Austin or Panama City Beach?

This is Panama City Beach's clearest win. Austin, three hours or more inland, can't offer what it has: a long shore of fine white quartz sand, clear green shallows, and a sea warm enough for long swims from late May to October. The thing to respect is the rip currents, so watch the flags.

Austin's water is a different pleasure: the cold spring water of Barton Springs and Deep Eddy, and boat days in the coves of Lake Travis. These are welcome summer afternoons on a city trip, but nobody should choose Austin for swimming.

Austin is the better place to eat by some way. Central Texas brisket, breakfast tacos, Tex-Mex and eating from food trucks give it a real food identity, and the more ambitious kitchens are in East Austin and on South Congress.

Panama City Beach does one thing well: Gulf seafood eaten casually, meaning grouper, shrimp baskets and oysters from the nearby bays, served on dockside decks. Beyond that, chains and themed restaurants on Front Beach Road make up most of the choice.

Neither is a sightseeing destination, but Austin has far more to fill a day or two. There's the pink granite State Capitol, and around the university campus the Blanton, the Bullock museum and the Harry Ransom Center with its Gutenberg Bible. Panama City Beach is a strip of post-war condos with only the small Man in the Sea Museum and the older St. Andrews streets across the bay, so anyone after history is better off in Austin.

Austin is the stronger night out, with three distinct scenes until 2am: the crowded shot bars of Sixth Street, the bungalow bars of Rainey Street, and the dive and mezcal bars of the east side. Neither town has much of a club scene.

In Panama City Beach an evening means a frozen drink on a deck over the sand, a cover band near Pier Park and an early night. March is the exception, when spring break makes the strip loud and rowdy, aimed squarely at students.

The two are fairly evenly matched outdoors, but the settings could hardly be more different. Austin gives you limestone canyon and Hill Country: hiking and climbing on the Barton Creek Greenbelt, paddling on Lady Bird Lake, the granite dome of Enchanted Rock and the bats leaving the Congress Avenue Bridge at dusk.

Panama City Beach lives on the water. It has tall dunes and lagoon snorkelling in St. Andrews State Park, dolphin trips, fishing, and diving on offshore wrecks and artificial reefs. In both places the summer heat sends active people out early.

Austin has the better range of outings. San Antonio, with the Alamo and its UNESCO-listed Spanish missions, makes an easy day. The Hill Country adds Fredericksburg's German main street and wineries, the dance hall at Gruene and barbecue in Lockhart.

From Panama City Beach the choice is mostly more coast: the planned pastel towns along Scenic Highway 30A, the old oyster port of Apalachicola and Destin's harbour. Every one of these trips needs a car, from either base.

Panama City Beach is built for families. It has shallow summer water, condos with pools and kitchens, a water park, dolphin shows and mini-golf along Front Beach Road, and a sheltered lagoon where small children can snorkel. Just avoid March.

Austin is relaxed with children but has fewer attractions of its own: mainly Zilker Park, the Thinkery and the bat flight. Its summer heat means planning every day around water and air conditioning.

Both are car towns, but Austin is less hard work without one. Downtown, Rainey Street and the lakeside trail can be walked or covered by rental bike and scooter, and buses and a commuter line help with some trips.

Panama City Beach is a 43km strip along one main road, with patchy pavements and a slow trolley-bus. You need a car for almost everything, and summer traffic on Front Beach Road crawls.

Austin is the better place to browse. South Congress Avenue has independent boutiques, vintage clothing and western wear, from cowboy boots to pearl-snap shirts. Panama City Beach offers chain stores at Pier Park and swimwear and souvenir warehouses along the strip, and the boutiques in the 30A towns are its nearest thing to individual shopping. Neither suits anyone after serious fashion.

Panama City Beach is the easier of the two on a budget. Condo rentals let families cook, and rates fall sharply outside summer and spring break, especially for long winter stays.

Austin's downtown hotels are priced like those of any major American city, and they climb steeply during the big festival and racing weeks. What helps is cheap eating from taco counters and food trucks, and free sights such as the Capitol and the Greenbelt. In both places a hire car adds to the bill.

This is where the two are furthest apart. Austin is one of the great live music towns. Several acts play each night in the clubs of Red River Street and Sixth Street, couples two-step in the honky-tonks, Austin City Limits still records concerts there, and the Long Center hosts the symphony, opera and ballet.

Panama City Beach has cover bands and acoustic sets on restaurant decks. Across the bay, a restored historic theatre puts on a modest season of touring shows.

Neither has a bathing tradition, but Austin gives you more ways to unwind. It has a strong yoga culture, day spas, and destination spa resorts on Lake Austin and in the Hill Country, as well as shaded patios and parkland. In Panama City Beach the calm comes from the setting: a resort spa treatment, and long sunset walks on an empty beach from autumn to spring. Summer there is loud and crowded.