Colorado Springs or Scottsdale?

Neither city has a coast, so water time comes in other forms. In Colorado Springs it means a pool or a cold mountain reservoir, and most visitors get on the water by rafting the Arkansas River instead.

In Scottsdale, the resort pool is a big part of the stay. Saguaro Lake and Canyon Lake have small sandy coves within an hour's drive, and in summer people float down the lower Salt River on inner tubes. That makes it the more relaxed choice for swimming.

Scottsdale eats better, mainly because it has more choice. Old Town and the resort corridors have steakhouses, sushi, patio grills and long brunches. Sonoran Mexican food is the local speciality, with carne asada and plate-sized flour tortillas, and Phoenix's restaurants are a short drive away.

Colorado Springs is more casual: green chile, barbecue and food trucks outside breweries, with the Broadmoor's dining rooms at the formal end and little in between. Its local craft beer is better than the food.

The two are about even for sights, but the sights are very different. Colorado Springs is about military, sport and frontier history. The Air Force Academy's Cadet Chapel has aluminium spires, the Olympic and Paralympic Museum reflects the city's Olympic role, and the Pioneers Museum in the old courthouse tells the Gold Rush story. Manitou Springs adds Victorian streets.

Scottsdale's highlight is architecture: Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West, part of a UNESCO listing, is worth the guided tour. Its art is southwestern and Native American, and for depth on Indigenous culture you drive into Phoenix for the Heard Museum. The Musical Instrument Museum, just over the city line, has instruments from around the world and fills half a day.

Scottsdale has much more going on after dark. A few blocks of Old Town fill with dance clubs, rooftop lounges and sports bars, with dress codes and bottle service, and they stay noisy until closing time at weekends and through spring training season.

In Colorado Springs, a night out means a few bars on Tejon Street or a brewery taproom that closes before midnight. It suits a pint after a day of hiking, but not a big night.

Colorado Springs is the stronger outdoor base, by some distance. Pikes Peak rises to over 4,300m right above town, Garden of the Gods and Red Rock Canyon offer both easy paths and serious climbing, and the mountain biking is excellent for much of the year. Ski resorts and the Great Sand Dunes are both within reach. Take the altitude gently on the first day.

Scottsdale has fine desert scenery in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, with saguaro cactus, granite boulders and short climbs up Camelback Mountain and Pinnacle Peak. But the summer heat restricts hiking to dawn for months at a time.

Colorado Springs has more within easy reach. Denver is a little over an hour away for a full city day, the gold-mining towns of Cripple Creek and Victor are up scenic mountain roads, and the Royal Gorge Bridge is about an hour to the south-west. Manitou Springs is right next door.

From Scottsdale, the best outings take longer. Sedona's red rocks, Jerome and Montezuma Castle are about two hours north, Tucson is a similar distance south, and the Grand Canyon needs an overnight stay.

Colorado Springs is the better choice for active children. They can hand-feed giraffes at the mountainside zoo, ride the cog railway up Pikes Peak, and visit the caves at Cave of the Winds and the Manitou Cliff Dwellings, all short outings.

Scottsdale is better for a pool-based family stay. Resorts have lazy rivers, water slides and kids' clubs, and there are an aquarium, a butterfly house and a miniature railway park. These partly fill the gaps in Colorado Springs, but the summer heat keeps children indoors from midday.

Both cities need a car, and neither has useful public transport for visitors. In Colorado Springs, downtown, Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs are pleasant to walk but separate from each other, and the zoo and the trailheads are reached by mountain roads.

Scottsdale is easier to drive, with a simple grid and plenty of parking. A free trolley links Old Town with the main shopping areas, which helps on a short stay.

Scottsdale is the clear choice for shopping. A large luxury mall on Scottsdale Road has the big fashion houses, and the galleries on Main Street and Marshall Way sell southwestern painting and glass. Good dealers in Navajo and Hopi silver, turquoise and Pueblo pottery are nearby.

Colorado Springs is more modest. The best of it is rock and gem shops, Western wear and outdoor gear in the old storefronts of Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs, plus an outlet centre on the north side of town.

Colorado Springs is the cheaper of the two. The motels along the interstate are reasonably priced, and Garden of the Gods, the canyon parks and most trails are free, so a day outdoors costs little beyond car hire.

Scottsdale is an upmarket resort city, and in the winter and spring high season its rooms, golf and spa treatments are expensive. Prices fall sharply in the hot summer months, if you can live with the heat.

Scottsdale has more to offer, largely because Phoenix and Tempe are close by. That puts Arizona Opera, Ballet Arizona, the symphony and touring Broadway shows at Gammage within reach, and the Musical Instrument Museum's theatre hosts world music concerts.

Colorado Springs has the Philharmonic at the Pikes Peak Center, plays and musicals from the Fine Arts Center's theatre company, and summer concerts at the outdoor amphitheatre. It is enough for an evening out, but rarely a reason to plan a trip.

Scottsdale has one of the largest concentrations of resort spas you will find anywhere. Many offer desert-inspired treatments and are open to day guests, and the dry air and slow pace are part of the appeal.

Colorado Springs has a longer history as a health resort but much less to offer now. You can drink naturally carbonated water from the public fountains in Manitou Springs, soak in a small spa there and visit the Broadmoor's spa, while the well-known hot-spring pools are more than two hours into the mountains.