Nashville or San Antonio?

Neither city has a coast, so this is about freshwater afternoons rather than a beach stay. Nashville offers warm reservoir lakes such as Percy Priest and Old Hickory, where the summer pastime is a pontoon boat more than a towel on sand.

San Antonio's version is cooler and more distinctive: tubing down the clear, spring-fed Comal and San Marcos rivers under an hour away, plus swimming holes under Hill Country limestone. The Gulf is too far for a day at the sea from either.

Both cities are worth arriving hungry for, and both are narrow beyond their home cooking. Nashville's table is Southern: fiery hot chicken, meat-and-three cafeterias, biscuits and whiskey, with chef-led kitchens in East Nashville and the Gulch and an unexpected international run along Nolensville Pike.

San Antonio's is Tex-Mex and Texan, from breakfast tacos and Sunday barbacoa to smoked brisket, eaten best in family places on the West and South Sides. The Pearl's market and restaurants play the role that Germantown does in Nashville.

San Antonio has the deeper history. The Alamo and four 18th-century missions strung along the river form a World Heritage Site, and San Fernando Cathedral, the Governor's Palace and the King William mansions round out a centre that feels old.

Nashville's sights are mostly about music, led by the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Ryman, with the Parthenon replica, the Frist and the Hermitage adding variety. It is a good visit for country fans, but the city is largely modern and has nothing as old as the missions.

Nashville is far the stronger night out. Lower Broadway's multi-storey honky-tonks run as one long party at weekends, and East Nashville and Midtown offer calmer bars for those who want to avoid the hen and stag groups.

San Antonio goes out earlier and more quietly. River Walk margarita terraces, the St. Mary's Strip and Southtown icehouses make for a pleasant evening, and Tejano dance halls add local colour, but there is no equivalent to Broadway's late, loud crowd.

The landscapes are of similar modest scale but different character. Nashville's is soft and green, with Radnor Lake's wildlife, the forested Warner Parks, Harpeth River paddling and the Natchez Trace for cycling or driving.

San Antonio sits on the edge of the drier Hill Country, with live oaks, cypress rivers and limestone caves such as Natural Bridge Caverns. Government Canyon suits hikers and mountain bikers, and spring bluebonnets are its showpiece, though summer heat shortens the outdoor season more than in Tennessee.

San Antonio has the better spread of drives. Fredericksburg and the Texas wine country, the German towns of Gruene and New Braunfels, and Austin within an hour and a half give a mix of food, wine and a second city.

From Nashville, Franklin's Main Street and Civil War sites are the clear highlight, with Lynchburg's whiskey distillery and Chattanooga further out. It is a pleasant list, but more weighted towards battlefields and small-town history.

Nashville works with children if the days are planned around its zoo at Grassmere, the Adventure Science Center's planetarium and the Lane Motor Museum's odd cars. But Lower Broadway is loud and adult, and the sights are each a drive apart.

San Antonio is the easier family trip. Two big theme parks, SeaWorld and Six Flags Fiesta Texas, sit on its edge, and Brackenridge Park holds the zoo and the Witte Museum's dinosaurs. River boats and the Alamo story suit younger children, and nothing in Nashville fills a whole day the way a theme park does.

Both are car cities with small walkable cores and only buses beyond them. Nashville's centre links Broadway, the Ryman and the Gulch on foot, with a pedestrian bridge across the Cumberland, but the Opry, the Hermitage and the livelier neighbourhoods each mean a drive.

San Antonio's advantage is the River Walk, a shaded, traffic-free route between the sights, and a riverside bike path out to the missions. Its theme parks and Hill Country trips still need a hire car.

Neither is a shopping destination, but each has a strong theme. Nashville sells music and Western style: boots and rhinestones on Broadway, guitars, Hatch Show Print posters, and independent boutiques in 12 South.

San Antonio's distinctive stop is El Mercado in Market Square, full of Mexican crafts, pottery and embroidered dresses, with La Villita's studios nearby. Beyond that it leans on malls and outlets.

San Antonio is noticeably easier on the wallet. Its convention trade means plenty of hotel rooms, local tacos and barbecue are cheap, and the missions are free, though a hire car and theme park tickets eat into the savings.

Nashville costs more, with downtown hotels that climb at weekends and a lot of ride-hailing. Its saving grace is that the honky-tonk bands play without a cover charge, so the music itself can be free.

This is Nashville's great strength. The Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman's pews and acoustics, all-day bands on Broadway and intimate songwriter nights make music the reason for the trip, with the symphony at the Schermerhorn and the ballet and opera alongside.

San Antonio has a solid programme at the Tobin Center and the Majestic Theatre, and real local flavour in Tejano, conjunto and mariachi. It is enjoyable as part of a stay, but few travellers come for it.

In Nashville, rest means a hotel or day spa and a quiet morning in the leafy streets of Belmont and Hillsboro, away from a downtown geared to noise and late nights.

San Antonio gives a little more room to slow down. Its Hill Country golf resorts have proper spas, and the quieter reaches of the River Walk and the ponds of the Japanese Tea Garden make for an unhurried morning, though summer heat cuts the lazy days short.