Colorado Springs or Estes Park?

Neither town has anywhere for a beach day. The difference is in what you do near water instead. In Colorado Springs that might be a summer swim in a city lake or reservoir, or a rafting trip on the Arkansas River.

Around Estes Park, Lake Estes and the high park lakes are fed by snowmelt and too cold to swim in, so people paddle, fish or walk the shore. For swimming there is the indoor aquatic centre.

Colorado Springs gives you more choice. Downtown, Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs offer green chile Southwestern cooking, Mexican and Asian restaurants, and a strong craft beer scene. The Broadmoor's dining rooms cover the formal end.

In Estes Park, eating out means elk burgers, barbecue, big trail breakfasts and taffy shops on Elkhorn Avenue. It is enjoyable after a hike, but the range is narrow and many kitchens cut back outside summer.

Colorado Springs has more to see indoors, though it is spread out. The Air Force Academy's aluminium-spired Cadet Chapel, the Olympic and Paralympic Museum, the Fine Arts Center's Southwestern collection and the Pioneers Museum would fill a couple of days.

Estes Park has one famous landmark, the Stanley Hotel, which inspired The Shining. After that there are only the homesteading museum and MacGregor Ranch, enough for a rainy afternoon.

Neither is a place for a big night out, but Colorado Springs at least has a weekend scene. The blocks of Tejon Street fill with students and young soldiers from the bases, and there are a handful of places to dance.

Estes Park keeps hiker's hours. You can get a beer in a saloon or taproom after dinner, and by ten most of the town has gone to bed.

Both are first-rate mountain bases, but Estes Park has the edge in scale and wildness. Rocky Mountain National Park climbs from ponderosa meadows to tundra above 3,700m on Trail Ridge Road. Elk, bighorn sheep and moose are everyday sights, and lakes such as Bear and Emerald are a short drive away.

The outdoors in Colorado Springs is more varied in kind. You can take the cog railway or hike up Pikes Peak, climb red sandstone in Garden of the Gods, try the punishing Manitou Incline or ride its excellent mountain bike trails. Its drier, milder climate also keeps those trails open for more of the year.

From Colorado Springs the choice of outings is wider. Manitou Springs is next door for a half day, Denver is a little over an hour north, and the gold-mining towns of Cripple Creek and Victor are about an hour away up steep mountain roads. The Royal Gorge is a similar drive south-west. With a longer drive you can reach Salida, Breckenridge or the Great Sand Dunes.

Estes Park's day trips run down the canyons to the plains. Boulder and the historic Old Town of Fort Collins are each about an hour away, Lyons is on the way down and Denver is further on. In summer, the drive over Trail Ridge Road to Grand Lake on the park's western side is the most scenic day of the set.

Colorado Springs gives children more to do. There is the mountainside Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, where children can hand-feed giraffes, along with cave tours at Cave of the Winds, the Manitou Cliff Dwellings and a small Christmas-themed amusement park. The cost is a lot of time in the car between them.

Estes Park is smaller and easier to manage. Elk wander through town, the national park runs junior ranger activities, and there are mini golf, go-karts and the tramway up Prospect Mountain. With no zoo or museum to fall back on, though, a wet day is harder to fill.

Both towns need a car, but Estes Park is the easier of the two. Its downtown and Riverwalk are compact, and in the warmer months free shuttles run from town into the park's Bear Lake corridor, so you avoid the scramble for trailhead parking.

Colorado Springs sprawls along the foothills, and its buses are thin and infrequent. Downtown, Old Colorado City and Manitou are each walkable, but you will be driving between them.

Browsing is better in Colorado Springs. The old storefronts of Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs hold rock and gem shops, Western wear, gallery art and outdoor gear. There are also outlets on the north side for practical buys, but nothing in the way of luxury or design.

Estes Park's shopping is an hour on Elkhorn Avenue among T-shirts, fudge and wildlife photography, and much of it is souvenirs. For anything more you drive down to Boulder or Denver.

Colorado Springs is the cheaper base. Its chain hotels along the interstate are reasonably priced, and the big outdoor sights, from Garden of the Gods to the canyon parks, are free to enter.

In summer and early autumn Estes Park charges what you would expect so close to a much-visited national park, and you also pay a park entrance fee. Rooms in winter and spring are far cheaper, and cabins with kitchens help families keep costs down.

Colorado Springs has a year-round programme. The Philharmonic plays at the Pikes Peak Center, the Fine Arts Center has a theatre company, and touring bands play the arena and amphitheatre in summer. It is enough to fill an evening, though not enough to plan a trip around.

In Estes Park the arts are mostly a summer affair. There are free riverside concerts, evenings at the Stanley, and pipe bands at the Scottish-Irish Highland Festival in September. Outside those, you drive to Boulder or Denver.

Colorado Springs has the stronger spa side. Manitou Springs grew up as a health resort, and you can still drink from its mineral fountains and soak in outdoor tubs there. The Broadmoor's resort spa is the most complete in either town.

Estes Park has no springs, only a few lodge spas. What it offers is quiet: a riverside cabin, elk at dusk and calm evenings, especially out of season.