Austin or Destin?

This is Destin's whole reason for being. White quartz sand and clear green water stretch from Okaloosa Island and Henderson Beach State Park east towards the 30A coast, and Crab Island adds wading in warm bay shallows. Swimmers should watch the flags, because rip currents are a real risk on rough days.

Austin is hours from any coast. Its swimming happens in Barton Springs Pool, which stays cold all year, in Deep Eddy and in the coves of Lake Travis. They make lovely summer afternoons, but they are no substitute for a sea vacation.

Austin gives a visitor much more to eat. Post-oak brisket sliced to order, breakfast tacos, queso and frozen margaritas form a real local cuisine, there are the barbecue towns of Lockhart and Luling nearby, and East Austin and South Congress have the more ambitious kitchens.

In Destin it is Gulf seafood or not much. Snapper, grouper and royal red shrimp come straight off the charter boats to harbour decks, but away from the fish the coast highway is lined with chains, and the better cooking is out along 30A.

Neither city is a sightseeing destination, but Austin has enough for a couple of good days. There is the pink granite State Capitol, and around the university campus are the Blanton, the Bullock history museum, the LBJ Library and the Harry Ransom Center with its Gutenberg Bible.

Destin has almost nothing historic. There is a small fishing museum, and next door in Fort Walton Beach are a temple mound and an outdoor display of military aircraft. Real history means driving to Pensacola.

Austin has a proper night out with real variety. Sixth Street is loud and crowded with shot bars, Rainey Street's bungalow bars draw an older crowd, and the east side has dive bars and mezcal bars, all helped by a big student population. Clubbing is limited, though, and bars stop serving at 2am.

Destin's evenings centre on open-air decks along the harbour boardwalk and beach bars on Okaloosa Island, with the liveliest drinking often in the afternoon among boats rafted up at Crab Island. Outside summer and spring break most nights end early.

The two are about even, but the outdoors means different things. In Austin it is limestone country: the Barton Creek Greenbelt canyon with its trails and climbing walls, the view from Mount Bonnell, the bats leaving the Congress Avenue Bridge at dusk, and Enchanted Rock and Pedernales Falls within a couple of hours.

Destin's outdoors is mostly on the water. Deep-sea charters reach big fish quickly, dolphins swim in the pass, and calm Choctawhatchee Bay suits paddling. The rare coastal dune lakes to the east add a gentle landscape for walking. In both places the summer heat confines exercise to early mornings.

Austin has the better spread of outings. San Antonio, with the Alamo, the River Walk and its UNESCO-listed Spanish missions, is about an hour and a half away, and the Hill Country offers German-founded Fredericksburg, wineries, Gruene's old dance hall and Lockhart's barbecue.

From Destin there are two good options. One is the planned pastel towns of Seaside, Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach along 30A. The other is Pensacola's colonial district, naval aviation museum and brick forts. Beyond those, the coast offers more of the same resort strip.

Destin is designed around family beach trips. Children get gentle water on calm days, and the town adds a long-running marine park, a large water park, go-karts, mini golf and pirate-ship cruises from the harbour. Condos with pools and kitchens make a week easy, though parents need to know the beach flags.

Austin is casual and easy with children. Zilker Park's miniature train, the Thinkery and the bat flight all work well, but the theme parks and big waterparks are an hour or so away, and summer days revolve around water and shade.

You need a car in both places, but Austin is a little easier without one. Downtown, the Capitol and Rainey Street are walkable, South Congress and East Austin are a short ride away, and the hike-and-bike trail around Lady Bird Lake links parts of the centre on foot or by bike. Rental bikes and scooters cover short trips around the centre, and buses and a single commuter rail line handle some journeys, though the lakes and the Hill Country still mean hiring a car.

Destin is strung along one congested coastal highway with few safe crossings for pedestrians. Apart from the harbour boardwalk and the bike trail along 30A, visitors drive, use ride-hailing or rely on resort shuttles.

Austin sells cowboy boots and vintage, while Destin sells outlet bargains and swimwear, and that difference in kind matters more than how much there is. South Congress is the street to walk in Austin, with independent boutiques, quirky antique shops, western hats and pearl-snap shirts, and the east side adds more vintage and small design stores. Luxury labels and department stores are in an open-air mall on the city's northern edge, not downtown.

Destin offers resort retail. There is a large outlet centre near Miramar Beach that draws shoppers from across the region, a mall of chain stores, and swimwear, surf gear and souvenirs along the beach strips. The 30A towns have more style, with boutiques, galleries and home-décor shops, but there is no luxury shopping beyond the outlets.

Both cost about the same, and both are expensive, but they get pricey at different times. Austin's hotels jump during the big festival and racing weeks. Its consolation is cheap tacos and food trucks, plus free sights such as the Capitol and the Greenbelt.

Destin is costly from late spring through summer and much cheaper from late autumn, when the sea is too cold for swimming. A condo with a kitchen is the usual way to save there. In both places, car hire and parking add to the bill.

This is where the two differ most. Austin's live music is a reason to go in itself. Red River Street clubs, South Congress bars and honky-tonks put on several acts a night, playing everything from blues and indie to Texas country and conjunto, and Austin City Limits still records in town. The Long Center adds symphony, opera and ballet on a modest scale.

In Destin, music mostly means cover bands and acoustic sets on bar decks. There are summer lawn concerts in the 30A towns, and the symphony plays across the bay in Niceville.

Neither has a bathing tradition, but Austin offers a bit more for unwinding. It has a strong yoga and fitness culture, shaded patios and parkland, and destination spa resorts on Lake Austin and in the Hill Country.

Destin's pampering comes from the spas in the golf and beach resorts around Miramar Beach and Sandestin. Its calm is simpler: early walks on empty sand and quiet afternoons on a balcony, which works best in spring and autumn before the summer traffic arrives.