Colorado Springs or Taos?

Neither town has any beach life, since both sit high in the interior, far from the sea. In Colorado Springs swimming means a public pool or a cold reservoir. In Taos the nearest equivalent is a hotel pool or a soak in a hot spring. In both, the best water day is rafting, on the Arkansas River from Colorado Springs or through the Rio Grande gorge from Taos.

Both have a modest food scene, but they taste quite different. Colorado Springs is casual American, with brewpubs and food trucks, burgers, barbecue and green chile, and its best feature is the local beer. The Broadmoor's dining rooms cover the formal end.

Taos is built around northern New Mexican cooking: posole, carne adovada and red or green chile served in family-run places around the plaza, plus horno bread from the Pueblo. It is less varied, but more of it could only be eaten here.

Colorado Springs has a few sights spread across a wide area. The most memorable is the aluminium-spired Cadet Chapel, and the Olympic museum, the Fine Arts Center and the Pioneers Museum each fill a few hours. Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs add some Victorian character.

Taos offers far more. Taos Pueblo is an inhabited adobe village about a thousand years old and a World Heritage site. The buttressed church at Ranchos de Taos was painted by O'Keeffe and photographed by Ansel Adams, and the Harwood, Millicent Rogers and Fechin houses tell the story of the art colony. Each is small, but together they make a richer cultural stay.

Neither is a place for a big night out, but Colorado Springs has more going on. Its few downtown blocks on Tejon Street have sports bars, cocktail bars and a handful of dance spots that fill at weekends with students and young soldiers.

Taos is quieter. An evening there usually means a margarita in an old adobe hotel bar, a band in a saloon or, in winter, après-ski at the ski valley, and most nights end soon after dinner.

This is the main draw of both towns, and both deliver equally well, in different ways. Colorado Springs has its landscape right at the edge of town: the summit of Pikes Peak by trail, road or cog railway, the red rock fins of Garden of the Gods for climbers, the punishing Manitou Incline and excellent mountain biking.

Taos is wilder and better for winter. It has demanding skiing half an hour up the canyon, Wheeler Peak and alpine lakes in summer, and the deep Rio Grande gorge for rafting the Taos Box and walking the rim. In autumn the aspens turn gold along the Enchanted Circle.

Both have good outings within reach, and both need a car for them. From Colorado Springs the choice is wide: a full city day in Denver, the gold-mining towns of Cripple Creek and Victor, and the Royal Gorge Bridge.

From Taos the outings carry more history and art. The High Road leads through adobe villages and Chimayó to Santa Fe, and there is O'Keeffe country at Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch, and the Bandelier cliff dwellings for a longer day.

Colorado Springs is clearly better with children. The mountainside zoo with its giraffe feeding, the cog railway, Cave of the Winds, the Manitou Cliff Dwellings and a small Christmas-themed amusement park make plenty of short outings, and sporty older children will enjoy the Olympic museum.

Taos welcomes children and works for outdoor families, with a good ski school, gentle river floats and horse riding. Beyond that, there is little made for them, and the museums are small art collections.

Getting around is equally awkward in both, and a hire car is close to essential. Colorado Springs at least has three pleasant areas to walk around: downtown, Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs. Taos has one compact centre around the plaza, and getting there usually means a drive of about two and a half hours from the airport at Albuquerque.

Taos is the better place to shop if you want something to take home. Galleries line the lanes off the plaza, and turquoise jewellery, micaceous pottery, Rio Grande weaving and santos are sold there. You can also buy pottery and bread directly from makers at the Pueblo.

Colorado Springs has a few appealing storefronts in Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs, selling gems, Western wear and outdoor gear. Beyond those, most shopping is in malls and outlet stores along the highways.

The two cost about the same, much like other American mountain destinations, and both add the cost of a hire car and tipping. Colorado Springs keeps daily spending down with chain motels along the interstate and free parks such as Garden of the Gods. In Taos, inns and ski-valley lodging charge resort rates in the busy seasons, so spring and late autumn are the times to go if you want to save money.

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

Taos offers less, but it has something unusual. Taos Pueblo holds traditional feast-day dances, notably San Gerónimo in late September, which visitors may watch under strict rules, and a summer chamber music festival is worth planning around.

Taos is better for unwinding. The historic resort at Ojo Caliente has outdoor pools fed by several different mineral waters, and there are wild hot springs at the bottom of the Rio Grande gorge. The town's retreat centres and yoga studios also draw on its long reputation as a place to slow down.

Colorado Springs has its own spa history in the carbonated mineral fountains and small soaking spa at Manitou Springs, plus the full resort spa at the Broadmoor. Its best hot-spring pools, though, are more than two hours away in the mountains.