Boulder or Steamboat Springs?

Neither town is anywhere near a coast, so there is no beach in either. The small difference is that Boulder Reservoir has a sandy swim area on the edge of town and warmer summers, while Steamboat's reservoirs stay cold at altitude and floating the Yampa through town is the usual way into the water.

Boulder is the better place to eat. It has seasonal farm-to-table cooking, plenty of vegetarian choice, good bakeries and roasters, a Saturday farmers' market by the creek and taprooms across the east side, and the Dushanbe Teahouse offers a setting nothing in Steamboat matches.

Steamboat eats like the ranching and ski town it is, with steaks, Colorado lamb, Mexican food and pizza along Lincoln Avenue and at the base area. It is satisfying after a day outdoors, but there is no market to browse. When Boulder runs short of range, Denver is close. From Steamboat it is not.

Neither is a sightseeing destination, but Boulder has more to fill a day. There is the 1898 Chautauqua at the foot of the Flatirons, the sandstone and red-tile university campus, I.M. Pei's laboratory on the mesa with its weather exhibits, and a handful of small museums.

Steamboat's story is ranching and skiing, told in the Tread of Pioneers Museum, the western storefronts of Lincoln Avenue and Howelsen Hill, the old in-town ski area that trained generations of Olympians. An hour or two covers it.

Boulder gives more choice after dark, with taprooms and cocktail bars around Pearl Street, loud student bars on University Hill during term, and Denver's clubs within reach by bus. In Steamboat the evening is après-ski at the gondola base followed by the saloons and brewpubs on Lincoln Avenue. That is lively in ski season, but outside the busy weeks the town is quiet well before midnight.

Both are first-rate outdoor bases, so the choice comes down to the kind of mountain day you want. Boulder's strength is what starts at the doorstep: the Flatirons and well over 200km of trails from Chautauqua, the climbing walls of Eldorado Canyon ten minutes south, and canyon roads that draw serious cyclists, with Rocky Mountain National Park about an hour away.

Steamboat leans towards winter, with dry Champagne Powder, aspen-glade tree skiing, Nordic trails and backcountry at Rabbit Ears Pass. In summer there is mountain biking on Emerald Mountain, Fish Creek Falls, the alpine lakes of the Mount Zirkel Wilderness and fly fishing on the Yampa, with elk and moose along the way.

Here the gap is wide. From Boulder, Denver's art museum, capitol and Union Station are about forty minutes away by express bus, and with a car Golden, Fort Collins, Estes Park and the silver-mining towns of Georgetown and Idaho Springs make easy outings.

Steamboat is remote. The nearby towns are small ranching communities, Vail and Grand Lake are around two hours of mountain driving away and Denver is about three. Excursions here mean heading into the hills, not to another town.

Both are safe, relaxed small towns for children who like being outdoors, and neither has a zoo or theme park of its own. Boulder suits a summer or mixed trip, with the creek path, the Chautauqua meadow, the reservoir swim beach and the Pearl Street performers, plus a planetarium and natural history museum for wet days and Denver's zoo and aquarium within reach.

Steamboat is built around the family ski trip. It has a strong ski school, gentle beginner terrain, Howelsen Hill for first turns and the Old Town Hot Springs with slides and a climbing wall, and summer adds the rodeo and tubing on the Yampa.

Boulder is the easier town to manage without a car. Downtown, the university and Chautauqua are a short walk or bike ride apart, linked by an outstanding network of creek-side bike paths, and an express bus runs to Denver and its airport connections.

Steamboat's flat downtown and the town bus out to the ski base are enough for a stay on the slopes. Strawberry Park, Fish Creek Falls and the passes need a car, though, often on winter roads that call for proper tyres. In both towns, outlying trailheads mean hiring one.

Boulder has the better browse, with the brick-paved Pearl Street Mall's independent bookshops, galleries and toy shops, the Twenty Ninth Street district, and climbing, running and cycling shops that are unusually good. Steamboat's Lincoln Avenue is mostly western wear, with boots, hats and saddle-blanket goods alongside galleries and ski shops. It makes a characterful hour but not a shopping trip.

Neither is cheap, but Boulder is somewhat easier on the wallet. Its trails cost nothing, buses are reasonable, and staying in Denver or a nearby town is a practical way to save. In ski season Steamboat adds resort pricing for lodging, lift access, equipment hire and meals, and the Christmas and spring-break weeks cost the most. Summer and the shoulder seasons are gentler, and self-catering condos help.

Boulder hears far more live music through the year. Rooms downtown and on the Hill book rock, bluegrass and roots acts most nights, and summer brings the Colorado Music Festival in the wooden Chautauqua Auditorium and outdoor Shakespeare on campus, with Red Rocks Amphitheatre under an hour away.

Steamboat's music comes mostly in summer, with the Strings Music Festival's chamber music, jazz and bluegrass, free outdoor concerts and student theatre and dance at Perry-Mansfield. In winter there is little beyond bar bands and the odd touring show.

Steamboat is the place to soak. The town is named after a mineral spring, locals use the Old Town Hot Springs pools all year, and the rock-lined pools of Strawberry Park, up a mountain road in a wooded creek valley, are at their best on a snowy evening.

Boulder's wellness is about practice rather than water, with yoga and meditation studios, a Buddhist-inspired university, massage and day spas. Its spring-fed pool at Eldorado Springs is modest, and the nearest real hot springs are an hour away.