Chattanooga or Dallas?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Chattanooga makes it a little easier to cool off in natural water. Besides the swimming areas at Chickamauga Lake and Harrison Bay, the creeks on the plateau have cool swimming holes that feel like part of the landscape.

Dallas has larger sandy beaches on its reservoirs, at Lewisville, Grapevine and Lake Ray Hubbard, but the water is brown and the shores are plain, and you can't swim in the city's own White Rock Lake. In both cities a pool will do most of the work, and in Dallas so will the water parks in Arlington.

Both cities eat in a Southern style, but Dallas takes it much further. Barbecue is sold by weight at counters with queues, Tex-Mex and steakhouses are institutions, and the suburbs add Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean and South Asian cooking that Chattanooga cannot match.

Chattanooga's meat-and-three plates, biscuits and catfish around the Southside and Main Street make for good, simple meals, and its breweries are close together. The difference is range. A few days in Chattanooga covers it, while Dallas keeps a food lover busy for longer, as long as they are willing to drive.

Dallas has the bigger draw in the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. The Arts District puts three serious museums within a few blocks, and Fair Park adds its Art Deco exhibition halls, so two days there are well filled.

In Chattanooga the history is found in places more than in collections: the Civil War ground on Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, the old Terminal Station and the Hunter Museum on its bluff. The walk across the Walnut Street Bridge is what most visitors remember, and the city suits people who prefer their history outdoors to time in galleries.

Dallas gives you a real choice of nights out. Deep Ellum has scruffy dive bars and late crowds, Uptown and McKinney Avenue have polished patio bars, and Lower Greenville has rooftop terraces. You need a ride-hail to get between districts, but each has its own crowd.

Chattanooga's evenings are smaller and end earlier. Most of the action is in breweries and cocktail bars on the Southside, and Station Street is the liveliest block. It suits a beer on a patio, not a night that runs until closing time.

This is where Chattanooga pulls well clear. Mountains rise straight from town, the sandstone bluffs draw climbers from across the eastern United States, and the Ocoee whitewater and Cloudland Canyon are about an hour away.

Dallas has pleasant green space within the city, with the Katy Trail, White Rock Lake and the Great Trinity Forest. The country around it is flat, though, and summer heat limits outdoor activity to early mornings. The nearest real hiking is at Cedar Ridge Preserve.

The two are broadly level here, and in both the choice thins out once the nearby cities are done. From Dallas the obvious outing is Fort Worth, about forty-five minutes away by commuter train or car, with the Stockyards and the Kimbell. Courthouse squares in nearby towns and the tasting rooms of Grapevine fill out the rest.

Chattanooga makes the most of its spot where three states meet. Nashville and Atlanta are each about two hours away, Huntsville's rocket centre is a little closer and the Chickamauga battlefield is a short drive. The drives are longer than from Dallas, and you need a car for every outing.

Both are equally good for children, but in different ways. Chattanooga keeps things compact: the Tennessee Aquarium and the Creative Discovery Museum are a few blocks apart on the riverfront, and the Incline Railway, Ruby Falls and Rock City on Lookout Mountain make a full day.

Dallas offers bigger thrills, spread further apart: Six Flags and the water park in Arlington, two large zoos, the Perot Museum and the autumn State Fair. In either city the summer heat needs planning, and in Dallas almost every day involves the car.

Neither is easy without a car, but Chattanooga's centre is smaller and easier to cover on foot. The riverfront, aquarium, Bluff View and Southside are a short walk apart, the Walnut Street Bridge leads across to the North Shore, and a free shuttle runs through downtown.

Dallas has light rail and a commuter train to Fort Worth, which are useful from the airports and for reaching Deep Ellum. Sights lie miles apart, though, and walking outside Uptown and the Arts District is rarely pleasant. In both cities most visitors hire a car.

Dallas is a proper shopping city and Chattanooga is not. Neiman Marcus started here, NorthPark Center and Highland Park Village gather the luxury labels, and Western boots and hats are a real local speciality. Chattanooga is for a browse rather than a spree: the converted railway buildings of Warehouse Row, the boutiques and galleries of Frazier Avenue, and good outdoor-gear shops for anyone heading into the hills.

Costs are much the same. Both are mid-priced American cities, with tax and tipping on every meal and a hire car on top.

What differs is where the money goes. In Chattanooga the trails and parks are free, but the aquarium and the Lookout Mountain attractions add up for a family. In Dallas cheap barbecue and tacos and free or low-cost museums help, while the hotels and steakhouses of Uptown push the bill the other way.

Dallas has much more on stage. The Arts District holds the Meyerson Symphony Center designed by I. M. Pei, the Winspear for opera and touring Broadway shows, and the Wyly Theatre. Deep Ellum, a blues and jazz district since the 1920s, has bands most nights.

Chattanooga's gilded Tivoli Theatre is a lovely place for a touring show or a concert by the small symphony and opera company, and its bars lean towards bluegrass and Americana. That is enough for an evening or two, but music lovers would do better to go to Nashville.

Neither city is built for rest, and in both relaxing mostly means a hotel spa or a day spa. Dallas has the one distinctive option, a large Korean-style bathhouse with heated rooms and pools. What Chattanooga offers instead is a slower pace, and an unhurried afternoon on the riverfront or in Bluff View is easier to find there than in brisk, car-bound Dallas.