Asheville or Boulder?

Neither is a beach destination. Asheville gives you cold mountain water instead: waterfall pools in Pisgah, the natural rock slide at Sliding Rock, river floats on the French Broad and a little sandy beach at Lake Lure.

Boulder has less to offer for swimming: a small swim area at the reservoir and inner tubes on Boulder Creek. In both cities you swim for an afternoon in summer, then go back to the trails.

Asheville is the better place to eat. Its cooking comes from the Appalachians, with trout, heirloom corn, ramps and Southern barbecue and biscuits, and its brewing scene runs from downtown across the South Slope to large brewery sites in the valleys. The farmers' markets, cider and mead add to the range.

Boulder eats healthily rather than with a distinct identity. You will find plenty of vegetarian food, good bakeries, a Saturday market by the creek and tea at the carved Dushanbe Teahouse. For more variety, people drive to Denver.

Asheville has two or three days of sightseeing, with the Biltmore Estate alone filling one of them. Its downtown, preserved by the slump after the 1920s boom, is full of Art Deco and Beaux-Arts buildings, and the Thomas Wolfe Memorial and the Folk Art Center add a literary side and a craft side.

Boulder's sights are mostly about atmosphere: the wooden cottages of the Chautauqua, the sandstone and red-tile university campus, and I.M. Pei's laboratory on the mesa. You can see them all in an unhurried day.

Both cities offer evenings of craft beer rather than clubbing, but Asheville keeps going a little longer. It has taprooms, cocktail bars and dive bars within walking distance on the South Slope, a local strip along Haywood Road, a long-standing LGBTQ scene and the summer drum circle in Pritchard Park.

In Boulder you go out on Pearl Street or among the student bars on University Hill, which go quiet when term ends. People there head home early because they plan to be at a trailhead by dawn.

Both cities are mainly outdoor bases, and Boulder is the stronger of the two. The Flatirons and more than 200km of protected trails start at the edge of town, Eldorado Canyon is minutes away for climbers, and Rocky Mountain National Park adds alpine tundra and elk. The dry, sunny weather also makes hiking possible for more of the year.

Asheville's mountains are older, softer and wooded. Its strengths are Pisgah's mountain biking, whitewater on three rivers, spring rhododendrons and a famous October leaf season, with the Smokies an hour away.

The day trips are about equally good but quite different. From Asheville you drive to small Southern mountain towns such as Hendersonville, Black Mountain and Brevard. The Cherokee museum and village to the west are the most rewarding outing, and Greenville is the nearest real city.

From Boulder, Denver is the obvious trip, with its art museum and Union Station, and you can reach it by express bus without a car. Beyond it lie the old mining towns of Georgetown and Idaho Springs and the brewing town of Fort Collins.

Both suit active children better than ones who want theme parks. Asheville has the bears and red wolves at the Nature Center, zip lines, tubing and the farmyard at Biltmore, but the sights are spread out and need a lot of driving.

Boulder is more compact, with the creek path, the reservoir beach, street performers on Pearl Street and a planetarium. The altitude and strong sun mean taking water and hats on any walk.

Boulder is much easier without a car. Downtown, the university and Chautauqua are linked by off-street bike paths along the creek, there is bike share, and an express bus runs to Denver and its airport.

In Asheville only the downtown and the South Slope are walkable, and buses are limited. The Biltmore, the Parkway and the waterfalls all mean slow drives on winding roads. In both places you will still need a car to reach the mountains.

Asheville is the better place to shop because of its craft tradition. You can buy pottery, glass, weaving and woodwork straight from the studios in the River Arts District, and the Grove Arcade and Lexington Avenue add bookshops and vintage clothes.

Boulder's shopping is mostly the four brick blocks of the Pearl Street Mall. Its real strength is outdoor gear, with climbing, running and cycling shops that are better than you would expect in a town this size.

Neither is cheap, but Asheville costs somewhat less. Its downtown hotels and inns are still expensive by American standards and get much dearer on autumn leaf weekends, and Biltmore admission and a hire car add to the bill. A midweek or winter stay is much easier on the budget.

Boulder costs more again. It is a wealthy town with few hotels, rooms peak in summer and on graduation and football weekends, and eating out costs what you would expect in an affluent town. Many visitors save by staying in Denver and driving in. In both places the trails are free.

Asheville's music runs deeper because of its Appalachian roots. It has bluegrass and old-time jams, free summer evenings of fiddle music and clogging at Shindig on the Green, and the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, which has run since 1928, alongside touring bands most nights.

Boulder's strength is its summer seasons: orchestral concerts in the 1898 Chautauqua Auditorium and outdoor Shakespeare on campus. Red Rocks Amphitheatre is also within easy reach.

Both are calm places for rest, but the experience is different. Asheville has the real soaking: riverside mineral tubs at Hot Springs, big spas at the grand resort hotels and porch-sitting at the mountain inns.

Boulder's wellness is more about studios and mindset, with yoga, meditation and a contemplative university tradition. For hot springs you have to go to Idaho Springs, an hour away.