Memphis or San Antonio?

Neither city has a beach. Memphis has the least water of the two, since the Mississippi is a working river where nobody swims, so cooling off means a pool or a drive to a lake.

San Antonio has more to offer if you count rivers. The clear, spring-fed Comal and San Marcos rivers are under an hour away for summer tubing, and there are Hill Country swimming holes and reservoirs. The Gulf coast is still too far for a beach day.

Both are cities where you eat the regional food, and both are good at it, but the plates are different. Memphis means pork: dry-rubbed ribs, pulled shoulder sandwiches, barbecue spaghetti, plus fried catfish, greens and Delta tamales, with the barbecue contest at Memphis in May.

San Antonio cooks Tex-Mex at home: breakfast tacos, puffy tacos, Sunday barbacoa, with brisket barbecue on the side and the Pearl market for something more ambitious. In both cities the international range is narrow.

These two are about even, but their history is different. Memphis is about the twentieth century: rock and roll and soul at Graceland, Sun Studio and Stax, and the civil rights story at the Lorraine Motel. Its time goes on a few museums rather than strolling old streets.

San Antonio's past is older and easier to walk around. The Alamo and four Spanish missions along the river form a World Heritage Site, and there is the King William district and the River Walk, with Latin American art at the city's museum.

Memphis is the better night out. Beale Street closes to traffic at weekends, you can carry a drink between bars and the crowd stays late, and Overton Square and Cooper-Young offer a more local alternative.

San Antonio's evenings are slower and end earlier. Margaritas on River Walk patios, icehouses in Southtown and the Pearl, and Tejano dance halls make for a good evening rather than a party.

San Antonio has more varied countryside. It sits at the edge of the Hill Country, with limestone caverns, cypress-lined rivers for kayaking, hiking at Government Canyon and bluebonnets in spring.

Memphis is flat floodplain, and its outdoor pleasures are its river and its parks. You can walk the Big River Crossing into Arkansas, see the bison at Shelby Farms or walk the old-growth woods of Overton Park. Neither city has mountains.

San Antonio's day trips are more varied. German-founded Fredericksburg and its wineries, Gruene's old dance hall, the cowboy town of Bandera and the state capital Austin each make a different kind of day out.

From Memphis the drives follow one theme, which suits music and history pilgrims well: Highway 61 into the Delta to Clarksdale and the Blues Trail, Faulkner's Oxford, Elvis's birthplace in Tupelo and the Shiloh battlefield. Both need a car.

San Antonio is far better for children. Two big theme parks, the zoo and the Witte Museum's dinosaurs, the DoSeum, River Walk boat rides and summer tubing are enough for a full week, and casual restaurants make meals easy.

Memphis can fill a few days with the zoo, the Pink Palace planetarium, Shelby Farms and the Peabody ducks. But its main museums suit teenagers more than small children, and every outing means a drive.

Both are car cities once you leave the compact centre, and buses are of little use to visitors in either. San Antonio is a little easier: the shaded River Walk connects the Alamo, the hotels and the Pearl on foot, and a riverside bike path runs south to the missions.

Memphis has a walkable downtown and heritage trolleys on Main Street. But Graceland, Midtown and Shelby Farms are all a drive away.

Shopping in San Antonio has more character. El Mercado in Market Square sells Mexican crafts, embroidered dresses and piñatas, La Villita has artists' studios, and boots and Western hats are a local speciality.

In Memphis the best finds are vintage vinyl and music memorabilia, with a few boutiques in Cooper-Young and on Broad Avenue. Most other shopping is in suburban malls.

The two cost about the same, cheap for American cities but not budget trips. What you pay for is different. Memphis charges full admission at Graceland and the music attractions, while San Antonio's missions are free but its theme parks are expensive for families.

In both, the local food is cheap and filling, and a hire car or ride-hails and tipping add to the bill.

Memphis is the stronger music city by some way. Beale Street house bands play blues and soul from the afternoon every night, Midtown adds rock and hip-hop, and the Levitt Shell holds free summer concerts where Elvis once played.

San Antonio's best is its Tejano and conjunto, mariachi around Market Square and the riverside Arneson theatre. Both cities have a symphony, opera, ballet and touring Broadway.

Neither city has a spa tradition, but San Antonio is the better place to rest. The resorts of the Hill Country and the north side have proper spas, and the Japanese Tea Garden and quieter stretches of the River Walk are peaceful in the mornings.

Memphis is a trip for late nights rather than rest. Quiet moments come from an early walk in Overton Park or a sunset on the bluffs.