Telluride or Winter Park, Colorado?

Neither town has any beach life. Both sit near 2,700m in the Rockies, and the mountain water stays cold all summer. Telluride's nearest place to swim is a small reservoir area near Ridgway, about an hour away. Winter Park's Grand Lake and the Granby reservoirs are better for paddling, and its hot springs pools down the valley are the warmer way to get in the water.

Telluride eats noticeably better. A handful of serious kitchens on Colorado Avenue and in Mountain Village cook with Colorado lamb, elk, trout and Western Slope produce, and the wine lists are deeper than you would expect in so small a town.

Winter Park feeds you well enough on burgers, green chile, pizza and breakfast burritos, with a couple of breweries and a few dinner rooms serving steak and trout, but there is little to look forward to after a day outside. In both towns, busy weeks fill tables early, and a week's stay means eating in the same small circle of places.

Telluride has the stronger claim, though neither is a sightseeing destination. Its intact grid of clapboard houses and false-fronted storefronts is a National Historic Landmark. The museum in the old miners' hospital, the Sheridan Opera House and the mill ruins on the canyon walls fill a pleasant afternoon.

Winter Park grew up as Denver's ski area in the late 1930s. Its heritage comes down to the railway story of the Moffat Tunnel and a small ranch museum in Fraser, so a day of museums means driving to Denver.

Both are quiet at night: evenings revolve around après-ski, and neither has clubs. What differs is the atmosphere. Telluride's historic saloons on Colorado Avenue, with their wooden bars and Victorian back rooms, can stay busy until late in peak winter weeks and on festival weekends. Winter Park's base-village bars and the brewery taprooms along the highway draw families and skiers who want to be on the first chair, so the town is asleep by late evening.

Both are first-rate mountain bases, and the difference lies in their character. Telluride is the more dramatic setting: a box canyon with peaks above 4,000m and Bridal Veil Falls, with trails to the high basins starting at the end of the main street. It also has a via ferrata, jeep roads over Imogene Pass and steep hike-to ski terrain.

Winter Park is the broader sporting playground. It has two connected ski mountains, with Mary Jane's bumps and trees, and a season that often runs well into spring. In summer there is a lift-served bike park and hundreds of kilometres of singletrack, and the moose and high tundra of Rocky Mountain National Park are about an hour north.

Winter Park has more within easy reach. Georgetown and Idaho Springs are about an hour away over Berthoud Pass, Grand Lake and Hot Sulphur Springs are close, and the museums and neighbourhoods of Denver are about an hour and a half away. That gives you options for a wet or tired day.

Telluride is more cut off. Ridgway, Ouray and Silverton are handsome old towns, but they are spread out along mountain roads, and the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde, the one major site, make for a very long day. In both places the trips depend on high passes that winter storms can close.

Winter Park is the more natural family choice. Its children's ski school is large and the learning slopes sit at the foot of a compact village. Tubing, skating, sleigh rides and an alpine slide keep children busy off the slopes.

Telluride suits active families too, with gentle beginner slopes, a good ski school and a free gondola that children enjoy riding, but far less is laid on for them and the costs mount quickly. The two towns share the same altitude warning for the first nights and have little to do indoors on wet days.

Telluride is much easier once you arrive. You can walk the historic grid end to end in about a quarter of an hour, and a free gondola climbs to Mountain Village, so many visitors never drive at all.

Winter Park has a free shuttle and a walkable base village, but the lodgings are strung out along the highway, and the main street is a road rather than a place to stroll. Getting there is awkward for both. Telluride's local airport is often disrupted by weather and the larger ones are far away, while reaching Winter Park from Denver means a drive over Berthoud Pass.

Telluride at least gives you a few blocks to browse on Colorado Avenue: art galleries, Western clothing and jewellery, bookshops, and resort boutiques up in Mountain Village, all at high prices. Winter Park's shops deal in gear, rentals and souvenirs, and for anything more you go to Denver. Neither is a place to travel to for shopping.

Winter Park is the more affordable of the two, though neither is cheap. Lift tickets and resort meals cost a lot, but condos and motels in Fraser with kitchens bring the bills down. Summer is easier on the budget still, with free trails and lower lodging rates.

Telluride's prices are about as high as anywhere in North America. Its scarce rooms are priced for wealthy second-home owners, and the Christmas weeks and festival weekends push them higher still. Staying in Ridgway helps, at the cost of a daily drive.

Telluride has a real performing arts calendar for a mountain town. The Bluegrass Festival has been held in Town Park since the 1970s, summer adds jazz, blues, chamber music and the film festival, and the Sheridan Opera House hosts concerts, theatre and comedy all year.

Winter Park has free summer concerts in the town park and bands in the après-ski bars in winter, but no theatre or concert hall. Anyone who wants to see a show there should plan an evening in Denver.

Telluride's hot springs take an hour's drive to reach, either the large public pool in Ouray or the clothing-optional springs near Ridgway, so a soak there is an afternoon outing. Closer to hand are the full spas in the Mountain Village hotels. The town feels most restful on summer evenings and in the quiet shoulder seasons.

Winter Park keeps the warm water nearer. Most condos and lodges have their own hot tub, and the mineral pools of Hot Sulphur Springs, stepping down a hillside above the Colorado River, are about half an hour west. It has fewer spa treatments on offer, just a handful of places for massage, and the busy ski weeks mean late spring and autumn are the better time to unwind.