Dallas or Kansas City?

Neither city is a beach destination. Dallas is four hours or more from the Gulf at Galveston, and Kansas City is even further from any coast, so both rely on reservoir beaches in summer. Dallas has the larger lakes, such as Lewisville and Grapevine, plus the water parks of Arlington. Kansas City's county-park lake beaches are smaller, fine for an afternoon with children.

Both cities eat well on smoke and beef, but in different ways. Dallas has the wider range: Texas brisket sold by weight, Tex-Mex with frozen margaritas, taco trucks in Oak Cliff, and long strips of Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean and South Asian restaurants in Richardson, Carrollton and Irving.

Kansas City focuses on its own barbecue style, with hickory smoke, a sweet tomato sauce and burnt ends, and touring the smokehouses is the plan for most meals. The River Market's farmers' market and international counters add some variety, but anyone indifferent to barbecue will find more choice in Dallas.

Kansas City has a slightly deeper set of museums. The Nelson-Atkins is a major collection covering art from across the world and through history, the National WWI Museum is the country's main museum of that war, and 18th and Vine tells African American history through baseball and jazz. Union Station and the Country Club Plaza add some handsome architecture.

Dallas has one sight that draws visitors from everywhere, the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. Beyond that it has a compact Arts District with the Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher, and the Art Deco buildings of Fair Park. Neither centre has many historic streets to wander.

Dallas offers the bigger and later night. Deep Ellum's dive bars and murals, Uptown's polished patios and cocktail lounges and Lower Greenville's rooftops each draw their own crowd, and warm weekends keep them full until last orders at 2am.

Going out in Kansas City is smaller and mostly a weekend affair. The Power and Light District is built around sports screens, Westport draws students, and the Crossroads suits craft beer and a calmer drink. The club scene is small, and on weeknights the city goes quiet early.

Dallas lies on flat blackland prairie and post oak woodland cut by the Trinity River. Kansas City's prairie rolls gently along the Missouri and Kansas rivers, so the land around it has a little more shape. Neither is dramatic, and in both cities the outdoors mostly means parks, trails and reservoirs.

Dallas has the Great Trinity Forest, one of the largest urban hardwood forests in the country, as well as the Katy Trail through Uptown and real hiking on the limestone escarpments of Cedar Ridge Preserve. Kansas City has the very large Swope Park, the rose garden in Loose Park and paved trails along its creeks, but for serious hiking the Ozarks are several hours away.

Dallas has a far better day out in Fort Worth, under an hour away and reachable by train. It has the longhorn drive at the Stockyards and the Kimbell Art Museum in Louis Kahn's building. Grapevine's wineries and the courthouse squares of McKinney and Denton are easy second choices.

Kansas City's excursions are pleasant half days rather than big draws: Truman's home in Independence, the university town of Lawrence, the antebellum houses of Weston and the Pony Express museum in St Joseph. You need a car for all of them.

Dallas has more for children, but it is spread across the metro area. There is Six Flags Over Texas with its water park in Arlington, both the Dallas and Fort Worth zoos, the Perot Museum, the rainforest walk-through at the Dallas World Aquarium and the State Fair's rides at Fair Park every autumn. The downside is long drives, and the summer heat cuts outdoor days short from June to September.

Kansas City has much of its offer in one place. Science City, an aquarium and a Legoland Discovery Centre are all close together around Union Station and Crown Center, on the streetcar line. Worlds of Fun, the zoo and a relaxed evening of baseball at Kauffman Stadium are further out.

Both are car cities, and in either you will need a hire car or ride-hails. The difference lies in their one useful form of public transport. Dallas has a long DART light-rail network that serves both airports, Fair Park and Deep Ellum, plus the commuter train to Fort Worth.

Kansas City has only its Main Street streetcar, but it links the places most visitors stay and eat, from the River Market to Crown Center. If you stay along the line, a day or two without a car is possible.

Dallas is a real shopping destination, shaped by Neiman Marcus, which was founded there. NorthPark Center and Highland Park Village gather the luxury labels, and Western boots and hats are sold everywhere from everyday shops to custom makers.

Kansas City's Country Club Plaza, with its Spanish-style towers, is pleasant for a stroll, but most of its stores are national chains. The galleries of the Crossroads and the record and thrift shops of Westport are good for browsing, and local souvenirs mostly mean barbecue sauce and sports gear.

Costs are much alike. Both have hotels well below coastal-city rates and filling barbecue lunches, and both add tax and tip to every bill and need a car. Dallas has more variety in cheap eating, with taco trucks and Tex-Mex, but its Uptown hotels and steakhouses are expensive. In Kansas City, free entry to the Nelson-Atkins and easy parking help, while tickets for a family add up quickly.

The two are evenly matched but different in character. Dallas leads with its formal Arts District, where the Meyerson Symphony Center, designed by I. M. Pei, stands alongside the Winspear and the Wyly. Deep Ellum fills the rest of the week with rock, hip-hop and country.

Kansas City's draw is its own jazz, the swing of Count Basie and Charlie Parker, still played in small clubs with late jam sessions. The Kauffman Center is home to its symphony, opera and ballet, and the Starlight Theatre puts on Broadway musicals outdoors in summer.

Dallas gives a bit more to someone who wants to unwind. Its large Korean-style bathhouse, with heated rooms and all-day lounging, is the main reason, and the hotel spas in Uptown add more. Kansas City has hotel spas, day spas and the old mineral-water resort of Excelsior Springs to the north. Its slower pace and Loose Park's rose garden suit a quiet morning, but it has fewer places built for rest.