Fort Collins or Winter Park, Colorado?

Neither place is a swimming destination, but the water is different. Fort Collins has a proper swim beach at Horsetooth Reservoir that warms up enough in July and August for an afternoon in the water. Winter Park's lakes at Grand Lake and Granby are fed by snowmelt and stay cold all summer, so people paddle and boat there, and anyone who wants a swim usually goes to a pool or the hot springs.

Fort Collins eats and drinks noticeably better. Its long-established breweries, with tours on the north side of Old Town, and the many taprooms with food trucks outside make beer a real reason to visit, and summer farmers' markets and a few farm-to-table kitchens add some interest to the gastropubs and taco spots.

Winter Park's food is there to fuel a day on the mountain: breakfast burritos before the lifts open, green chile and burgers at the lodges, and steak or trout for a bigger dinner. Choice is limited, and on busy winter weekends tables fill early.

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

Winter Park offers little beyond its railway story around the Moffat Tunnel and a small homesteading museum in Fraser. Visitors from either town who want serious museums end up driving to Denver.

Fort Collins is the better place for an evening out, thanks to the university crowd that fills the pubs, sports bars and rooftop patios around Old Town's square at weekends. It stays casual, with only a few dance clubs, and it thins out in the summer break.

Winter Park's going out happens early. The base village bars are packed when the lifts close, then a few pubs and taprooms carry on for a while, but most of the crowd has an early start and the town is quiet by late evening.

Both are excellent for the outdoors, but Winter Park puts you right in the high mountains. Lift-served skiing on two mountains with summits above 3,600m, Berthoud Pass backcountry, a well-known summer bike park and miles of singletrack around Fraser all start close to your door, and the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park is about an hour north.

Fort Collins works best for foothills days: Horsetooth Mountain and Lory State Park on the edge of town, rafting and fly fishing in the Poudre Canyon, and paved river trails for cycling. It has no downhill skiing, and its winters are about snowshoeing rather than lift passes.

Fort Collins is the better base for days out, with Boulder about an hour south, Denver a little further and Cheyenne's capitol and frontier museum under an hour north, all on easy plains roads. Most are pleasant rather than memorable, and a car is needed for nearly all of them.

Winter Park's outings are more scenic but less dependable. The mining towns of Georgetown and Idaho Springs and the boardwalk at Grand Lake make good half-days, but reaching them or Denver means high pass roads that winter storms can close.

Winter Park is the stronger family choice, especially for children learning to ski, with a large ski school, gentle slopes at the base and a free shuttle that saves carrying gear. Summer brings an alpine slide, climbing walls and mini golf. Altitude and sharp cold are the drawbacks, and there is little to do indoors on a wet day.

Fort Collins is easier going but less exciting: flat river paths, the farm at Lee Martinez Park, the children's garden and a science museum with a dome theatre. Families wanting a zoo or amusement park drive to Denver.

Both work without a car at the centre and need one beyond it, but in different ways. Fort Collins has a flat, walkable Old Town, a rapid-bus line and some of the country's best cycling infrastructure. Winter Park relies on a free shuttle linking the ski base, town and Fraser, and its spread-out highway strip is no place for a stroll. Getting there is also harder, since it means a drive over Berthoud Pass that calls for winter tyres in snow.

Fort Collins offers some pleasant browsing, with independent boutiques, bookshops, vintage clothing and Colorado-made gifts packed into a few blocks of Old Town. Winter Park's shops are almost all about gear, such as ski tuning, bike repair and outdoor clothing, and are handy if you forgot your gloves but not worth visiting for their own sake.

Fort Collins is the cheaper stay. Hotels are mid-range for the country, the taprooms and casual places are reasonable, and the trails and Old Town cost nothing to enjoy, so a hire car is often the biggest extra.

A winter week in Winter Park costs far more once lift tickets, rentals, lessons and resort-priced meals are added up. Condos with kitchens in Fraser help, and summer is a much cheaper time to go.

Fort Collins has a real if regional programme: touring Broadway shows, dance and the symphony at the Lincoln Center, opera and theatre at the university's arts centre in term time, and bluegrass and indie bands on small Old Town stages. Winter Park has free summer concerts in the town park against a mountain backdrop and an après-ski band in winter, and nothing indoors beyond that.

Winter Park is the better place to unwind, mostly because rest is built into the day. Most condos and lodges have a hot tub for the evening, and the mineral pools at Hot Sulphur Springs are only about half an hour away, set in steps on a hillside above the Colorado River. Late spring and autumn are the quietest weeks.

Fort Collins makes up for its lack of springs with an easy pace and shaded river paths. The nearest proper soak, at Idaho Springs, is close to two hours' drive away.