Louisville or St. Louis?

Neither city is a place for a beach vacation, and their rivers are no help: the Ohio at Louisville and the Mississippi and Missouri at St. Louis are working rivers with strong currents. The small difference is that Louisville's escape, the reservoir lakes of the Kentucky countryside, is a little easier to reach than the Ozark lakes, which are a long drive from St. Louis.

Both cities eat about as well as each other, but they taste quite different. Louisville is built around bourbon and Southern cooking: the hot brown, burgoo, Benedictine and Derby pie, with the better kitchens in NuLu, the Highlands and Butchertown.

St. Louis drinks beer, from the old Anheuser-Busch brewery in Soulard to its many taprooms, and has its own odd local dishes such as toasted ravioli and Provel pizza. It also has more variety: Italian trattorias on the Hill and Bosnian, Vietnamese and Ethiopian cooking along South Grand.

St. Louis has more to see. The Gateway Arch, the Old Courthouse of the Dred Scott case, the Wainwright Building and the Cathedral Basilica's mosaics make a stronger set of sights, and the art and history museums in Forest Park are free.

Louisville's sights tell the story of a few famous things: Churchill Downs and the Derby Museum, the Muhammad Ali Center and the Louisville Slugger Museum on Whiskey Row. Its Victorian mansions in Old Louisville are a fine walk, but the art collection at the Speed is smaller than its rival's.

Nights out are much the same size in both, and both are about bars rather than clubs. What differs is the layout. Louisville has one long strip on Bardstown Road plus bourbon bars in NuLu, and some places hold licences to stay open very late.

St. Louis spreads its evenings over separate pockets, from blues taverns in Soulard to dance bars on Washington Avenue and the late-night LGBTQ+ strip of the Grove, so you often need a taxi between them. Louisville has the Derby for its wildest weekend in spring, while in St. Louis baseball nights and Mardi Gras in Soulard fill the streets.

The outdoors is a draw on a similar scale in both, gentle and rolling rather than dramatic. Louisville stands out for its Olmsted park system, the fossil beds at the Falls of the Ohio and Mammoth Cave within an hour and a half.

St. Louis has one huge park in Forest Park and wilder country nearer at hand, with the river bluffs and caves of the Ozark foothills, the long Katy Trail for cyclists and bald eagles along the bluffs in winter.

Louisville has the better outings, because bourbon country starts right outside town. Bardstown and the distilleries toward Frankfort and Loretto make a day of tours and tastings, and Lexington's horse farms and Keeneland, Shaker Village and Lincoln's birthplace are all easy runs.

St. Louis offers history more than drinks: the great earthworks of Cahokia Mounds just across the river, the French colonial houses of Ste. Genevieve and the German wine towns of Hermann and Augusta. In both cities, almost every trip needs a car.

St. Louis is clearly the stronger family city. The City Museum, a converted shoe warehouse of slides, caves and rooftop climbing frames, is a highlight on its own, the zoo and science centre in Forest Park are free, and the Magic House and the tram pods up the Arch add more.

Louisville is pleasant with children, with its zoo, Kentucky Kingdom's coasters and water park and the underground ziplines of the Mega Cavern, but it has nothing quite as memorable. Both share hot summers and spread-out attractions best reached by car.

Both are car cities, and you will drive or take taxis in either. St. Louis has the edge because MetroLink light rail links the airport, the Central West End, Forest Park and downtown. Louisville has no rail at all, though its compact distances and easy traffic make driving between the Highlands, Churchill Downs and downtown quick.

Shopping is a modest afternoon in both cities, but the souvenirs differ. In Louisville, you'll want rare bourbon from distillery shops, Derby hats and vintage finds on Bardstown Road. In St. Louis, the best browsing is the antiques and Latin American shops of Cherokee Street, along with the Saturday stalls of the Soulard Market.

St. Louis is the cheaper stay, mostly because its zoo, art museum, history museum and science centre are free, while Louisville's museums and distillery tours charge admission. Hotel rooms are good value in both cities.

Louisville also has one big catch: in Derby week rooms cost several times their usual rate. In either city, tax and tips on every meal and the cost of a car or taxis add up.

St. Louis is much the better choice for an evening out at a show. The Saint Louis Symphony, founded in 1880, plays in Powell Hall, the Muny stages summer musicals in its huge open-air theatre in Forest Park, and the Opera Theatre runs a respected early-summer festival. On top of that is real blues history, from Chuck Berry to the National Blues Museum, kept alive in the bars of Soulard.

Louisville has a full set of companies at the Kentucky Center and a name for new American plays at Actors Theatre, plus bluegrass and Americana on Bardstown Road. It is a reliable programme, but a smaller one.

Neither city is a place for a restful spa vacation, and both offer little beyond hotel spas and a slow pace. Louisville's advantage is a drive of about an hour and a half to the grand mineral-spring resorts of French Lick and West Baden Springs. St. Louis has the quieter in-town calm of the Missouri Botanical Garden and its Japanese garden.