Fort Collins or Page, Arizona?

Swimming in Fort Collins means Horsetooth Reservoir in the foothills, which has a designated swim beach and coves busy with paddleboards on hot afternoons. It is pleasant in July and August, but it is an extra rather than a reason to go.

Page has much more to offer here. Lake Powell gets warm enough by midsummer for long swims, Lone Rock Beach has open sand down to the water, and the best days are spent on a boat, pulling into red coves and jumping off rock into deep water. Neither has lifeguards, and Page's beaches shift as the lake level changes.

Fort Collins is the better place to eat and especially to drink. Its big breweries on the north side of Old Town and the taprooms spread across the city can fill several days. Old Town adds gastropubs, taco spots, coffee shops and summer farmers' markets selling Palisade peaches.

Page feeds road-trippers and tour groups from the diners, barbecue and Mexican places on its main strip. Its one dish worth looking for is the Navajo taco on frybread, best from a roadside stand on the reservation. Neither town has fine dining, and Page has little coffee culture to fall back on.

Neither is a sightseeing destination, but Fort Collins has a little more to wander through. Its late nineteenth-century Old Town of red brick and sandstone, the Victorian Avery House, the Museum of Discovery and the university's art museum fill a pleasant day.

Page was founded in the 1950s for the dam builders, so its sights are the Glen Canyon Dam with its visitor centre and a small museum devoted to John Wesley Powell. Its deeper cultural interest comes from the surrounding Navajo Nation, which you meet on guided canyon tours rather than in anything indoors.

Fort Collins has a real if casual night scene. On weekends a large student population fills Old Town's pubs, rooftop patios and taprooms, and there are a few cocktail bars and a handful of dance clubs. Page has a brewpub and a few bars, and most visitors go to bed early for sunrise canyon tours, so the best part of the evening there is the dark desert sky full of stars.

Fort Collins is a fine outdoor base. Horsetooth Mountain and Lory State Park start just west of town, the protected Cache la Poudre canyon has rafting and fly fishing, and the alpine lakes and elk of Rocky Mountain National Park are about an hour and a half away.

Page's scenery is more spectacular still. Antelope Canyon's slot canyons, the river loop at Horseshoe Bend and the flooded red canyons of Lake Powell, with Rainbow Bridge reached by boat, are all close by. Lees Ferry, the Vermilion Cliffs and the Wave lie within a couple of hours. The catch is summer heat, which makes midday hiking hard, whereas Fort Collins offers golden aspens in the high country each autumn.

Fort Collins has the better range of places to visit. Boulder sits beneath the Flatirons, Denver has big museums, and Estes Park is the mountain gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. Cheyenne, with its frontier museum, is just over the Wyoming line. Few of these are more than about an hour or so away.

From Page the outings are mostly to landscapes, and the towns are small and far apart. Lees Ferry's pioneer buildings make a half day out, while the cliff dwellings at Navajo National Monument and the Western film town of Kanab mean longer drives. Both places need a car for nearly every trip.

Fort Collins is the easier place for a family. It has playgrounds in every neighbourhood, flat cycle paths by the river, the hands-on Museum of Discovery and the city farm at Lee Martinez Park, where small children can meet animals. Neither town has a zoo or theme park, though from Fort Collins Denver's are within reach.

Page suits older children who love the outdoors, and a beach day at Lone Rock or a short Antelope Canyon tour is a sure hit. Parents should be ready for sheer, mostly unfenced edges at Horseshoe Bend, steep ladders on some canyon tours, strong summer sun and long hours in the car.

In Fort Collins you can manage without a car as long as you stay in town. Old Town is compact and flat, a rapid-bus line runs north to south, and protected bike lanes, bike share and river trails make cycling the obvious way to get around. You only need wheels for the canyon and day trips.

Page has no such option. Apart from the motel strip, which you can walk, there is no useful public transport and the sights all lie outside town. The nearest major airports are hours away, so most people arrive by road and drive everywhere.

Fort Collins is the better place to browse, with a few walkable Old Town blocks of independent boutiques, bookshops, cycling and outdoor shops and vintage clothing. Page's shops mostly cover groceries, boating supplies and souvenirs. It does have one thing Fort Collins lacks: Navajo silver and turquoise jewellery, rugs and pottery sold at trading posts, often directly by the maker.

Neither is cheap, and the costs fall in different places. In Fort Collins much of the best is free, from foothills trails to the river paths. The main extra is a hire car, and room rates jump on graduation and football weekends.

In Page the main sights cost money. Antelope Canyon can only be seen on a paid guided tour, boats are expensive, and rooms are scarce in the busy months. Camping at Lone Rock or Wahweap, or visiting in winter, keeps costs down.

Fort Collins has a respectable programme for a city of its size. The Lincoln Center hosts touring Broadway shows, dance and the local symphony, the university's arts centre puts on opera and theatre in term time, and Old Town stages have indie and bluegrass bands, with free concerts on summer evenings. Page has no theatre or concert venue, just occasional Navajo dance shows for visitors and the odd band playing in a bar.

Neither has hot springs or a bathing tradition, and both offer only modest spa options. Fort Collins makes slowing down easier, with day spas, yoga classes, quiet neighbourhoods and shaded river paths, and a mineral-spring soak at Idaho Springs is a long drive away. Page's calm comes from desert evenings and dark skies, but stays there are usually built around early starts and long drives.