Colorado Springs or Keystone?

Neither city has any real swimming. Both sit high in the Rockies, a very long way from any coast.

What little water there is differs. Colorado Springs has public pools, city lakes and rafting on the Arkansas River within reach. At Keystone, Dillon Reservoir is for looking at and boating on, since it is mostly closed to swimming, so the water you will actually get into is a hotel hot tub.

Colorado Springs gives you more choice and more places worth seeking out. You can eat green chile and Southwestern dishes downtown, in the brick blocks of Old Colorado City or in Manitou Springs, and there are Mexican and Asian kitchens along the main roads. The Broadmoor's dining rooms cover the formal end.

Keystone's food is resort food: slopeside grills, après-ski burgers and a gondola-served dining room at the summit. Elk and trout give the menus some local character. Many visitors cook in their condo or drive to Frisco or Breckenridge for more variety.

Colorado Springs is the only one of the two with sights worth planning a day around. They include the aluminium spires of the Cadet Chapel, the Olympic and Paralympic Museum, the Southwestern collection at the Fine Arts Center and the Gold Rush history in the old courthouse. The Victorian streets of Manitou Springs add some atmosphere.

Keystone was built for skiing in the 1970s and has almost nothing to visit. Its history is out in the valley, in the mining cabins and ruins above Montezuma and in the old towns nearby.

Neither is a place for a big night out, but Colorado Springs at least has a proper downtown. At weekends, the cocktail bars, sports bars and a few dance spots on Tejon Street fill with students and young soldiers, even if many brewery taprooms close early.

In Keystone the evening is après-ski on the decks at River Run, and the resort goes quiet soon after dinner because most guests want to be on the first chair in the morning. Anyone who wants to stay out late heads to Main Street in Breckenridge.

Both are outstanding mountain bases, but Keystone puts you higher and right on the slopes. In winter you can ski its three peaks and reach Arapahoe Basin, Breckenridge and Vail within the hour. In summer, alpine tundra at Loveland Pass and the trailheads for Grays and Torreys Peaks are close by.

Colorado Springs offers a different and drier landscape. It has the red sandstone fins of Garden of the Gods for climbing, the Incline and the cog railway up Pikes Peak, and mountain-bike trails that stay open for much of the year. Its weak point is snow sports, since the ski resorts are about two hours away.

Both give you a similar spread of outings, and both lean on Colorado's mining history. From Colorado Springs you can reach Cripple Creek and Victor, the Royal Gorge and Denver, which is a little over an hour away. Nearly every trip needs a car.

From Keystone the outings come in a tighter cluster: Breckenridge's Victorian centre, the Georgetown loop railway, Leadville's opera house and Vail's Tyrolean-style village. Denver is further away, and weekend ski traffic on I-70 can make the drive much longer.

A family week in Colorado Springs is a string of short outings. You can hand-feed the giraffes at the zoo on Cheyenne Mountain, take a cave tour at Cave of the Winds, see the Manitou Cliff Dwellings and ride the cog railway up Pikes Peak. The cost is a lot of time in the car between them.

In Keystone the ski week itself is the family trip. It has a large ski school, gentle runs on the lower mountain, a snow fort and a huge skating rink on the frozen lake, all a short walk or a free shuttle ride from the condo. Away from the snow there is much less for children to do.

Once you have arrived, Keystone is far easier. Free shuttles link its three bases, and free county buses run to Frisco, Breckenridge and Silverthorne, so the car can stay parked. Getting up from Denver is the hard part, especially when snow and chain rules close in on I-70.

In Colorado Springs the attractions are spread along the foothills, and the buses are sparse and infrequent. You can walk around downtown, Old Colorado City and Manitou, but you will need a car to get between them.

Colorado Springs is slightly better for browsing. Its old storefronts in Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs sell galleries' work, Western wear, rocks and gems and local crafts.

Keystone's shops are mainly for ski gear and rentals. The draw nearby is the large outlet centre in Silverthorne, which is good for brand-name outdoor clothing. Neither place has any luxury shopping.

Colorado Springs costs much less. It has reasonably priced motels along the interstate, and Garden of the Gods and most of the trails are free, so the extra spending is mainly car hire and tips.

Keystone is expensive by any measure, and lift tickets, slopeside condos, rentals and ski school all add up, most of all over Christmas and spring break. Free buses and self-catering in a condo kitchen help, and summer is cheaper, but it is never a budget trip.

Colorado Springs has a modest programme that runs all year. The Philharmonic plays a season at the Pikes Peak Center, the Fine Arts Center stages plays and musicals, and touring bands come to the arena in summer.

Around Keystone most performances happen in summer, at village festivals, at the open-air amphitheatre by Dillon Reservoir and at Breckenridge's classical festival. In winter the main option is the small professional theatre in Silverthorne, apart from acoustic sets at après-ski.

Colorado Springs has more of a story to tell, since Manitou Springs grew up as a health resort. You can still fill a cup from its carbonated springs and soak in outdoor tubs looking towards the mountains, and the Broadmoor has the most complete spa in either place.

Keystone's relaxation is about recovering from a day on the slopes: massages at the resort spas and a steaming hot tub at your lodge while the snow falls. For natural hot springs you have to drive over the pass to Idaho Springs.