Galveston or San Antonio?

Here the gap is as wide as it gets. Galveston is a beach town. Wide, flat sand runs along most of the island, with lifeguarded family stretches at Stewart Beach and East Beach, quieter sand towards the state park, and Gulf water warm enough to swim in from late spring into autumn. The water is brown-green rather than clear, though, and rip currents by the jetties need respect.

San Antonio has no coast at all. A swim there means cool, clear spring water, either tubing the Comal or San Marcos rivers or using a swimming hole under limestone bluffs in the Hill Country. That makes a fine summer afternoon, but nobody should choose San Antonio for a beach.

San Antonio is the stronger place to eat, and by some distance. It is the home of Tex-Mex: breakfast tacos, puffy tacos and enchiladas under chili gravy, with brisket barbecue and interior Mexican cooking alongside. The best of it is in family places on the West and South Sides and around the Pearl.

Galveston's draw is seafood: oysters, Gulf shrimp and snapper eaten by the water. Beyond that the range is thin, with many fried platters made for beach crowds. It will feed a beach week well, but it is not a reason to come.

San Antonio has the deeper history. Its five Spanish colonial missions, the Alamo among them, form a World Heritage Site. San Fernando Cathedral, the Governor's Palace, the King William mansions and two good art museums fill out two or three days.

Galveston's story is later and narrower. It rests on the cast-iron fronts of the Strand from its years as Texas's richest port, on Bishop's Palace and the other grand houses, and on the Great Storm of 1900. It holds your interest for a day or two, and the tall ship Elissa is a fine extra, but it has no art collection to compare with the McNay.

Neither is a late-night city, but San Antonio gives you more choice. Away from the River Walk terraces, locals go to icehouses, beer gardens and cocktail bars on the St. Mary's Strip, in Southtown and at the Pearl, and there are Tejano dance halls for anyone who wants to dance.

In Galveston an evening out means a drink in a Victorian pub on Postoffice Street or at a beach bar on the Seawall. These are busy on summer weekends and quiet the rest of the time. Mardi Gras is when the island really stays up.

The outdoors is about as good in each, but the two could hardly look more different. Galveston is flat marsh, bay and mudflat, and its strength is birds. Spring migration at Bolivar Flats and High Island draws birdwatchers, and there is also paddling, fishing, and dolphins alongside the ferry.

San Antonio sits on the edge of the Hill Country, so it has the hills Galveston lacks. There are limestone hills and trails at Government Canyon, caverns to the north, kayaking on the Guadalupe and bluebonnets in spring. In both cities spring and autumn are the seasons for being outside.

San Antonio has the better range of outings. You can drive to Fredericksburg and its wineries, the German towns of Gruene and Boerne, the Alsatian village of Castroville and the cowboy town of Bandera. Austin is about an hour and a half away. Together they fill a varied week of drives.

From Galveston nearly every trip heads to the Houston area: Space Center Houston, the Museum District and the Rothko Chapel, with Kemah and the San Jacinto Monument on the way. Each makes a strong day out, but the coastal plain around them is empty, so the list runs out sooner.

Both are easy with children, in different ways. Galveston is a beach resort first, with shallow, lifeguarded water at Stewart Beach, a funfair on the pier, a waterpark, and the Moody Gardens pyramids for days too hot to stay outside.

San Antonio swaps the sand for bigger attractions: SeaWorld, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, the zoo, the dinosaurs at the Witte Museum, the DoSeum and boat rides on the River Walk. In both cities a car makes family days work, and midsummer heat shapes the plan.

Neither works well without a car. Each has a small walkable centre: the Strand in Galveston, and in San Antonio the River Walk downtown, which is shaded and free of traffic. San Antonio also has a pleasant bike path out to the missions.

Galveston's problem is length. Its sights are spread along a long, narrow island served only by a heritage trolley and a modest bus service, and with no rail link, getting there from Houston's airports means a car or a shuttle. San Antonio's problem is sprawl, with highways out to the theme parks and the Hill Country and slow buses in between.

San Antonio is the better place to spend money. Market Square sells Mexican crafts, embroidered dresses and piñatas, specialist shops sell boots and hats, and there are malls on the north side and large outlet centres towards New Braunfels.

Galveston is for browsing: antiques, galleries and sweet shops on the Strand, and swimwear and shell souvenirs on the Seawall. Anyone after fashion drives to Houston.

San Antonio makes the money go a little further. The convention trade keeps hotels plentiful, and rooms away from the river are moderately priced. Tacos, barbecue and the free missions keep daily spending down, although the theme parks are a big expense for a family.

Galveston is reasonable for a US beach town, with free beaches, motels and rental houses. On summer weekends and at Mardi Gras, though, Seawall hotels charge much more. In both cities tips and tax add to every bill and most visitors need a car.

San Antonio has a real programme. The Tobin Center is home to the symphony, Opera San Antonio and ballet, and the Majestic Theatre takes touring Broadway shows. Tejano, conjunto and mariachi give the city a sound of its own.

Galveston's stage is essentially the Grand 1894 Opera House, a handsome Victorian theatre that hosts touring acts and the community symphony, with cover bands playing in the bars. It makes a good evening out, but not enough to plan a stay around.

Neither city is a place to travel to for spas or bathing, and when it comes to rest they are about level. What differs is where you find the calm. In Galveston it is the island itself. Once the summer weekend visitors have gone home, life slows right down, and a restful day might be a ride along the Seawall, a stroll past the porches of the East End and a quiet evening, with a massage at a resort hotel as the only real treatment.

San Antonio is a working city, so staying downtown does little to help you unwind. Travellers who want rest usually book one of the golf or Hill Country resorts on the northern edge, with its own spa, and drive into town only for sightseeing. Its long, fierce summers also make lazy days outdoors harder work than on the coast, where at least the sea is close by.