll of boots, hats and saddle-blanket goods. It is anchored by F.M. Light & Sons, a family outfitter dating from the early twentieth century and a landmark in its own right.

Neither is a budget destination, but Steamboat is the less painful of the two. Its summer and shoulder seasons are noticeably gentler, and self-catering condos and free trails help keep costs down.

Vail is among the most expensive vacations in North America. Lodging, lift tickets, ski school and meals all cost well above normal American levels, and the main way to save is to sleep further down the valley.

Both towns save their music for summer, and Vail's season is the bigger one. Bravo! Vail brings major orchestras to the open-air Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, where the audience picnics on the lawn, and the Vail Dance Festival draws leading ballet dancers.

Steamboat's Strings Music Festival is more mixed, with chamber music alongside jazz and bluegrass. Perry-Mansfield, founded in 1913, adds student theatre and dance. In winter both fall back on bar bands.

Steamboat is the better place to unwind, because it has natural hot water and Vail does not. The town is named after one of its springs. The Old Town Hot Springs are used by locals all year, and Strawberry Park's rock-lined pools, about 11km up a mountain road, are magical on a snowy evening.

Vail's version is the polished hotel spa, with massage, saunas and outdoor hot tubs under the peaks. For natural springs you have to drive an hour to Glenwood Springs.