Colorado Springs or Santa Fe?

Neither city has a beach, and both sit high and far inland. The difference is in the water trips nearby. From Colorado Springs people go rafting on the Arkansas River. From Santa Fe they swim at Abiquiu Lake or float the Rio Grande. Otherwise it is a hotel pool in both.

Santa Fe is clearly the place to eat well. New Mexican cooking is a cuisine in its own right, with red or green chile, blue corn, posole and sopaipillas, served in old adobe dining rooms around the Plaza. The city also has a fine-dining tier that is unusual for its size, and the Railyard farmers' market is worth a morning.

Colorado Springs has green chile on its menus too, but the food is mostly casual: burgers, barbecue and food trucks outside craft breweries. Beyond the Broadmoor's formal dining rooms there is little in the middle, and the local beer is the best of it.

Santa Fe has far more to see. It is a former Spanish colonial capital that still looks like an adobe town. Within a few steps of each other are the Palace of the Governors, the cathedral and the Loretto Chapel's spiral staircase. Museum Hill and the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum are better than a town this size would suggest.

Colorado Springs has a few strong single sights, mainly the aluminium spires of the Air Force Academy's Cadet Chapel and the Olympic and Paralympic Museum. They are spread out, though, and most visitors there spend their time outdoors rather than indoors.

Both cities go quiet early, but Colorado Springs is a little livelier. On weekends, Tejon Street's sports bars, cocktail bars and few dance spots fill with students and soldiers. Santa Fe's evenings are more grown-up: a long dinner, then a mezcal on a rooftop as the sun sets over the Jemez Mountains. Anyone wanting clubs there drives to Albuquerque.

Both are true mountain towns, and Colorado Springs has a slight edge. Pikes Peak rises above 4,300m right beside the city, Garden of the Gods offers serious climbing, and the Manitou Incline and excellent mountain biking are close by. The ski resorts, though, are about two hours away.

Santa Fe has more variety. Aspen forest and the Pecos Wilderness lie up the ski-area road, with skiing less than an hour from the Plaza. Desert mesas, the Valles Caldera and O'Keeffe's red cliffs at Abiquiu are within a day's drive.

Santa Fe has the better day trips. The High Road to Taos runs through old Spanish villages to Taos Pueblo, which has been lived in for about a thousand years. Bandelier's cliff dwellings, Los Alamos and the Turquoise Trail's mining villages are other directions to try, and the Rail Runner train reaches Albuquerque without a car.

Colorado Springs offers a solid mix of its own. Denver's museums are a little over an hour north, the gold-mining towns of Cripple Creek and Victor are up in the hills, and the Royal Gorge Bridge is to the south-west. Almost every outing needs a car.

Colorado Springs is clearly the better choice with children. The steep zoo with its giraffe feeding, the Pikes Peak cog railway, the Cave of the Winds tours and the Manitou Cliff Dwellings are all short and easy to fit into a day.

Santa Fe has a children's museum, the toys and miniatures in the folk art collection, and the ladders at Bandelier. But its main draws are galleries and dinners, and at 2,100m the altitude tires small children more. It suits older children who like hiking and history.

Santa Fe is easier to get around, at least in the centre. The Plaza, the downtown museums, Canyon Road and the Railyard are all within about twenty minutes on foot.

In Colorado Springs the sights are spread along the foothills, and the buses are sparse. Downtown, Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs are each walkable, but you need a car to get between them. Both cities need a hire car for trailheads and anything further out.

Santa Fe is the better shopping town, provided you are after art and craft. You can buy silver, turquoise and pottery directly from Native artists under the Palace portal. Canyon Road and the Railyard are packed with galleries, and the summer Indian, Spanish and Folk Art markets draw serious collectors.

Colorado Springs is more down to earth. Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs sell rocks and gems, Western wear and outdoor gear in old storefronts. Beyond that it is highway malls and outlets.

Colorado Springs is the cheaper of the two. It has plenty of chain hotels along the interstate, and Garden of the Gods and most of the trails are free.

Santa Fe charges resort rates around the Plaza, especially at market, opera and Christmas time, and its restaurants are priced for wealthier visitors. Staying out on Cerrillos Road brings costs down. In both cities a hire car adds to the bill.

Santa Fe is clearly ahead in summer. The opera performs in an open-sided theatre as the sun sets over the desert, and it is known for rare and new works. There is also a chamber music festival and a long flamenco tradition. Out of season the historic Lensic theatre and concerts in the old churches keep a smaller programme going.

Colorado Springs offers a philharmonic season at the Pikes Peak Center, Fine Arts Center plays and summer gigs at the amphitheatre. It is fine on the right evening, but not worth planning a trip around.

Santa Fe is the better place to unwind. It has Japanese-style soaking tubs among the pines on the ski-area road and the historic hot springs at Ojo Caliente about an hour north. It also has a surprising number of spas, yoga studios and healers for its size.

Colorado Springs has the carbonated mineral fountains of Manitou Springs, where you can fill a cup in the street, and a small soaking spa there. The Broadmoor's resort spa covers the luxury end, but the big Colorado hot springs are more than two hours away.