Colorado Springs or Page, Arizona?

In Colorado Springs, high in the Rockies and far from any coast, swimming means a hotel or public pool, or a brisk dip in a reservoir that stays cold well into summer. Rafting on the Arkansas River is the nearest thing to a water day, and that is an adventure, not a swim.

Page wins easily here. By midsummer Lake Powell is warm enough for long swims. Lone Rock Beach has open sand, and the best swimming is from boats and kayaks, jumping off sandstone into deep coves. There are no lifeguards, and the shoreline moves as the water level rises and falls.

Colorado Springs eats better, mainly because there is more of it and in more pleasant settings. You can eat green chile and barbecue in Old Colorado City, Manitou Springs or along Tejon Street, the local breweries are good and the Broadmoor covers the formal end.

Page's strip of diners, chains and Mexican places exists to feed tour groups. Its one distinctive dish is the Navajo taco, which is worth trying at a reservation stand.

Neither city is a museum trip, but Colorado Springs has noticeably more to see. The aluminium spires of the Air Force Academy's Cadet Chapel, the Olympic and Paralympic Museum, the Southwestern collection at the Fine Arts Center and the Victorian streets of Manitou Springs fill a day or two.

Page was built in the 1950s for dam workers, so its sights are the Glen Canyon Dam visitor centre and a small museum devoted to John Wesley Powell. Its deeper interest comes from the surrounding Navajo Nation, not from anything in town.

Colorado Springs at least has a place to go out. Downtown Tejon Street fills at weekends with students and soldiers in sports bars, cocktail bars and a handful of dance spots, though the taprooms close early and weeknights are quiet.

Page has a few bars and a brewpub, and most visitors are in bed early for sunrise canyon tours. Its best evening is a dark desert sky full of stars.

Both are superb, and Page has the edge for sheer spectacle. Within minutes of town are the glowing slot canyons of Antelope Canyon and the loop of Horseshoe Bend. Lake Powell's flooded red canyons lead by boat to Rainbow Bridge, and the Vermilion Cliffs and Lees Ferry rafting are close by.

Colorado Springs is the more versatile base for active days. You can summit Pikes Peak by trail, road or cog railway, climb the sandstone fins of Garden of the Gods, ride excellent mountain-bike trails and reach ski slopes in about two hours. The thin air takes a day to adjust to.

Colorado Springs has many more places within a short drive. Denver's museums are a little over an hour away, and so are the gold-mining streets of Cripple Creek and Victor and the Royal Gorge Bridge. Manitou Springs is next door.

From Page the scenery is grand but the destinations are few and far apart. Lees Ferry and Kanab are manageable, while Navajo National Monument's cliff dwellings and Monument Valley take a long day on the road.

Colorado Springs is easier with children. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, the cave tours, the Manitou Cliff Dwellings, the cog railway and a small Christmas-themed amusement park make good short outings, although there is a lot of driving.

Page suits older, outdoorsy children who will love a lake day and the Antelope Canyon tours. It has nothing built for children, though, and the sheer, mostly unfenced drops at Horseshoe Bend and the steep ladders on some tours call for close supervision.

You need a car in both, and Colorado Springs is only slightly easier. Downtown, Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs can each be walked, and summer shuttles link a few sights, but the thin bus network won't get you far. In Page you can walk the motel strip and use tour pickups, and that is it. Its airport links are also much weaker, so most visitors arrive by road.

For browsing, the old storefronts of Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs give Colorado Springs the wider choice. You'll find galleries, Western wear, rock and gem shops and outdoor gear, with malls and outlets on the edge of town for everything else.

Page has mainly supermarkets and souvenir shops. It does have one thing Colorado Springs can't match, though: Navajo silver, turquoise, rugs and pottery, bought at trading posts or directly from the maker.

Garden of the Gods, the canyon parks and most trails around Colorado Springs are free, and there are plenty of chain hotels along the interstate, so daily costs stay moderate. Car hire is the one extra you can't avoid.

In Page you pay for the main sights. Antelope Canyon can only be seen on paid guided tours, boats and houseboats are expensive, and rooms are scarce in the busy months. Camping at Lone Rock or Wahweap, or coming in winter, keeps the cost down.

Colorado Springs has a modest but real programme. The Philharmonic plays at the Pikes Peak Center, the Fine Arts Center stages plays and musicals, and touring bands play the amphitheatre in summer. You might plan an evening around it, if not a trip.

Page has no theatre or concert venue. Its offer is limited to occasional Navajo dance presentations for visitors and the odd local band in a bar.

Colorado Springs is the easier place to slow down, because rest is part of the place rather than something squeezed between outings. Manitou Springs grew up as a spa town, and a slow afternoon there makes a gentle break from the trails: you drink the fizzy mineral water from the street fountains, then sit in an outdoor soaking tub with the mountains in view. If you want a full day of treatments, the Broadmoor has a proper resort spa.

Page has nothing like this beyond the odd hotel massage and a motel pool. Here the rest comes from the setting: empty desert evenings and long views over red rock. Most itineraries there are a run of tours and drives, so a restful stay means keeping the plans short on purpose.