Flagstaff or Winter Park, Colorado?

Neither town is a place to swim: both sit high in the mountains, far inland. Flagstaff at least has the creek pools of Oak Creek Canyon, such as Slide Rock, on the drive towards Sedona, though they are cold and crowded at weekends. Around Winter Park the lakes at Grand Lake and Granby stay cold with snowmelt, so time on the water means paddling, or a soak in the pools at Hot Sulphur Springs.

Flagstaff gives you more choice. There is a cluster of craft breweries around downtown and the Southside, Mexican and New Mexican kitchens, and regional dishes such as Navajo tacos and green chile. Coffee houses and diners serve the university crowd all year.

Winter Park eats like a ski town: burgers at the lodges, pizza on the highway and a few dinner rooms for steak, elk and trout, with tables filling early on busy weekends. Neither is worth choosing for the food, but in Flagstaff an evening meal offers more variety.

Flagstaff has real sights for a day or two. There is the Lowell Observatory, where Pluto was discovered, the Museum of Northern Arizona with its Hopi, Navajo and Zuni collections, the Riordan Mansion and the brick railroad-era downtown on Route 66.

Winter Park has almost none of this. Its heritage comes down to the railway story of the Moffat Tunnel and a small ranch museum in Fraser, so a proper museum day means the drive to Denver.

Flagstaff has more going on after dark. Taprooms, cocktail bars and old Route 66 saloons sit a short walk apart downtown and in the Southside, and students make term-time weekends livelier.

Winter Park's going out is après-ski: the base village bars fill when the lifts close, then a few pubs and taprooms on the main road carry on. The town is quiet by late evening, especially in summer. Neither town has clubs.

Both are excellent mountain bases, but they lead to different landscapes. Flagstaff offers variety and geology: the volcanic San Francisco Peaks, a huge ponderosa pine forest, the lava flows of Sunset Crater, the red rock of Sedona and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, all under famously dark skies.

Winter Park is all about the mountain itself. The connected slopes of Winter Park and Mary Jane give a long, serious ski season, and in summer the lift-served bike park and the singletrack around Fraser take over. Rocky Mountain National Park, with its moose, elk and high tundra, is an hour north.

From Flagstaff there is more to drive to, and it is more varied. You can reach red-rock Sedona, hillside Jerome, the cliff dwellings at Montezuma Castle, the historic train from Williams to the Grand Canyon, and the Hopi mesas about two hours east.

From Winter Park the choice is narrower. The old mining towns of Georgetown and Idaho Springs are over Berthoud Pass, Grand Lake has its boardwalk, and Denver is about an hour and a half away. Winter storms on the pass can close the road out, so plans depend on the weather.

Both work well with children, in different ways. Flagstaff suits curious kids, with telescope evenings at Lowell, the museum's dinosaurs, the steam-era train to the Grand Canyon and winter snow play, though the outings involve long drives.

Winter Park is built around the family ski week. It has a large children's ski school, gentle slopes at the base, tubing and skating, and an alpine slide in summer, all a short walk or a free shuttle ride apart. Altitude tires children in both towns, and Winter Park sits higher.

Winter Park is easier if you plan to stay in the valley. A free shuttle links the ski base, the town and Fraser, so a ski week can be done without driving. Trailheads and the national park still need a car, and getting there from Denver means crossing Berthoud Pass.

Flagstaff's downtown is walkable and its urban trails make cycling practical, but the mountain, the national monuments and the Grand Canyon are beyond public transport. In practice you will need a car or a tour.

Flagstaff gives you a real reason to browse: Navajo rugs, Hopi kachina carvings, pottery and turquoise jewellery from downtown galleries, the museum shop and trading posts, along with bookshops and outdoor gear. Winter Park's shops are for ski rental, tuning and forgotten gloves, and for anything more you go to Denver.

Flagstaff is the cheaper place to stay. Chain motels on Route 66 and reasonably priced brewery meals help, though rooms rise on summer weekends, and a hire car and park fees add up.

A winter week in Winter Park is costly once you count lift tickets, rentals, lessons and resort-priced meals. A condo with a kitchen in Fraser softens the cost, and summer, when the trails are free and room rates drop, is far easier on the budget.

Flagstaff has a real calendar of performances, with the symphony and university concerts on campus, touring bands at the restored Orpheum and community theatre through the year. Winter Park has free summer concerts in the town park and the odd band in an après-ski bar, but no theatre or concert hall, so for a show you go to Denver.

Winter Park has more ways to unwind without leaving the area. Most condos and lodges have hot tubs, a few spas treat sore legs, and about half an hour west the mineral pools of Hot Sulphur Springs step down a hillside above the Colorado River.

Flagstaff has no hot springs and only a handful of spas. Its calm comes from pine air and starry nights, and for spa treatments you drive about an hour to Sedona's resort spas.