Branson or Colorado Springs?

Neither city has a coast, but Branson has a real summer swim. From June to early September, Table Rock Lake is warm and clear, with public swim areas on brought-in sand and pontoon boats for hire in quiet coves.

Colorado Springs sits at about 1,840m, and swimming there means pools or a cold reservoir. Its water days are spent rafting the Arkansas River instead.

Neither city is a food destination, but Colorado Springs eats a little better. Craft breweries and Southwestern dishes with green chile give it some local flavour. Tejon Street, Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs are pleasant places to sit down, and the Broadmoor's dining rooms cover the formal end.

Branson's food is built for volume: buffets, fried chicken, catfish and set dinner-theatre meals along Highway 76. Its best tastes are Ozark ones, such as fresh trout and the theme park's cinnamon bread, but meals there mostly fill the gap between shows.

Colorado Springs has more to see, though the list is still short. The aluminium spires of the Cadet Chapel, the Olympic and Paralympic Museum, the Southwestern collection at the Fine Arts Center and the Gold Rush story at the Pioneers Museum make a reasonable indoor day, and the Victorian streets of Manitou add character.

Branson's sights are novelty attractions, such as wax museums and a museum shaped like the bow of an ocean liner. Its real heritage is Ozark folk craft, shown by the blacksmiths and glassblowers at the 1880s-themed park, plus the Ralph Foster Museum just south of town.

Branson's evening ends with the curtain call, at about the time Tejon Street in Colorado Springs starts to fill. Once the audiences of families and older couples have gone back to their rooms, Branson has a few brewpubs by the lakefront and some hotel lounges, with no clubs and almost nothing open late.

Downtown Colorado Springs has a few blocks of sports bars, cocktail bars and a handful of dance spots, crowded at weekends with college students and young soldiers from the bases. It is still a modest scene: many taprooms close well before midnight, and on weeknights the town goes quiet early.

Both cities sit in good country, but Colorado Springs is on another scale. Pikes Peak rises above 4,300m at the edge of town, and the sandstone fins of Garden of the Gods suit both walkers and climbers. Mountain biking, rafting and ski resorts about two hours away add to the range.

Branson's Ozarks are gentler, with wooded ridges, limestone bluffs and caves, kayaking and bass fishing on Table Rock Lake, and trout in Lake Taneycomo. The wildest scenery is the Buffalo National River, two hours south, and the summer humidity pushes walks into the early morning.

Colorado Springs has the stronger list, mainly because Denver and its major museums are a little over an hour away. The gold-mining streets of Cripple Creek and Victor and the Royal Gorge Bridge are each about an hour out.

From Branson, the best day out is Eureka Springs, a Victorian spa town on steep streets. Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, a serious museum of American art, is under two hours away. Beyond those two, the outings are modest.

Branson is built around children in a way Colorado Springs is not. The Ozarks theme park and its roller coasters, the water parks, an aquarium, the showboat on Table Rock Lake, go-karts and stunt dinner shows easily fill a week, and hotels expect families.

Colorado Springs suits children who like being outside. They can hand-feed giraffes at the mountainside zoo, ride the cog railway up Pikes Peak, tour caves and explore the cliff dwellings. There is no big theme park or aquarium, though, and the altitude and strong sun need watching.

In both cities a hire car is close to essential, and what differs is how the town is laid out. Branson strings its theatres and hotels along Highway 76, where evening traffic crawls and locals use the colour-coded back roads, and only Branson Landing and the small old downtown are walkable.

Colorado Springs spreads its sights along the foothills and up mountain roads. It does have three separate walkable areas, though: downtown, Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs, with summer shuttles linking Manitou to nearby sights.

Shopping is a side activity in both cities, and the difference lies in the crafts. Branson's distinctive buys are Ozark glass, quilts, pottery and ironwork, often made in front of you, alongside the chain stores of Branson Landing and the outlet malls on the strip. Colorado Springs leans Western, with galleries, Western wear, rock and gem shops and outdoor gear in the old storefronts of Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs.

Overall costs come out much the same, with a hire car needed in both and tips added to every bill. What differs is where the money goes. In Branson, rooms are cheap outside the peak weeks, but show tickets, theme park entry, water parks and boat hire add up, though show-and-hotel packages soften the total.

In Colorado Springs, the hotels along the interstate are reasonable, and the best of the landscape is free, since Garden of the Gods, the canyon parks and most trails cost nothing.

Here Branson is the clear choice. Dozens of theatres run shows from morning to night for most of the year: country and bluegrass family acts, gospel quartets, tribute shows, magicians and large biblical productions with live animals, and the Christmas season is as busy as summer. The range is narrow, so it rewards people who enjoy country, gospel and old-style variety.

Colorado Springs has a respectable local programme: the Philharmonic at the Pikes Peak Center, plays and musicals at the Fine Arts Center, and touring bands at the arena and amphitheatre in summer. It is something to catch on the right evening rather than a reason to go.

Colorado Springs has a gentler side with roots in history. Manitou Springs grew up as a health resort, and its carbonated mineral water still runs from public fountains. A small spa there has outdoor tubs facing the mountains, and the Broadmoor has a full resort spa.

Branson has no bathing tradition, and its neon strip is anything but calm. Rest there means a lodge resort with a spa on Table Rock Lake or a cabin on a quiet wooded cove.