Boulder or Las Vegas?

Neither city is anywhere near the sea, and neither should be chosen for swimming. The difference is in what replaces it: Boulder has fresh water within town, a small sandy swim area at the reservoir and inner tubes floating down Boulder Creek, while Las Vegas relies on engineered resort pools, with wave pools and lazy rivers, plus the bare gravel shore of Lake Mead about 40 minutes out.

Las Vegas offers far more choice. The Strip collects famous chefs' dining rooms, steakhouses, tasting menus and the classic buffets, and Spring Mountain Road adds kilometres of Sichuan, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese cooking, much of it open late.

Boulder eats well for its size but in a narrower register: seasonal farm-to-table menus, strong vegetarian cooking, bakeries, the Saturday farmers' market by the creek and craft beer, with tea at the hand-carved Dushanbe Teahouse as a highlight. For range or fine dining, visitors end up in Denver.

Each takes about a day to see, but the days feel very different. Boulder offers quiet character: the 1898 Chautauqua cottages and auditorium under the Flatirons, the sandstone and red-tile university campus, and I.M. Pei's atmospheric research laboratory on its mesa.

Las Vegas offers spectacle instead, with themed resorts, the fountain show and the canopy of light over Fremont Street, plus two museums that tell its own story well: the Neon Museum's yard of old signs and the Mob Museum in the former federal courthouse.

This is where the two differ most. Las Vegas is built for going out around the clock, with casino bars that never close, superstar DJs in the resort clubs, dayclub pool parties and, for something cheaper, dive bars and cocktail lounges around Fremont Street and the arts district.

Boulder's evenings are taprooms, cocktail bars and pubs around Pearl Street, plus the lively student bars on University Hill during term, and most of it is over early. A big night out from Boulder means the drive to Denver.

Both have world-class rock nearby, but Boulder lives with its landscape in a way Las Vegas cannot. The Flatirons rise behind town, over 200km of protected trails start at Chautauqua Park, Eldorado Canyon's climbing walls are ten minutes south, and Rocky Mountain National Park's tundra, lakes and elk are about an hour away.

Las Vegas has striking desert within reach, from Red Rock Canyon's sandstone cliffs to Valley of Fire's flame-coloured rock and the pine forests of Mount Charleston. However, everything needs a car, and summer heat restricts hiking to dawn.

Boulder has more outings within easy reach. Denver, with its art museum, state capitol and Union Station, is about 40 minutes by express bus, and with a car there are Golden, Fort Collins and the old silver-mining towns of Georgetown and Idaho Springs.

From Las Vegas, the one classic outing is Hoover Dam with Boulder City. The famous excursions to the Grand Canyon, Zion or Death Valley are long days spent mostly on the road.

Boulder is much easier with children. Tubing on the creek, the reservoir beach, the Chautauqua meadow, Pearl Street's street performers and the university planetarium make relaxed days, with hats and water the main precautions at altitude.

Las Vegas has a shark aquarium, an indoor amusement park, tower-top thrill rides and the Discovery Children's Museum, but reaching them often means walking past casino floors and through late-night crowds, and summer heat makes walking hard on small children.

Boulder is the easier place to get about. Downtown, the Pearl Street Mall, the university and Chautauqua are all a short walk or bike ride apart, and off-street paths with bike share stations follow Boulder Creek under the roads. The limit is the outdoors: trailheads beyond town, Eldorado Canyon and the national park really need a hire car.

The Strip looks walkable but is deceptive. The resorts are so large that the hotel next door can be a twenty-minute walk over footbridges and through casino interiors, and summer heat makes that punishing, so most visitors rely on taxis, ride-hailing or the monorail. Here too, Red Rock, Hoover Dam and the rest of the desert are only practical by car or on a tour.

Las Vegas wins on range and big names. The resort arcades at Caesars Palace and the Venetian, the luxury mall mid-Strip, the Fashion Show department stores and two large outlet centres all stay open late.

Boulder is the place for independents: bookshops, galleries and boutiques along the brick-paved Pearl Street Mall, and outdoor gear shops that are unusually good for climbing, running and cycling. Those are just the kind of local finds Las Vegas lacks.

Neither is cheap, but Las Vegas gives more room to save. Midweek rooms on and near the Strip, and especially downtown, can be good value for their comfort, and Chinatown meals keep food costs down. Weekends, resort fees and Strip prices for cocktails and shows quickly undo that.

Boulder has few hotels and they are expensive all week, particularly in summer and on university weekends, and restaurant prices follow the town's wealth. Its consolation is that the trails cost almost nothing, and many visitors stay in Denver to keep costs down.

Las Vegas is one of the main reasons to go for a show. Permanent resort theatres host aquatic and aerial spectacles, magicians and comedians every night, and star residencies bring acts that rarely tour, with Broadway tours and ballet at the Smith Center.

Boulder's strength is smaller and more seasonal: touring bluegrass and roots bands in downtown rooms, the Colorado Music Festival in the wooden Chautauqua Auditorium, and outdoor Shakespeare on campus in summer. Red Rocks Amphitheatre, about 45 minutes away, is the outstanding venue nearby.

Boulder suits a restful stay better. Its wellness is a way of life, with yoga and meditation studios everywhere, a contemplative tradition rooted in its Buddhist-inspired university and a slow morning pace, though serious soaking means driving to Idaho Springs.

Las Vegas has far grander facilities, with vast resort spas offering thermal circuits, salt and ice rooms, but the noise and light of the casinos work against them. They are at their best on a quiet weekday morning.