Branson or San Antonio?

Neither city has a coast, but Branson has the better summer swimming. Table Rock Lake warms up through the summer and has public swim beaches with sand brought in, plus quiet coves where you can moor a rented pontoon.

San Antonio has no lake to match it close to town. Its best swimming is floating the cool, spring-fed Comal and San Marcos rivers on an inner tube, under an hour north. That is a good afternoon out, but it is something different from lazy lake days.

Food is one of the clearest differences between the two. Branson feeds its crowds with fried chicken, catfish and buffets along the strip, and dinner theatres serve a set meal with the show. Ozark touches like skillet cooking, cinnamon bread and fresh trout are the most memorable things you will eat.

San Antonio is the home of Tex-Mex. Puffy tacos, enchiladas in chili gravy and Sunday barbacoa are at their best in family places on the West and South Sides. Add Central Texas brisket, the restaurants and farmers' market at the Pearl, and pan dulce from the panaderías, and meals become part of the reason to go.

San Antonio has real history to show. Its five Spanish colonial missions, the Alamo among them, form a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and San José's carved rose window and Espada's aqueduct are worth a slow visit. Add the King William mansions, the Latin American collections at the San Antonio Museum of Art and the McNay, and you have two or three full days.

Branson's sights are novelty attractions such as wax museums and the museum built like an ocean liner's bow. The closest it gets to heritage is the frontier crafts at the 1880s-themed park and the Ralph Foster Museum.

Branson's evenings end when the curtain falls. Apart from a few brewpubs by the lakefront shopping district and some hotel lounges, nothing much stays open late.

San Antonio is not a party city either, and bars close at 2am, but it gives you a proper night out. You can have margaritas on the River Walk patios, cold beer at the open-sided icehouses, go to cocktail bars at the Pearl and dance at Tejano clubs and dance halls.

Branson is in the middle of the Ozarks, so the outdoors start at the edge of town, with forested ridges, limestone bluffs, clear streams and show caves. You can paddleboard among the wooded hollows of Table Rock Lake, walk the Lakeshore Trail or the glades of Hercules Glades Wilderness, and drive about two hours to canoe the Buffalo National River under its towering bluffs.

San Antonio sits where the brush country meets the Hill Country, and its outdoors are gentler and more spread out. Government Canyon has hiking and mountain-bike trails, Natural Bridge Caverns shows the limestone from underneath, and the Guadalupe is good for kayaking, with bluebonnets along the back roads in spring. There are no big forests or wild hills close by, and the long summers keep serious walking to the cooler half of the year.

San Antonio has the better range of drives. Fredericksburg and its wineries, the German towns of Gruene and New Braunfels, cowboy Bandera and the state capital, Austin, are all within about an hour and a half.

From Branson the best outings are Victorian Eureka Springs on its steep streets and the Crystal Bridges art museum at Bentonville. After those the list thins out to smaller historic homes and monuments. Both cities need a car for every day trip.

Both are easy places to take children, but in different ways. Branson is a whole resort town built around families. It has the Ozark theme park, water parks, the showboat on Table Rock Lake, go-karts, mini golf and stunt dinner shows, hotels and restaurants expect children, and almost every show is wholesome by design.

San Antonio is a large city with a few big draws spread across it. There is SeaWorld, Six Flags Fiesta Texas in its old quarry, the zoo and the Witte Museum's dinosaurs in Brackenridge Park, and the hands-on DoSeum, and the Alamo gives children a story to remember. In both cities you will drive between sights, and July and August are very hot.

You will need a car in Branson for almost everything. Theatres and hotels are spread along hilly Highway 76, where traffic crawls on show nights and pavements are patchy.

San Antonio at least has a centre you can walk. The River Walk links the Alamo, the cathedral, the hotels and the Pearl on shaded paths away from traffic, and you can cycle the river path out to the missions. Outside downtown it is a car city too.

San Antonio has the more interesting shopping. At El Mercado in Market Square you can buy embroidered dresses, papel picado and pottery, La Villita has artists' studios, and specialist shops sell boots and hats. Malls and outlets cover everything else.

Branson's shopping is mostly outlet stores, the lakeside Branson Landing district, fudge and souvenirs. Its best buys are Ozark crafts like hand-blown glass, quilts and ironwork, often made while you watch.

Overall the two cost about the same, but the money goes in different places. In Branson rooms are cheap, with plenty of motels, condos and cabins, while show tickets, theme parks and boat hire make up most of the bill.

In San Antonio the food is the bargain: tacos and barbecue cost little and the missions are free to visit. The theme parks and riverside hotels push the total up. You will need a hire car in both.

Branson is the stronger choice for live shows, but only within a narrow range. Its theatres stage country, bluegrass and gospel acts, tribute shows, magicians and large biblical productions with live animals, often several times a day. Opera and serious theatre are missing.

San Antonio has fewer stages but more variety. The Tobin Center hosts the symphony, opera and ballet, the 1929 Majestic Theatre takes touring Broadway shows, and you can hear conjunto accordions at dance halls and during Fiesta.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, and in both, how restful your stay is depends mostly on where you sleep. In Branson that means a lodge spa or a cabin on a wooded cove of Table Rock Lake, well away from the neon of the strip.

San Antonio's quiet places are the Hill Country golf resorts on the north side and slow mornings on the River Walk or in the Japanese Tea Garden. The summer heat cuts the outdoor part short.