Branson or Taos?

Neither has a coast, but Branson at least has a real summer swimming season. From June to early September, Table Rock Lake warms to bathing temperature. Swimming happens at public swim areas, often on imported sand, or from a pontoon moored in a wooded cove.

Taos offers nothing comparable. The Rio Grande is for rafting, the mountain lakes stay cold, and in summer a hotel pool or a hot spring is as close as you get to a swim.

Taos eats better because it has a regional cuisine of its own. Red and green chile, posole, carne adovada and sopaipillas are served with conviction in family-run places around the plaza and on the road to Ranchos, and there is horno bread from the Pueblo.

Branson feeds people well enough on fried chicken, catfish, barbecue and buffets, mostly in chains along Highway 76 and at dinner theatres. Its Ozark specialities are fudge, cinnamon bread and trout. Neither town has much range, but in Taos a meal is part of the visit, while in Branson it fills the gap before a show.

This is one of the widest gaps between the two. Taos has Taos Pueblo, a multi-storey adobe settlement lived in for around a thousand years and still home to a Tiwa-speaking community. It also has the buttressed church at Ranchos de Taos, which O'Keeffe painted, and a group of small art-colony museums and historic homes that fill two or three days.

Branson's sights are twentieth-century entertainment: wax museums, a museum shaped like an ocean liner's bow, and novelty galleries. Its real heritage is Ozark folk craft, demonstrated at the 1880s-themed park, plus the Ralph Foster Museum at College of the Ozarks.

Both towns are quiet after dark and neither has clubs. Branson's evening is the show itself, and once the theatres empty, the families and older couples head back to their hotels, leaving a few brewpubs by the lakefront. In Taos the evening is a margarita in an adobe hotel bar off the plaza, a brewery taproom or a saloon band, plus après-ski at the ski valley in winter, and most nights end soon after dinner.

Branson's outdoors are gentle and lake-based: boating and bass fishing on Table Rock Lake, trout in cold Lake Taneycomo, glade walks in Hercules Glades and show caves. For the Ozarks' most dramatic scenery, the Buffalo National River bluffs are about two hours away.

Taos is in another league. The Sangre de Cristo mountains rise straight from a sagebrush plateau. You can hike Wheeler Peak at 4,013m, raft the Taos Box in spring, ride the West Rim and ski steep runs at the ski valley half an hour away. The altitude needs a day or two before you exert yourself.

Taos has the richer choice of outings. Santa Fe is about an hour and a half away along the High Road, past Truchas, Las Trampas and the sanctuary at Chimayó, and O'Keeffe country at Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch is a comparable drive.

From Branson, the highlights are the steep Victorian streets of Eureka Springs and the Crystal Bridges art museum in Bentonville. Springfield's Civil War battlefield and the Laura Ingalls Wilder home are smaller outings. It makes a decent list, but nothing on it compares with Santa Fe.

Branson is built for families. A day can take in roller coasters, water slides, the aquarium, zip lines and mini golf, and in the evening there are shows designed to be suitable for children. The catch is the July heat and the driving between attractions.

Taos suits outdoorsy families who are happy with ski school, river floats, horse riding and the town recreation centre pool. It has no zoo or theme park, and the altitude can tire young children for the first days.

Both are car towns with only a small walkable core. In Branson the problem is the strip itself: hilly, short of pavements and slow with evening traffic, though Branson Landing and the old downtown can be walked, and Springfield airport is close by.

Taos has a walkable plaza area and a basic bus, but its sights are spread across a wide valley. The usual arrival from Albuquerque also means a drive of about two and a half hours.

Taos has the edge for anyone who wants something worth taking home. Galleries line the lanes around the plaza, and you can buy turquoise and silver, Rio Grande weaving, carved santos, and micaceous pottery straight from makers at the Pueblo.

Branson is better for everyday brands, with mainstream stores at Branson Landing and outlet malls on the strip. Its craft buys are Ozark glass, quilts and ironwork, often made in front of you. Beyond that it is mostly fudge and novelty shops.

Branson is somewhat kinder to the budget. It has a large supply of motels, condos and lake cabins, and buffets keep meals modest. The cost mounts through show tickets, park entries and boat hire, though show and hotel packages help.

Taos has fair motels and diners, but the historic inns, ski-valley lodging and better restaurants charge resort rates in winter and summer. You need a hire car in both towns. In Taos, spring and late autumn are the cheapest times to go.

Branson has dozens of theatres staging shows from morning to night: country and bluegrass, gospel quartets, tribute acts, magicians and large biblical productions with live animals. The Christmas season is as busy as summer. The style is polished but narrow.

Taos has a handful of special occasions rather than a daily programme. Taos Pueblo holds feast-day dances, which visitors may watch quietly and without cameras, and there is a summer chamber music festival and a small arts centre. Apart from those, live music means bar bands.

Taos is the more restful place. The silence of the plateau sets the pace, the historic mineral pools of Ojo Caliente are under an hour away, and primitive hot springs sit beside the Rio Grande at the foot of the gorge. In town there are yoga studios and retreat centres.

In Branson, relaxation depends on where you stay. A lodge spa or a cabin on a quiet cove of Table Rock Lake can be peaceful, but the neon and traffic of the strip are anything but restful.