Colorado Springs or Sedona?

Neither is a swimming destination, but Sedona at least has somewhere natural to get wet. In Colorado Springs that means pools or a cold reservoir, and a day on the water usually means rafting on the Arkansas River.

In Sedona, Oak Creek has the sandstone chute at Slide Rock and swimming holes below the cliffs at Grasshopper Point and Red Rock Crossing. They are cold and crowded on hot weekends, but they are a real reward after a hike.

Both serve casual Southwestern food with plenty of chile, so the difference lies in what goes with it. Colorado Springs is a beer town, with craft breweries and food trucks. Tejon Street, Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs are the nicest places to eat, and the Broadmoor covers the formal end.

Sedona swaps beer for wine, with Verde Valley tasting rooms just down the road, and more of its kitchens cater to vegetarian and health-minded diners. There, a terrace facing the red rocks at sunset is often what you are really booking.

Colorado Springs has more to see indoors, though it is no museum city. The aluminium spires of the Air Force Academy's Cadet Chapel, the Olympic and Paralympic Museum, the Fine Arts Center and the Pioneers Museum fill a couple of worthwhile days.

Sedona's sights are fewer and tied to the landscape: the Chapel of the Holy Cross built into a butte, a small heritage museum and many galleries. Its most memorable outing is out of town, at the Sinagua cliff dwellings and petroglyphs of Palatki, Honanki and V Bar V.

Colorado Springs clearly has more going on after dark, though neither town is a place for late nights. Its evenings centre on a short stretch of Tejon Street downtown, where sports bars, cocktail rooms and the odd dance floor get lively on Fridays and Saturdays with students and off-duty soldiers. Midweek it empties early, and much of the drinking happens in brewery taprooms that shut before midnight. Manitou Springs is the gentler option, with a quiet drink at the foot of the mountain.

Sedona hardly has a night scene at all. Much of the town is up before sunrise for the trails, so it goes to bed early, and after dinner you are down to a handful of lounges and wine bars in Uptown and at the resorts, good for a nightcap and little more. The best part of the evening costs nothing: on a clear night the sky over the red rocks is dark enough to see the Milky Way.

Both are outstanding bases for the outdoors, but they differ in character. Colorado Springs has height and variety: Pikes Peak rises above 4,300m and can be reached on foot, by road or by cog railway. There is also climbing in Garden of the Gods, waterfalls in North Cheyenne Cañon, the punishing Manitou Incline, and ski resorts about two hours away.

Sedona edges ahead on sheer scenery and on how many trails you can reach from town. Cathedral Rock, Devil's Bridge, Boynton Canyon and West Fork all start minutes away, the slickrock singletrack is famous among mountain bikers, and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is about two hours north. Summer there means walking at dawn, while Colorado Springs is at its best in summer.

Both have a good choice of day trips, of quite different kinds. From Colorado Springs you can spend a day in a big city, with Denver a little over an hour away and Boulder beyond it. You can also drive up to the gold-mining towns of Cripple Creek and Victor, or out to the Royal Gorge Bridge.

Sedona's outings are smaller and older. There is the hillside copper town of Jerome, the Verde Canyon Railroad, Verde Valley tasting rooms, and the ancient sites of Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot. A few days covers them, and nothing nearby matches a day in Denver.

Colorado Springs is much the easier place for a family. Children can hand-feed the giraffes at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and Cave of the Winds, the cog railway, the Manitou Cliff Dwellings and a small Christmas-themed park make a week of short outings.

Sedona has Slide Rock, gentle paths around Bell Rock and open-air jeep tours. It has no zoo or theme park, though, and many hotels are aimed at couples. It works better as one stop on a Grand Canyon and Flagstaff route than as a long stay with young children.

You will want a car in either place. Colorado Springs spreads along the foothills and has a thin bus network, but downtown, Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs are each pleasant to walk around once you have parked.

Sedona is smaller, strung along two highways that meet at the Y, and only Uptown is easy on foot. Its frustrations are weekend traffic and trailhead car parks that fill early. Most visitors fly into Phoenix and drive up, which takes about two hours.

Neither is a shopping destination, and in both you would have to go elsewhere for fashion. Colorado Springs is the more practical of the two. Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs have outdoor-gear stores, Western wear and rock and gem shops, and there are malls and outlet stores on the north side.

Sedona's shops are about art and the spiritual. There are the courtyards of Tlaquepaque, galleries selling Native American jewellery, pottery and rugs, and the crystal and metaphysical shops the town is known for.

Colorado Springs is clearly the cheaper stay. Chain hotels and motels along the interstate keep rooms reasonable, and Garden of the Gods and the canyon parks cost nothing to enter.

Sedona is mostly resorts and boutique lodges, its restaurants charge resort-town prices, and jeep tours, balloon flights and spa treatments add up quickly. Visitors on a budget often stay in Cottonwood or Flagstaff and drive in. In either place, allow for car hire.

Colorado Springs has the more regular programme. The Philharmonic plays a season at the Pikes Peak Center, the Fine Arts Center's theatre company stages plays and musicals, and touring bands play the arena and the outdoor amphitheatre in summer.

Sedona has occasional chamber concerts, local theatre and acoustic sets, along with its long-running film festival in late winter, but no concert hall. Neither town is worth choosing for its stage, but in Colorado Springs you are more likely to find something on during your stay.

Sedona is the retreat town of the two. Resort spas look out over the red rock canyons, and yoga, meditation, breathwork, massage and sunrise walks to the vortexes can fill your days. It has no hot springs, though, and treatments come at resort prices.

Colorado Springs has a smaller offer with deeper roots. Manitou Springs grew up as a health resort around its carbonated springs, which you can still sip from public fountains, and it has a small soaking spa. The Broadmoor has the most complete resort spa in town.