Fort Collins or Taos?

Neither town is a place to swim, and there is little between them. Fort Collins at least has Horsetooth Reservoir, with a designated swim beach and coves full of paddleboards, and the water is warm enough in July and August. In Taos the mountain lakes stay cold and the Rio Grande is for rafting, so a hotel pool or a hot spring is the nearest thing to a swim.

Fort Collins comes out ahead on drink and on choice. Its long-established breweries on the north side of Old Town and the taprooms across the city can fill several days. Old Town adds gastropubs, taco spots and a few farm-to-table kitchens, though for a serious dinner people drive to Denver.

Taos has the more distinctive cooking but far fewer places to eat. The red and green chile, posole and carne adovada at the old family places near the plaza and towards Ranchos are worth the trip, as is the horno bread from Taos Pueblo. Beyond that regional cooking, a week covers most of what there is.

Taos is in a different league here. Taos Pueblo is a UNESCO site lived in for around a thousand years and still a working community, not a museum piece. The buttressed church at Ranchos de Taos, the Harwood and Millicent Rogers museums and the art-colony homes fill two or three more days.

Fort Collins has nothing on that scale. Its red-brick Old Town is pleasant to wander, and the Museum of Discovery and the Avery House are worth a look, but one day covers everything.

Fort Collins is the better town for evenings out. At weekends the students keep the pubs, rooftop patios and cocktail bars of Old Town busy, and the taprooms stay full after dinner, though it is a casual scene rather than a late one. Taos goes quiet early, with a margarita in an adobe hotel bar, a band in a saloon or après-ski in winter, and no clubs at all.

Both are true outdoor bases, and the difference is in the kind of country. Fort Collins sits where the plains meet the foothills, with the trails of Horsetooth and Lory State Park minutes away. It also has rafting and fly fishing in the Poudre Canyon, an excellent network of paved trails in town, and Rocky Mountain National Park about an hour and a half away.

Taos is higher, wilder and more dramatic, with the Rio Grande gorge and Wheeler Peak at 4,013m. It also has steep downhill skiing half an hour up the canyon, which Fort Collins cannot offer. The altitude takes a day or two to get used to.

The outings from Taos are more rewarding. The High Road to Santa Fe passes through Truchas, Las Trampas and Chimayó before you reach the Canyon Road galleries, and O'Keeffe country around Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch is a little over an hour away.

Fort Collins has plenty within easy reach: Boulder beneath the Flatirons, the museums of Denver, Estes Park and Cheyenne. Most of these are pleasant rather than memorable, and from either town you need a car.

Fort Collins is the easier place to bring children. It has flat cycle paths by the river, the dome theatre at the Museum of Discovery, the farm at Lee Martinez Park and summer days at Horsetooth, all without much driving.

Taos suits older children who like the outdoors best, with its ski school, gentle float trips and horse riding. There is little made for children, though, and the altitude and long car journeys can tire younger ones.

Fort Collins is much easier to get around without a car. Old Town is flat and compact, a rapid-bus line runs north to south, and protected lanes and a bike-share scheme make cycling the natural choice. You still need a car for the canyon and for day trips.

In Taos you can walk the plaza area and Kit Carson Road, and little else. The Pueblo, the gorge bridge, the ski valley and the trailheads are spread across a wide valley. Most visitors drive about two and a half hours from Albuquerque, so a hire car comes with the trip.

Taos is the place to buy something worth keeping. It has the galleries around the plaza and Kit Carson Road, turquoise and silver jewellery, micaceous pottery, Rio Grande weaving and carved santos. Collectors find it a real draw, especially when buying straight from makers at the Pueblo.

Fort Collins is good for browsing: the bookshops, outdoor stores and vintage clothing of Old Town, then chain stores along the highways.

Overall costs come out much the same, and in both towns the hire car is the largest extra. The difference is where the money goes. In Fort Collins, hotel prices jump on graduation and football weekends, while the trails, river paths and Old Town cost nothing.

In Taos, historic inns and lodging at the ski valley charge resort rates in ski season and summer. Spring and late autumn are the cheapest times to go.

Fort Collins has the fuller calendar. The Lincoln Center brings touring Broadway shows and the local symphony, the university puts on opera and theatre during the academic year, and bar stages in Old Town book bluegrass and indie bands.

Taos has fewer shows to buy tickets for, but what it has is rarer. On feast days such as San Gerónimo in late September, the public may watch the dances at Taos Pueblo under strict rules. A summer chamber music festival adds serious classical concerts.

Taos is the better place to unwind. Ojo Caliente, about fifty minutes away, has outdoor pools fed by several different mineral waters. There are also rough natural hot springs beside the Rio Grande at the bottom of the gorge, and retreat centres and yoga studios for a quiet stay.

Fort Collins has no hot springs nearby, and the closest soak is well over an hour and a half away by car. Relaxing there means day spas and slow rides along the shaded river paths.