Colorado Springs or Minneapolis?

Neither city has a coast, but Minneapolis at least has a real swimming season. Lake Harriet, Bde Maka Ska, Lake Nokomis and Cedar Lake have sandy strips with lifeguards in summer, the water is around 24°C by late July, and an after-work swim is part of city life.

Colorado Springs has pools and the odd chilly reservoir, so a day on the water there usually means rafting the Arkansas River.

Minneapolis eats more interestingly. Its strength is the immigrant cooking along Lake Street and Eat Street, with Somali, Ethiopian, Vietnamese and Hmong food. On top of that it has chef-led restaurants in Northeast and the North Loop and local oddities such as the Juicy Lucy.

Colorado Springs is casual and dependable: green chile, barbecue and burgers, with the Broadmoor's dining rooms at the formal end. Both cities pour good local beer, but only Minneapolis has much choice between the taproom and the special-occasion dinner.

Minneapolis is the better museum city. It has the encyclopedic Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Walker Art Center with its Sculpture Garden, and the Mill City Museum in the ruins of a flour mill beside St Anthony Falls. Two or three days covers the main sights well.

Colorado Springs has fewer sights, and they are spread out: the aluminium spires of the Cadet Chapel at the Air Force Academy, the Olympic and Paralympic Museum and the Southwestern collection at the Fine Arts Center. They make a good afternoon between hikes but are not a reason to go.

Neither is a party city, but Minneapolis gives you more choice. There are taprooms in Northeast, cocktail bars in the North Loop warehouses and weekend crowds in the Warehouse District and Uptown. Summer adds patios and rooftops, and bars stay open until 2am.

In Colorado Springs, going out mostly means a few blocks of Tejon Street, busy at weekends with students and soldiers. Many taprooms close before midnight, and weeknights end early.

Colorado Springs is in another league outdoors. Pikes Peak rises to more than 4,300m right behind town. Garden of the Gods and Red Rock Canyon have easy paths as well as serious climbing, and mountain biking, rafting and the Great Sand Dunes are all within reach. Take the first day gently because of the altitude.

Minneapolis has a gentler kind of nature. The 80km Grand Rounds links the lakes, Minnehaha Falls and the Mississippi gorge, and there is canoeing in summer and cross-country skiing in winter. It is excellent for a city, but the land is flat.

Colorado Springs has more worth driving to. Denver is a little over an hour north, the gold-mining towns of Cripple Creek and Victor are up steep mountain roads, and the Royal Gorge Bridge is about an hour away. Breckenridge and Salida are there for longer drives.

From Minneapolis the best outing is St Paul, a light-rail ride away, then Stillwater on the St Croix and the river towns around Lake Pepin. Beyond those it is mostly farmland.

Both cities work well with children, in different settings. Colorado Springs makes an outdoor family trip: hand-feeding giraffes at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, the cog railway, Cave of the Winds and the cliff dwellings. Expect long spells in the car and a strong sun to watch.

Minneapolis leans indoors, which helps in the cold months. The Mall of America, on the light rail, has a full amusement park and an aquarium, and St Paul has the Science Museum and the Children's Museum. In summer there are lake beaches and paddle boats too.

Minneapolis is far easier without a car. Light rail links the airport, downtown, the Mall of America and St Paul. The skyways take you across downtown in winter without going outside, and protected bike lanes and the Midtown Greenway reach the lakes.

In Colorado Springs you really need to hire a car. Buses are few, the sights are strung along the foothills, and only downtown, Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs are pleasant on foot.

Minneapolis has more to shop for. The main draw is the Mall of America, a light-rail ride away, and Minnesota charges no sales tax on clothing. The North Loop adds independent boutiques and Northeast has makers' studios.

Colorado Springs is better for souvenirs with local character than for serious shopping. Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs have Western wear, gem shops and galleries, and beyond them it is malls and outlets along the highways.

The two cost much the same, moderate by American standards, so the difference is in where the money goes. In Colorado Springs, car hire is hard to avoid, but Garden of the Gods, the canyon parks and the trails are free.

In Minneapolis you can manage most of a stay without a car thanks to cheap light rail. The Institute of Art, the Sculpture Garden and the lakes are free, and the immigrant restaurants are good value. Hotel rates go up around conventions and big sporting events.

This is where Minneapolis pulls furthest ahead. It has the Guthrie Theater, touring Broadway shows in the Hennepin Avenue theatres and the Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall. The opera and the chamber orchestra play at the Ordway in St Paul, and First Avenue is the rock stage, so something good is on most nights.

Colorado Springs has a philharmonic season at the Pikes Peak Center, plays at the Fine Arts Center and summer concerts in the amphitheatre. That is enough for an evening if the dates fit, but not something to plan a trip around.

Neither is a spa destination, and what each offers is different in kind. Colorado Springs has a mineral-spring heritage. Manitou Springs grew up around carbonated springs you can still drink from at public fountains, and there is a small outdoor soaking spa there as well as the full resort spa at the Broadmoor.

Minneapolis has Nordic sauna culture instead. It is at its best in winter, when saunas go up on the frozen lakes beside a cold plunge, and an evening walk round a lake is how locals unwind.