Durango, Colorado or Taos?

Neither town is a place for a beach, but Durango at least gives you somewhere to get wet. There is a swimming area at Lake Nighthorse, some sandy edges at Vallecito Lake and inner tubes floating down the Animas through the middle of town.

In Taos the Rio Grande is for rafting, not swimming, and the mountain lakes are too cold. A hotel pool or a hot spring is the closest you will get.

The two eat about equally well but quite differently. Durango's strength is beer, with a remarkable number of breweries for a small town. Its menus lean towards steakhouses, hearty breakfasts and Colorado lamb and trout.

Taos is all about northern New Mexican cooking: posole, carne adovada and sopaipillas with red or green chile, served with conviction in old family places. Horno bread from the Pueblo adds to the local flavour. Neither town offers much variety beyond its own regional cooking.

Here Taos is clearly the richer of the two. Taos Pueblo is a living community and a World Heritage site. The buttressed church at Ranchos de Taos and a string of art-colony houses and museums, including the Fechin House, the Blumenschein home and the Martínez hacienda, give you several unhurried days.

In Durango the culture is mostly the 1880 railway: the depot, the roundhouse museum and a few blocks of Victorian brick and sandstone. The college's Southwestern collection is the best of the rest, and the major Puebloan sites lie out of town.

Both go quiet early, but Durango has a little more going on after dinner. Its taprooms and Main Avenue patios fill up with cyclists and rafters, and college students keep a few bars busy at weekends.

Taos evenings tend to be a margarita in an adobe hotel bar or a band in a saloon. In winter there is après-ski up the valley, and most nights end soon after the meal.

Both are first-class mountain bases, but they suit different interests. Durango is the stronger pick for mountain biking, with singletrack straight from town, the start of the Colorado Trail and the Weminuche Wilderness. It also has rafting and fly-fishing on the Animas, and the drive towards Silverton is one of Colorado's most dramatic.

Taos has more open, desert scenery: the Rio Grande gorge cutting through the sagebrush plateau, Taos Box whitewater in spring and the climb up Wheeler Peak. Skiers should note that the Taos Ski Valley is known for steep, demanding runs.

The day trips are equally good, but they lead to different places. Durango's outings are about ancient sites and old mining towns. Mesa Verde's cliff dwellings are the high point, along with the steam train up the canyon to Silverton, Ouray beyond it and the Aztec ruins to the south.

From Taos the trips have more of a Spanish colonial and artistic flavour. The High Road passes Truchas, Las Trampas and Chimayó on the way to Santa Fe, and there is O'Keeffe country at Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch. You will need a car for nearly all of them from either town.

Durango does a better job of entertaining children. The steam train is a guaranteed hit, and the Animas is gentle enough for summer tubing. The ski area adds a coaster and ziplines in summer, and climbing the ladders at Mesa Verde brings history to life.

Taos welcomes children but has little designed for them. You get ski school, float trips, horse riding and the recreation centre pool, while the museums are small art collections. In both towns the altitude can tire young children for the first day or two.

Durango is the easier of the two without a car, although only up to a point. Its flat centre runs from the depot up Main Avenue in a quarter of an hour, and a riverside trail and a trolley along the main corridor extend your reach. The regional airport is close by.

Taos has a walkable plaza area and a basic bus, but the Pueblo, the gorge, the ski valley and Ranchos are spread across a wide valley. Most visitors also drive about two and a half hours from Albuquerque, so a hire car is part of the trip.

Taos is the better place to shop if you like art and craft. The lanes around the plaza and Kit Carson Road are lined with galleries, and the local specialities include Pueblo pottery, Rio Grande weaving and carved santos, some bought directly from the people who made them.

Durango's Main Avenue has a pleasant mix of outdoor shops, Western boots and Navajo silver and turquoise. Once you have browsed those, though, there is not much more. Neither town has fashion streets or department stores.

Costs are much the same in both, and both are cheapest in spring and late autumn, between the ski and summer seasons. In Durango the extras mount up: the steam train, guided rafting and bike trips. Rooms are scarce at peak times, but the trails and river themselves cost nothing.

Taos is a little gentler on the budget if you stick to simple motels and casual chile diners. Its historic inns and ski-valley lodging charge resort rates, though, and the long drive from Albuquerque makes a hire car unavoidable.

Both towns have a summer chamber music festival and little else on most nights. Durango's other entertainment is light-hearted Western fun: a Victorian melodrama where the audience boos the villain, and cowboy music with a chuckwagon supper. The college concert hall brings in touring acts.

The most memorable performances in Taos are the traditional dances at the Pueblo on feast days such as San Gerónimo. They are watched quietly, without cameras, and are a very different experience from anything staged in Durango.

The difference is how far you go for a soak. Durango keeps its mineral pools a few minutes up the valley, so an easy soak fits at the end of a ride or a day on the slopes. Pagosa Springs and Ouray give you a change of scene if you want one.

Taos asks a little more of you and gives a quieter stay in return. Ojo Caliente, with pools of different mineral waters under the cliffs, is worth the drive, and you reach the wild springs at the bottom of the gorge on foot. In town, yoga studios and retreat centres reflect its long reputation as a place to slow down.