Houston or Santa Fe?

Neither city is on the sea, but Houston at least has a beach within reach. Galveston is about an hour's drive away, with its seawall and the long West End sands. The Gulf there is warm and shallow but cloudy rather than clear, so it works best as a family day out.

Santa Fe has nothing to match it. Summer swimming means a lake such as Abiquiu or a float down the Rio Grande, which are outings rather than beach days. On a high-desert trip, plan on using a hotel pool.

Houston offers far more range. Beyond Tex-Mex and brisket, its immigrant neighbourhoods bring Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean cooking along Bellaire Boulevard and Nigerian, Pakistani and Salvadoran food across the south-west. Gulf oysters and spring crawfish boils add to the mix. The catch is distance, because eating well means driving.

Santa Fe goes deep rather than wide. New Mexican cooking is distinctive and worth the trip, from red or green chile to posole and blue corn, and the fine dining and the Railyard farmers' market are strong for a town this small. After a few days, though, the choice narrows.

Santa Fe has the stronger sense of place, because the town itself is the sight. Adobe streets surround the Plaza, with the Palace of the Governors, the cathedral and the old chapels close by. Museum Hill, the O'Keeffe Museum and the Canyon Road galleries complete a visit that fits comfortably into two or three days.

Houston's culture is concentrated indoors. The Museum of Fine Arts, the Menil Collection and the Rothko Chapel are outstanding, and Space Center Houston is memorable, but there is little historic street life to wander through between them.

Houston has a real night scene, though it is spread out. Montrose has the gay bars and neighbourhood drinking, Midtown and Washington Avenue have busy lounges, and EaDo has bars near the stadiums. Open-sided icehouses suit the warm evenings, and you should expect to take rides between districts.

In Santa Fe, an evening means a long dinner followed by a drink with a sunset view over the Jemez Mountains, and the streets empty well before midnight. Anyone who wants a club drives to Albuquerque.

This is Santa Fe's great advantage. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains rise straight from town, with foothill trails, aspen forest that turns gold in autumn, the Pecos Wilderness beyond and skiing in winter. Desert mesas, Valles Caldera and the Rio Grande Gorge are all within a reasonable drive.

Houston's surroundings are flat prairie, bayou and marsh. Buffalo Bayou and Memorial Park are good for a run or a paddle, Brazos Bend has alligators, and spring migration on the coast draws birders. Summer heat confines most of it to early mornings.

Santa Fe has by far the fuller list. The High Road to Taos through Chimayo and Truchas, Taos Pueblo, Bandelier's cliff dwellings, Los Alamos, Pecos and the O'Keeffe country around Abiquiu could fill a week, and each brings a different landscape and story.

From Houston the obvious outing is Galveston, where the Strand and the Victorian East End make it more than a beach. Beyond that there are only the San Jacinto battlefield and the farm towns around Brenham and Round Top, which are at their best in wildflower season.

Houston is better set up for children. Space Center Houston is the standout, and Hermann Park keeps the zoo, a miniature train, the Children's Museum and the dinosaur hall together. Galveston's aquarium pyramid and waterparks can fill another day. The drawbacks are the driving and the summer heat.

Santa Fe is calm and safe but made for adults, with galleries and long dinners at its heart. Older children who like hiking will enjoy the ladders at Bandelier and the ski lessons, while small ones may tire at altitude.

Neither city is easy without a car, but Santa Fe's centre at least works on foot. The Plaza, the cathedral, Canyon Road and the Railyard are within about twenty minutes' walk of each other, though uphill stretches feel steep at this altitude. Trailheads and pueblos still need a hire car.

Houston depends on the car from the start. Sights, restaurants and shops are scattered across districts linked by freeways. The one useful METRORail line, through Midtown and the Museum District, covers only a fraction of a visitor's plans, so allow for rush-hour traffic.

The two are evenly matched but sell quite different things. Houston is about malls and luxury labels, with Uptown's huge shopping centre and the River Oaks boutiques. For smaller shops there is vintage along 19th Street in the Heights and a walkable grid of boutiques in Rice Village.

Santa Fe is a place for art and craft. You can buy Native American jewellery and pottery directly from the makers under the portal of the Palace of the Governors, browse the galleries on Canyon Road, or visit the big summer markets. Boots and Western wear turn up in both cities.

Houston is the cheaper of the two. Hotels are plentiful and reasonably priced, taquerias, barbecue joints and Asiatown noodle shops cost little, and several major museums are free. Car hire, parking and tipping still add up.

Santa Fe charges resort prices around the Plaza, especially in summer and at Christmas, and its restaurants are priced for a well-off crowd. Staying out on Cerrillos Road and spending days hiking helps, but it remains hard going on a tight budget.

Houston offers the fuller season. Its downtown Theater District has the opera, the ballet, the symphony and the Alley Theatre within a few blocks, performing from autumn to late spring. In summer there are free shows at Miller Outdoor Theatre, and blues, zydeco and hip-hop play in smaller rooms all year.

Santa Fe's highlight is the Santa Fe Opera in its open-sided summer theatre, where performances start at sunset, along with a chamber music festival and a long flamenco tradition. It is a superb setting in midsummer, but in winter the programme shrinks to the Lensic and concerts in the old churches.

Santa Fe is much the better place to unwind. It has outdoor soaking tubs in the pine foothills, the long-established mineral springs at Ojo Caliente an hour north, and plenty of spas and yoga studios for a town its size. Quiet adobe courtyards and early evenings make it easy to slow down.

Houston has hotel spas and a few Korean bathhouses in the suburbs, but freeways set its pace. Its calmest moments are an hour in the Rothko Chapel or an early walk in Hermann Park.