Atlanta or Branson?

Neither city is near the sea, but swimming is a bigger part of a stay in Branson. Table Rock Lake runs right up to the edge of town, with clear water near 27°C in high summer. There are public swim areas on brought-in sand, and you can rent a pontoon and moor in a quiet cove for the day.

Atlanta's lake days are at Lake Lanier or Lake Allatoona, about an hour out. These are weekend outings for local families rather than something to plan a vacation around. Otherwise, swimming in Atlanta means the hotel pool.

Atlanta is far stronger for food. It is a place to eat Southern cooking where it belongs, in meat-and-three cafeterias and west-side soul food kitchens, and to make serious Sunday brunch plans. Buford Highway adds kilometres of Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, Mexican and Ethiopian cooking aimed at the communities themselves, and Inman Park and the Westside add chef-led restaurants.

Branson feeds people rather than courting them. Expect buffets, family restaurants and set meals at dinner theatres. The local touches are Ozark ones: fresh trout from Lake Taneycomo, skillet cooking and fudge.

The gap here is wide. Atlanta's heritage is recent but important. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth home and Ebenezer Baptist Church on Auburn Avenue, together with the civil rights centre downtown, make the city essential for understanding that movement. The High Museum, the Atlanta History Center and the Carter Library fill out two or three solid days.

Branson offers wax museums, novelty galleries and a few old brick blocks downtown. Its most authentic culture is Ozark folk craft: blacksmiths and glassblowers at the 1880s-themed park, and the eclectic Ralph Foster Museum at College of the Ozarks.

Atlanta has a nightlife culture with a national reputation, rooted in the hip-hop and trap the city sends around the country. You can choose between Edgewood Avenue's dives and small dance floors, Midtown's large LGBTQ scene and Buckhead's bottle-service lounges. Each area is a separate pocket, so plan on taking a ride between them.

In Branson, the evening is the show itself. Once the theatres let out, a few brewpubs and hotel lounges by the lakefront are all that is left.

The two are about level for the outdoors, but the settings differ. Atlanta's nature starts inside the city, under a tall hardwood canopy, in Piedmont Park and along the BeltLine trail. Stone Mountain's granite dome and the Chattahoochee bluffs are close by, but for proper mountain hiking you have to drive about two hours north to the Blue Ridge and the start of the Appalachian Trail.

In Branson, the Ozark hills and water surround your lodging. You can kayak and fish for bass on Table Rock Lake, catch trout on Taneycomo, walk the glades of Hercules Glades Wilderness and tour show caves. The Buffalo National River's bluffs are the big excursion.

Atlanta has the longer and more varied list. Within reach are college-town Athens, the gold-rush square and vineyards of Dahlonega, the antebellum houses of Madison, and Chattanooga's aquarium and Lookout Mountain. Savannah is the famous name, but it needs an overnight stay.

Branson's best outings are Victorian Eureka Springs, stacked on its steep streets, and Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, a major museum of American art set in woodland. After those two the list thins out quickly. In both cases you need a car.

Atlanta's strength is a handful of big, first-rate attractions. The Georgia Aquarium's whale sharks and belugas, the gorillas at Zoo Atlanta, Fernbank's dinosaur skeletons and the shows and workshops at the Center for Puppetry Arts can each fill a morning, and the hotels are roomy enough for a family to spread out. The catch is crossing the city between them in heavy traffic, so spring and autumn, before and after the sticky heat, are the easiest seasons.

Branson still has the edge, because the small treats that fill a child's afternoon are all over town: zip lines, go-karts, mini golf, cave tours and an aquarium. Almost every stage show is pitched so grandparents and toddlers can sit through it together. July and August are hot and humid here too, so keep the outdoor parts for the morning or for the lake.

Both cities are built around the car, but Atlanta at least gives you one useful rail line. If you stay along the MARTA line, you can get from the airport to downtown, Midtown and Buckhead and reach the High Museum and Piedmont Park without driving. The BeltLine's Eastside Trail connects several walkable districts.

Branson has no comparable option. Visitors fly into Springfield, hire a car and learn the colour-coded back roads to avoid the crawl along Highway 76. Only Branson Landing and the old downtown are easy to cover on foot.

Atlanta has the bigger and more polished retail scene. The facing malls on Peachtree Road and the boutiques of Buckhead Village cover luxury labels, while Little Five Points adds vintage clothing and record shops.

Branson is mostly outlets and the mainstream stores of Branson Landing. It does have the one thing Atlanta lacks, which is a local craft to take home. Hand-blown glass, quilts, pottery and woodcarving are often made in front of you.

Branson comes out somewhat cheaper day to day. Motels, condos and lake cabins are plentiful, and buffets keep meals modest. The catch is that almost everything you come for has an entry charge: show tickets, theme park passes and boat hire add up over a week.

Atlanta's hotels are fair for a big American city, especially away from Buckhead, and Buford Highway eats well for little. Car hire, parking and the big family attractions push the total up. The civil rights sites around the King park cost nothing.

Live performance is the whole point of Branson. Dozens of theatres run country, gospel, variety, tribute and magic shows morning, afternoon and evening, alongside large biblical productions and a full Christmas season. If you enjoy that style, the choice is enormous.

Atlanta offers range rather than volume. It has a symphony known for its choral work, the Alliance Theatre, opera and ballet seasons, Broadway tours at the Fox, and major hip-hop and R&B concerts at its arenas and the Tabernacle.

Neither city is a place to unwind, and the best options in each are found away from the centre. In Atlanta, they are the large Korean-style bathhouses in the northeastern suburbs, with hot and cold pools and sauna rooms, some open round the clock.

In Branson, it means a lodge spa or a cabin on a quiet cove of Table Rock Lake, well away from the neon of the strip.