Estes Park or Las Vegas?

Neither is a place for a beach vacation, since both sit far inland, but the water differs. Estes Park's lakes are fed by snowmelt and stay too cold for anything beyond paddling, so swimming means a hotel pool or the indoor aquatic centre.

Las Vegas at least has Lake Mead, where Boulder Beach offers a gravel shore and summer water warm enough to swim in, though with no shade. Most visitors settle for the Strip's resort pools, with their wave pools and lazy rivers.

Las Vegas is by far the better place to eat. The Strip gathers outposts of famous chefs, steakhouses, French dining rooms and tasting menus, while Spring Mountain Road adds kilometres of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese cooking, much of it open late, and the suburbs have strong Mexican food.

Estes Park feeds hikers well enough with burgers, barbecue, elk and bison, big breakfasts and a few breweries, plus the taffy shops of Elkhorn Avenue. The range is narrow, though, and many kitchens close early, so anyone wanting a serious dinner drives down to Boulder or Denver.

Neither city is a cultural destination, but Las Vegas gives a sightseer a little more. The Neon Museum and the Mob Museum tell the city's short story well, and the themed resorts, the fountains and the Fremont Street light show make for an evening of spectacle.

Estes Park has one landmark known far afield, the Stanley Hotel that inspired The Shining, along with a local museum on homesteading and the MacGregor Ranch. That fills a rainy afternoon and little more.

This is where the two are furthest apart. Las Vegas runs around the clock, with resort nightclubs hosting the best-known DJs, dayclub pool parties, drinks carried along the Strip, and cheaper dive bars and cocktail lounges around Fremont Street and the arts district.

Estes Park has a few brewery taprooms and saloon-style bars on Elkhorn Avenue that fill up after the trails, then goes quiet well before midnight, because most visitors are up at dawn for wildlife.

Both have remarkable landscapes within reach, but Estes Park lives inside its scenery. Rocky Mountain National Park starts minutes from town, with Trail Ridge Road crossing the alpine tundra, lakes such as Bear and Emerald, the granite of Longs Peak, and elk, bighorn sheep and moose as everyday sights.

Las Vegas needs a car and the right season. The sandstone cliffs and climbing of Red Rock Canyon, the flame-coloured rock of Valley of Fire and the pine forests of Mount Charleston are superb, but from June to September the desert heat limits hiking to the early morning.

Estes Park has the better choice of outings, though both need a car. Down the canyons lie Boulder with Pearl Street and the Flatirons, the historic Old Town and breweries of Fort Collins, and Denver's museums, while in summer Trail Ridge Road leads over to the lakeside village of Grand Lake.

From Las Vegas the one classic outing is Hoover Dam paired with Boulder City. The Grand Canyon, Zion and Death Valley trips sold on the Strip are long drives to landscapes rather than to towns.

Estes Park is much the better fit for children. Elk wander through town, the walks around Sprague and Bear lakes suit small legs, and mini golf, go-karts, riding stables and the tramway fill the gaps, though the altitude takes a day to adjust to and there is little for rainy days.

Las Vegas can fill a day or two with its indoor amusement park, shark aquarium, fountain show and children's museum. Even so, casino floors, adult advertising and summer heat make it hard work with young children.

Both ask for a car beyond their centres, but the problems differ. Estes Park's downtown along Elkhorn Avenue and the Riverwalk is small and easy on foot, and summer shuttles reach the Bear Lake corridor, yet the trailheads, Trail Ridge Road and the plains all mean driving.

Las Vegas has a monorail and round-the-clock buses along the Strip, but the resorts are so large that walking between them takes far longer than it looks. Most visitors use taxis and ride-hailing, then hire a car for the desert.

Las Vegas is clearly the place to shop. Its resort malls, from the Roman arcade at Caesars Palace to the Venetian's canal-side shops, hold the major fashion and jewellery houses, the Fashion Show mall adds department stores, and two outlet centres draw bargain hunters.

Estes Park offers an hour's browse along Elkhorn Avenue among souvenir shops, western wear, outdoor gear and wildlife galleries. Those galleries do have something regional, which the Las Vegas malls lack.

Neither is a cheap trip, and the savings come from timing. In Estes Park the season decides it: summer and early autumn are expensive, winter and spring rooms far cheaper, and once inside the park the hiking and wildlife cost nothing beyond the entrance fee.

In Las Vegas it is the day of the week. Midweek rooms can be good value while weekends cost several times as much, and resort fees, shows, clubs and Strip dining push spending up quickly. Eating in Chinatown helps a good deal.

Live shows are one of the main reasons to visit Las Vegas. Permanent resort theatres stage water-based acrobatics, aerial shows, magicians and comedians every night, star residencies bring acts that rarely tour, and the Smith Center adds touring Broadway musicals, the Philharmonic and ballet.

Estes Park has free summer concerts at its riverside performance park, the occasional evening at the Stanley Hotel and the Highland Festival in September. Anything more means the drive to Boulder or Denver.

Las Vegas has the better spas, with large resort facilities offering thermal circuits, saunas, steam rooms and salt and ice rooms, open to day visitors, though the noise of the casinos around them works against calm.

Estes Park offers rest of another kind: few spas, but cabins by a river, mountain air and empty evenings, most restorative in winter and spring. Neither has hot springs or a bathing tradition.