Albuquerque or Estes Park?

Neither city is a place to swim. In Albuquerque the Rio Grande is too silty and fast for swimming, so people use a pool or drive out to a reservoir such as Cochiti Lake on a hot afternoon.

Estes Park has more water to look at, with Lake Estes and the alpine lakes in the park. Snowmelt keeps them cold all summer, though, so people paddle or fish there and swim at the indoor aquatic centre.

Albuquerque has a cuisine of its own and Estes Park does not. New Mexican cooking is worth planning meals around: red or green chile, blue corn enchiladas, posole and sopaipillas with honey. It is at its best in the family places of the South and North Valleys, and in late summer the city smells of roasting chile.

Estes Park eats like a trailhead town, with burgers, barbecue, elk and bison, big breakfasts and taffy on Elkhorn Avenue. It is filling after a hike, but many kitchens close early, and for serious dining people drive to Boulder or Denver.

Albuquerque has a couple of good days of sightseeing. There is Old Town with its adobe plaza and church from 1793, the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, the National Hispanic Cultural Center and the nuclear science museum. Add the Route 66 neon and the rock carvings of Petroglyph National Monument.

Estes Park has one famous building, the Stanley Hotel that inspired The Shining, along with a small museum on homesteading and the MacGregor Ranch. Together they fill an afternoon, not a trip.

Albuquerque at least has a modest night out. Downtown there are bars and a few dance clubs that fill at weekends, Nob Hill has calmer cocktail bars and taprooms, and people drink on patios on warm nights. Estes Park has a few taprooms and saloon bars on Elkhorn Avenue and no clubs at all, and the town goes to bed early because visitors get up at dawn to see wildlife.

Both have real mountains, but Estes Park lives inside them. Rocky Mountain National Park begins minutes from town. Trail Ridge Road crosses alpine tundra, trails lead to Bear, Dream and Emerald lakes below Longs Peak, and elk, moose and bighorn sheep are everyday sights.

Albuquerque's outdoors are good but smaller in scale. There is the tramway to the Sandia crest, the steep La Luz Trail, the cottonwood bosque where cranes spend the winter, and the volcanic cones west of the river. Summers in the valley are hot, so Albuquerque is best for hiking in spring and autumn, while Estes Park is at its best in summer.

Albuquerque has the stronger day out in Santa Fe. It is an hour north by car or reachable on the commuter train, with its plaza, the Canyon Road galleries and serious museums. Acoma's Sky City, the cliff dwellings at Bandelier, the church at Chimayo and the Turquoise Trail add more, though all of them need a car.

From Estes Park the trips lead down the canyons to Boulder, Fort Collins and the museums of Denver, or over Trail Ridge Road to Grand Lake in summer. They make pleasant outings, but nothing as old as the pueblos within reach of Albuquerque.

Both suit families, in different ways. Albuquerque has plenty for a hot or rainy day: the BioPark's zoo, aquarium and botanic garden, the Explora science centre and the dinosaur halls. The Balloon Fiesta each October is a highlight, though every attraction is a drive from the next.

Estes Park is an outdoor playground, with elk in town, junior ranger activities, easy lake walks, mini golf and horse riding, all in a small town that is easy to manage. It has little indoors for bad weather, and the altitude can tire young children for the first day.

Neither works well without a car, but Estes Park is easier to manage. Its downtown is compact, and in the warmer months free shuttles link lodgings with the Bear Lake corridor of the national park. Traffic in town is heavy on summer weekends.

Albuquerque spreads across a wide valley. Old Town is walkable and a bus runs along Central Avenue, but the mountains, the petroglyphs and the day trips all need a car. It does have an airport close to the centre and a train to Santa Fe, while Estes Park has no rail link and is about an hour and a half by road from Denver.

Albuquerque has things genuinely worth buying. Native American silver and turquoise, Pueblo pottery and Navajo weaving are sold around Old Town and at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, where buying from the artists themselves is the surest way to authentic work. Nob Hill adds vintage shops and boutiques.

Estes Park's Elkhorn Avenue is good for an hour of browsing among souvenirs, taffy, western wear, outdoor gear and wildlife galleries. For anything more, people go to Boulder or Denver.

Albuquerque is the cheaper place to stay. Hotels are fairly priced for most of the year and casual New Mexican places serve generous plates, though Balloon Fiesta week in October is the exception. Estes Park charges resort-town rates in summer and early autumn, exactly when most people want to go. Winter and spring are far cheaper, and cabins with kitchens help families.

In both places a hire car is the biggest extra cost. The best things cost little once you are there: the foothills trails and petroglyphs in one, the national park in the other.

Albuquerque has something on stage all year. Popejoy Hall hosts touring musicals and the philharmonic, the KiMo Theatre stages film, theatre and concerts, and the city has a flamenco festival and weekend Pueblo dances. In summer, Santa Fe's open-air opera is an evening drive away.

Estes Park's arts are small and seasonal: free riverside concerts in summer, evenings at the Stanley Hotel and the Highland Festival in September. For anything more, people drive to Boulder or Denver.

Neither is a spa destination, and the difference is in kind. Albuquerque's draw is the hot springs within reach: Jemez Springs is about an hour and a quarter away, and there are bathhouses around Santa Fe. There are also resort spas on Pueblo lands near town.

Estes Park has no springs and few spas, but it has stillness: a cabin by the river, mountain air and elk at dusk. It is most restful in winter and spring, when the summer crowds have gone.