Dallas or Destin?

This is Destin's whole reason for being. Its white quartz sand and clear green Gulf water run from Okaloosa Island and Henderson Beach State Park east towards the dune lakes of 30A, with warm, usually calm swimming from late spring to October. The beach flags still matter, because rip currents are dangerous on rough days.

Dallas is hours from the coast. Swimming near the city means park beaches on Lewisville or Grapevine Lake, with plain shores and brownish water, or more likely a hotel pool or an Arlington water park.

Dallas offers much more to eat. Smoked brisket sold by weight, Tex-Mex, old-school steakhouses and Oak Cliff taco trucks cover the Texan side, and the suburbs add Vietnamese and Chinese in Richardson, Korean in Carrollton and South Asian in Irving, with chef-led kitchens in Uptown and Bishop Arts.

Destin does one thing well: Gulf seafood straight off the charter boats, from grouper sandwiches to royal red shrimp, eaten on harbour decks. Beyond that the coast highway is mostly chains built for summer crowds, and the more ambitious cooking is out along 30A.

Dallas has a sight people cross the world for, the Sixth Floor Museum overlooking Dealey Plaza, plus the Arts District's cluster of museums, the Perot science museum and Fair Park's 1930s Art Deco halls. It fills about two days, though the centre has little old street fabric to wander.

Destin has almost nothing historic. Its fishing museum, the temple mound at Fort Walton Beach and an outdoor display of military aircraft make a short morning, and anyone wanting more has to drive to Pensacola.

Dallas gives a choice of moods on a night out: scruffy dive bars and late crowds in Deep Ellum, polished patio and cocktail bars on McKinney Avenue, neighbourhood rooftops on Lower Greenville. The 2am last orders and ride-hails between districts are the main limits.

Destin's nights are one style, flip-flops and frozen drinks on the harbour boardwalk and Okaloosa Island beach bars, with afternoon raft-ups at Crab Island. It is lively in summer and spring break and quiet otherwise, with no club scene.

Destin has the better outdoors, nearly all of it on the water. Deep-sea charters reach big game fish quickly over the nearby shelf, Choctawhatchee Bay suits paddleboards and kayaks, dolphins swim in the pass, and the state parks to the east have tall white dunes and rare coastal dune lakes.

Around Dallas the land is flat prairie and woodland. The Katy Trail, the White Rock Lake loop and the Great Trinity Forest are good for a run or a ride, and Cedar Ridge Preserve offers the nearest proper hiking, but none of it is a reason to come.

Dallas has the stronger day out in Fort Worth, under an hour away and reachable by train: the Stockyards' longhorn drive and saloons on one side, the Kimbell, the Modern and the Amon Carter on the other. Grapevine's wineries, the courthouse squares of McKinney and Denton, and Waco fill out the list.

From Destin the pick is the 30A towns of Seaside and Rosemary Beach, pleasant to stroll but much like home base, and Pensacola, with its colonial district, naval aviation museum and brick forts. After that the choices run thin.

Both suit children well, in different ways. Dallas is a theme-park and museum trip: Six Flags and a water park in Arlington, two big zoos, the Perot Museum, the World Aquarium and the State Fair in autumn, all needing a car and best outside the summer heat.

Destin is a beach trip with gentle water, soft sand and condos with kitchens and pools, topped up by the marine park's dolphin shows, go-karts and pirate-ship cruises. Parents need to watch the flags, since rough days bring rip currents.

Both are car places, but Dallas gives a little more help. DART light rail runs from both airports to downtown, Deep Ellum and Fair Park, the TRE reaches Fort Worth, and the free M-Line streetcar links the walkable Arts District and Uptown.

Destin strings out along one coastal highway that clogs in summer, with few safe crossings for walkers and almost no public transport. Only the harbour boardwalk and the 30A bike trail work without wheels.

Dallas is the serious shopping destination, the home of Neiman Marcus, with NorthPark Center's labels and art, the European fashion houses of Spanish-style Highland Park Village, and Western boots and hats from everyday shops to custom makers.

Destin offers resort retail: a large outlet centre near Miramar Beach, an open-air chain mall and swimwear shops. The galleries and home-décor boutiques of the 30A towns are its most stylish corner.

Dallas is easier on the budget. Hotels cost less than in coastal American cities, barbecue and tacos make cheap meals, and many museums are free or low-cost, though car hire and Uptown's steakhouses and cocktail bars add up.

Destin charges resort-coast rates from late spring through summer, just when the sea is warm, and charters and waterfront dining push costs higher. Off season it is far cheaper, but then the water is too cold to swim.

Dallas has a real arts scene. The Meyerson Symphony Center, the Winspear Opera House and the Wyly Theatre sit together in the Arts District, and Deep Ellum has hosted blues and jazz since the 1920s, with rock, hip-hop and country bands most nights.

In Destin live performance is mostly cover bands on bar decks. The regional symphony plays across the bay in Niceville, and summer brings outdoor concerts on the 30A lawns.

Neither has a spa tradition, so rest takes different forms. In Dallas the stand-out is a large Korean-style bathhouse in the north, with heated rooms and all-day lounging, alongside hotel spas in Uptown.

Destin's calm is simpler: early walks on empty sand and balcony afternoons, plus resort spas around Sandestin, best in spring and autumn before summer traffic and crowds arrive.