Estes Park or Fort Collins?

Neither is a beach destination, and both are far from any coast. Fort Collins at least has somewhere to swim: Horsetooth Reservoir has a designated swim beach and warms up in July and August. Estes Park's snowmelt lakes are for paddling and fishing, so a swim there means a hotel pool or the indoor aquatic centre.

Fort Collins has the more interesting table, mainly because of its beer. Its long-established breweries and the many taprooms across the city make it a craft-beer destination in its own right. Old Town adds gastropubs, taco spots, a few farm-to-table kitchens and summer farmers' markets selling Palisade peaches.

Estes Park eats like the trailhead town it is: elk and bison burgers, barbecue, big breakfasts and taffy from Elkhorn Avenue, plus a few breweries of its own. The food is satisfying after a hike, but the range is narrow, and many kitchens close early or cut back outside summer.

Neither will fill a sightseeing trip, and what they offer is different in kind. Estes Park has one famous landmark, the Stanley Hotel, known for its ghost stories and its link to The Shining, plus a small local museum and the historic MacGregor Ranch.

Fort Collins has a little more for a day of wandering. Its late nineteenth-century red-brick Old Town is pleasant in itself, and the Museum of Discovery, the Victorian Avery House and the university's art museum add some variety.

Of the two, only Fort Collins has nightlife worth going out for. University students fill Old Town's pubs, sports bars, rooftop patios and cocktail bars on weekends, and there are a few dance clubs, though weeknights and the summer break are calmer.

Estes Park keeps mountain hours. A beer in a taproom or saloon on Elkhorn Avenue after the trail is the whole evening, and most visitors go to bed early so they can be out for wildlife at dawn.

Both are good bases for the outdoors, but Estes Park sits right at the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. Within minutes you are among alpine lakes, on the tundra along Trail Ridge Road or under the granite of Longs Peak, and elk, bighorn sheep and moose are everyday sightings.

Fort Collins has its own lower-altitude country: foothills trails in Horsetooth Mountain Open Space and Lory State Park, rafting and fly fishing in the Poudre Canyon, and cycle paths along the river through town. The high alpine scenery, though, is about an hour and a half away by car.

Fort Collins has more within reach, and in more directions. Boulder, Denver and Golden lie to the south and Estes Park to the west. Across the Wyoming line, Cheyenne, with its frontier museum and summer rodeo, is under an hour away, and Laramie is a little further.

From Estes Park, every worthwhile day out means driving down a canyon to the plains: Boulder, Fort Collins, Denver or little Lyons. The one excursion it has that Fort Collins lacks is the summer drive over Trail Ridge Road to Grand Lake.

Estes Park makes the bigger impression on children who love animals and the outdoors. Elk wander through town, the park runs junior ranger activities, and there are mini golf, go-karts, riding stables and the tramway up Prospect Mountain. The catches are the altitude, the long drives into the park and rainy days that are hard to fill.

Fort Collins is easier from day to day, with playgrounds in every neighbourhood, the Museum of Discovery and its dome theatre, the farm at Lee Martinez Park and gentle tubing on the river. What it lacks is the kind of wildlife encounter children talk about afterwards.

Fort Collins is the easier place to manage without a car, at least in the centre. Old Town is flat and compact, and a frequent rapid-bus line runs north to south. With protected lanes, bike-share and long off-street trails, it is also one of the best cities in the country for cycling.

Estes Park's downtown is easy on foot, and in the warmer months free shuttles run to the Bear Lake corridor. Otherwise a car is close to essential, and traffic and parking get heavy on summer weekends. From both, the trailheads and day trips need a car.

Estes Park's Elkhorn Avenue is a souvenir street, while Fort Collins's Old Town is a small cluster of independent shops. Along Elkhorn Avenue it is T-shirts, taffy and fudge, western wear, outdoor gear and galleries of wildlife photography and Native American-style jewellery, enough for an hour's stroll after a hike.

Fort Collins gives you more to browse. Within a few walkable blocks there are boutiques, bookshops, cycling shops, vintage clothing and Colorado-made gifts, which can fill an afternoon, and there is a regional mall on the edge of town. Neither has luxury shops or fashion streets, so for those you go to Denver.

Fort Collins is the cheaper base. It has mid-priced chain hotels along the highways and reasonable taprooms, and its trails and river paths are free, though rooms get much dearer on graduation and football weekends.

Estes Park is expensive in summer and early autumn, when the lodges near the park fill up. Rooms are far cheaper in winter and spring, and cabins with kitchens help families keep costs down. In both, a hire car is the largest extra cost for most visitors.

Fort Collins has a real programme, regional in scale. The Lincoln Center hosts touring Broadway shows, dance and the symphony, the university arts centre stages opera and theatre during term, and small Old Town stages book indie and bluegrass bands.

Estes Park has little outside summer: free riverside concerts, the occasional evening at the Stanley Hotel and the Scottish-Irish Highland Festival each September, with its pipe bands and dancing.

Neither has hot springs or a bathing tradition, and in both the spa choice comes down to a few day spas and massage studios. Where they differ is the kind of calm. Estes Park offers a cabin by a river, mountain air and elk at dusk, best outside the summer crowds. Fort Collins is relaxing in a more ordinary way, with quiet neighbourhoods, shaded river paths and long sunny days.