Vail or Winter Park, Colorado?

Neither has a beach, and both sit far up in the Rockies with snowmelt water that stays cold even in July. In Vail, summer means sunbathing beside small mountain lakes and reservoirs, and swimming mostly happens in a hotel pool. Winter Park has the larger lakes in Grand Lake and the reservoirs around Granby, which are good for boating and paddling, and the warm mineral pools down the valley are the more pleasant place to get into the water.

Vail eats better. Vail Village and Lionshead have polished steak and game rooms, Alpine fondue, sushi and hotel restaurants with serious wine lists, along with mountain lodges for lunch on the slopes.

Winter Park feeds a ski day well enough: green chile and burgers at the slopeside lodges, pizza and barbecue along the highway, and a breakfast burrito before first chair. Neither has a market scene or a food culture of its own. Vail's drawback is that many kitchens close in the off-season, while in Winter Park tables fill early on busy winter weekends.

Neither is a place for sightseeing, and in both a proper museum day means driving to Denver. Vail's heritage is its own invented Tyrolean village, along with the Colorado Snowsports Museum and its story of the Tenth Mountain Division ski troops, and the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens in summer.

Winter Park's history is older and more workaday: a ski area that began as a city of Denver venture, the railway story of the Moffat Tunnel and a small homesteading museum in Fraser that tells how the valley was settled.

Vail has more of a night out. When the lifts close, its slopeside terraces in Vail Village and Lionshead fill with a well-off, festive crowd, and on winter weekends a few bars and a small club keep going past midnight.

Winter Park's après-ski is just as cheerful at the base village and in the brewery taprooms along the main road. But its crowd of families and early risers has mostly gone home by late evening, and there are no clubs. In summer and the off-seasons both towns go quiet after dinner.

Both are outstanding mountain bases, and they differ in character. Vail's draw is size and powder: the open Back Bowls and Blue Sky Basin, then summer hiking in the Gore Range and Holy Cross wilderness, fly fishing on Gore Creek and rafting within reach.

Winter Park has two linked mountains, the groomed runs of Winter Park and the steep bumps and trees of Mary Jane, plus cross-country tracks and backcountry on Berthoud Pass. In summer its lift-served bike park and the singletrack around Fraser are the main draw, and the moose and tundra of Rocky Mountain National Park are an hour north. It sits about 200m higher, so the altitude is felt a little more.

Vail has slightly more choice nearby. Polished Beaver Creek, mining-era Breckenridge and the old silver town of Leadville are all close, Glenwood Springs is an hour down the canyon, and Aspen is within reach for a long day.

Winter Park's outings take in Georgetown and Idaho Springs with their narrow-gauge railway loop, and the boardwalk at Grand Lake. Its real advantage is Denver and Boulder, which are noticeably closer. From both towns nearly every outing needs a car, and winter storms on the high passes can scrap the plan.

Winter Park is the more natural family choice. Besides a large children's ski school, it offers snow tubing, sleigh rides and a skating rink in winter and an alpine slide, mini golf and climbing walls in summer, all in a small village that is easy to manage.

Vail's ski schools are excellent and its car-free village is safe for strolling, and the top of the gondola has ropes courses and a mountain coaster. But it offers little else for children, and the cost adds up quickly for a family. Neither has much indoors for bad weather, and both towns are high enough that children may sleep badly for the first night or two.

Vail is easier to get around once you arrive. Its pedestrian village core leads straight to the gondolas, and a free bus runs the whole valley, so a week without a car is normal. Getting there is the harder part: Vail has no passenger rail, the airports are a shuttle ride away, and snow can close the interstate over Vail Pass.

Winter Park also has a free shuttle linking the base, the town and Fraser, but its lodgings are strung out along a highway rather than gathered around a centre, and trailheads, Grand Lake and the national park all need a car. The road from Denver crosses Berthoud Pass, where winter tyres matter in snow.

Vail is the place for a browse. Its pedestrian lanes sell premium ski wear, Western boots and hats, jewellery, fur and leather, and mountain art in the galleries, although almost all of it is aimed at wealthy visitors.

Winter Park's shops are for tuning skis, renting a bike or replacing forgotten gloves, with a few souvenir stores besides. Serious shoppers from either town end up in Denver.

Winter Park costs noticeably less, although a ski week there is still expensive. Its condos and motels in Fraser, kitchens for self-catering and cheaper summer stays with free trails keep the bill manageable.

Vail is among the costliest mountain vacations in North America. Lift tickets, ski school, hire and dinners all cost well above the norm, and peak weeks push prices higher. Staying down the valley and riding the free bus help, but only so far.

Vail is far ahead, at least in summer. Bravo! Vail brings visiting orchestras to the open-air Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, where you can picnic on the lawn with the peaks behind the stage, and the Vail Dance Festival and a long-running jazz festival fill out July and August.

Winter Park's offer is free concerts in the town park and the odd festival, pleasant but modest. In winter both towns come down to après-ski bands, so performances are something to plan a summer trip around, and only in Vail.

Both towns are about equally good for rest, in different ways. Vail's large hotels have polished spas with saunas, steam rooms and outdoor hot tubs. Winter Park is simpler, with a hot tub at most condos and a few spas for massage.

For natural hot water, Winter Park is closer to its springs: Hot Sulphur Springs, with terraced pools above the Colorado River, is about half an hour away. From Vail it is an hour's drive to the bigger pools and vapour caves at Glenwood Springs.