Boulder or Denver?

Neither city is anywhere near the sea, so this cannot decide a trip. The difference is small and comes down to the kind of water. Boulder's summer swimming means the small sandy area at Boulder Reservoir and floating down Boulder Creek on an inner tube, both close to town. Denver relies on the larger reservoir beaches at Cherry Creek and Chatfield state parks on its outskirts, plus outdoor public pools.

Denver has the wider table. Green chile, breakfast burritos, Colorado lamb and bison, and the long stretch of Vietnamese and Mexican cooking on Federal Boulevard give it a regional character and a range that Boulder's thin ethnic choice cannot match. Its food halls and chef-run places in Highland and LoHi add variety.

Boulder eats well for its size but in a narrower register: seasonal, health-minded and strong on vegetarian dishes, with good bakeries, the Saturday farmers' market by the creek and tea at the Dushanbe Teahouse. Both cities take beer seriously, though Denver's RiNo warehouses hold more taprooms.

Denver has much more to see. Around Civic Center Park the gold-domed Capitol, the Denver Art Museum with its Native American collection and the Clyfford Still Museum sit within a few minutes of each other, and LoDo, Larimer Square and Union Station keep the gold-rush city readable. That fills two or three days.

Boulder's appeal is atmosphere rather than collections: the 1898 Chautauqua cottages under the Flatirons, the sandstone and red-tile campus and I.M. Pei's atmospheric research laboratory on the mesa. Add a few small museums and you are done in a day.

Denver offers more choice and later nights. LoDo on game nights, the RiNo cocktail bars, the dives of East Colfax and quieter neighbourhood bars in Highland and South Broadway give different evenings in different parts of town, and bars stay open until 2am.

Boulder's evenings revolve around Pearl Street taprooms and the student bars on University Hill, which empty out in summer. The town goes to bed early with an eye on the morning trailhead. Neither has much of a club scene, so Boulder residents after a big night simply go to Denver.

Both live in the shadow of the Rockies, but Boulder has the landscape right at its back door. More than 200km of protected trails start at the edge of town, Eldorado Canyon offers world-class climbing ten minutes south, and the canyon roads draw serious cyclists. Rocky Mountain National Park is about an hour away, half the drive from Denver.

Denver's own assets are Red Rocks Park, the foothills above Golden and the high summits of Mount Blue Sky, plus easier access to the big I-70 ski resorts. From Denver, though, most outings start with a drive rather than a walk.

Denver makes the better base for touring, mainly because it sits in the middle. Boulder and Golden are close, Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs are about an hour south, and Breckenridge's Victorian main street is within reach to the west, along with the Georgetown narrow-gauge railway.

From Boulder the best outing is Denver itself, an easy express-bus ride, and Fort Collins is closer to the north. Colorado Springs is at the limit of a day trip, though. Both share Georgetown, Idaho Springs and Estes Park, and both need a car for nearly all of them.

With children, Boulder is the calmer choice and suits families who like being outdoors. Creek tubing, the reservoir swim beach, the Chautauqua meadow and the Pearl Street buskers fill the days, and the campus planetarium and natural history museum cover a wet afternoon. What it lacks is anything on a large scale.

Denver offers far more for children. City Park holds the zoo and the nature and science museum with its dinosaurs, and the children's museum, aquarium and amusement park sit together by the South Platte, so tired or rainy days are easy to fill. In both cities, the altitude and strong sun call for care with small children.

Boulder is the easier place to get about without a car. Downtown, the campus and Chautauqua sit close together, and the off-street bike paths along Boulder Creek and its tributaries are a real pleasure to ride, with bike share stations around the centre.

Denver's flat downtown is walkable, with a free mall shuttle and a train from the airport, but the city spreads out quickly beyond it, and neighbourhoods like RiNo and South Broadway take a bus or rideshare. In both places the mountains require a hired car.

The two are close here, with a different character. Boulder's shopping is the Pearl Street Mall: four brick-paved blocks of independent bookshops, galleries and toy shops, easy to browse in an afternoon. Denver spreads its shops more widely, from the upscale Cherry Creek mall and boutiques to the vintage and record shops on South Broadway, and adds Western wear, from boots to hats. Both are strong on outdoor gear, Boulder in specialist climbing and running shops, Denver in large flagship stores.

Denver is the cheaper of the two, though neither is a bargain. Boulder is a wealthy town with few hotels, and rooms are particularly dear in summer and on graduation and football weekends. Many visitors in fact sleep in Denver and drive in.

In Denver, it pays to stay near the light rail and eat at taquerias and breweries, but most visitors still have to budget for a hired car. In both, the trails and open space cost next to nothing.

Small rooms downtown and on the Hill give Boulder touring rock, bluegrass and roots acts most nights. In summer there are orchestral concerts in the wooden Chautauqua Auditorium and outdoor Shakespeare on campus. Outside that season there is much less on, and the town has no opera or major theatre.

Denver's stage is broader and busy all year. The Denver Center for the Performing Arts brings resident theatre, touring Broadway shows, the Colorado Symphony, Opera Colorado and the Colorado Ballet together within a few blocks, and Five Points keeps its deep jazz roots. Red Rocks, the sandstone amphitheatre that draws fans from across the country, is in Denver's foothills and much nearer to Denver than to Boulder.

Boulder suits a restful trip better. Yoga and meditation are part of everyday life, with a Buddhist-inspired university giving that side real depth, and the town's unhurried mornings help you slow down. Its small spring-fed pool at Eldorado Springs is also close by.

In Denver, wellness means hotel and day spas and the sun in its parks, with no culture of its own to speak of. For proper soaking, both rely on the mineral pools and steam caves at Idaho Springs, which are a little nearer to Denver.