New Orleans or San Antonio?

Neither city is a beach destination, and swimming in both usually means a hotel pool. New Orleans is the closer of the two to salt water, with the Mississippi Gulf Coast at Bay St. Louis and Gulfport just over an hour away, but the sea there is shallow, warm and murky.

San Antonio's answer is fresh water. The clear, cool, spring-fed Comal and San Marcos rivers lie under an hour north for tubing, and there are limestone swimming holes in the Hill Country, which makes a summer afternoon there more appealing than it sounds.

New Orleans has one of the most distinctive cuisines in the country: Creole and Cajun cooking from gumbo and étouffée to turtle soup, old French Quarter dining rooms, beignets by Jackson Square, and the Sazerac and Vieux Carré, both invented here. The menu also changes with the seasons, from spring crawfish boils to oysters in the cooler months.

San Antonio eats well within a narrower range. Breakfast tacos, puffy tacos, barbacoa and smoked brisket are worth seeking out on the West and South Sides, away from the River Walk, and the Pearl adds a farmers' market. It is good enough to plan meals around, but it does not have the depth or the drinking culture of New Orleans.

The French Quarter gives New Orleans the stronger sightseeing. It is a whole colonial town of iron balconies and courtyards around the Cabildo and St. Louis Cathedral, with the Garden District mansions, the above-ground tombs and the National WWII Museum on top.

San Antonio's heritage is Spanish frontier rather than Creole. The Alamo and the four missions along the river, San José the finest of them, form a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the McNay and the Museum of Art are worth an afternoon. But the sights are fewer and more spread out, and two or three days covers them.

This is where the two cities differ most. New Orleans has no legal closing time and lets you carry drinks along the street. Its nights run from neon Bourbon Street to Frenchmen Street and the corner bars of the Bywater, and in Carnival season the city parties for weeks.

San Antonio goes out earlier and more quietly: margaritas on River Walk patios, cold beer at icehouses in Southtown and on the St. Mary's Strip, a Tejano dance hall, and last orders at 2am. It makes a pleasant evening rather than a reason to travel.

The two are close here, but the landscapes could hardly be more different. Outdoors in New Orleans means water: boat or kayak trips through cypress swamps to see alligators, the boardwalks of the Barataria Preserve, and the old oaks and lagoons of City Park.

San Antonio has a little more for active travellers because it sits on the edge of the limestone Hill Country. You can hike or ride the trails at Government Canyon, explore caverns, kayak the Guadalupe or climb the granite dome of Enchanted Rock, which is about two hours away.

San Antonio has more places worth a day out. Fredericksburg and its wineries, German-rooted Gruene and New Braunfels, small towns like Boerne and Bandera, and Austin within about an hour and a half fill several days, though you need a car for all of them.

From New Orleans, the strongest outing is the River Road to the plantations, where the Whitney's account of slavery stays with you. The quiet Gulf towns are another option, but the Cajun prairie around Lafayette is about as far as a day allows, and after that the list is short.

San Antonio is the easier city with children. SeaWorld and Six Flags Fiesta Texas are on the outskirts, Brackenridge Park holds the zoo and the Witte Museum, and the DoSeum and River Walk boat rides suit younger children, although you need a car to link them all.

New Orleans has a good handful of family outings: Audubon Zoo, the riverfront aquarium, the carousel and children's museum in City Park, and parade spots on St. Charles Avenue. But summer is very sticky, and parents need to keep children away from Bourbon Street and some areas after dark.

New Orleans is much easier without a car. The French Quarter, the Marigny and the Warehouse District sit close together on flat ground by the river, and the green St. Charles streetcars run on to the Garden District and Uptown, slowly but pleasantly.

In San Antonio, the shaded River Walk links the Alamo, the cathedral and the Pearl, and a bike path runs along the river to the missions. Beyond that you depend on highways, with no rail and slow buses, so most visitors hire a car or use ride-hailing.

New Orleans has more character in its shops. Royal Street's antique dealers and galleries and the miles of independent and vintage shops on Magazine Street make browsing a pleasure, and Mardi Gras masks and costumes are its own speciality.

San Antonio's highlights are El Mercado at Market Square, with Mexican embroidery, pottery and piñatas, and its specialist shops for boots and Western hats. Most of the rest is malls and the outlet centres up the road in San Marcos.

San Antonio is the cheaper of the two. Hotels built for the convention trade keep room rates moderate away from the river, local tacos and barbecue cost little, and the missions are free to visit, although car hire and theme park tickets soon add up.

In New Orleans, rooms in and near the Quarter are the big expense, taxes are high and rates jump on festival weekends. Daily spending can stay modest, though, since the streetcar, po'boys and the music on Royal Street cost little or nothing.

New Orleans is a city people travel to for music. Every night there is traditional jazz, brass bands, funk and zydeco on Frenchmen Street and in the bars of Tremé, Sunday second lines move through the neighbourhoods, and Jazz Fest anchors the spring. Its formal stage is modest, with the Louisiana Philharmonic and touring shows at the Saenger.

San Antonio has the steadier formal programme for its size, with symphony, opera and ballet at the Tobin Center and touring shows at the Majestic. Its own sound is accordion-led conjunto and Tejano, heard at Fiesta and in the dance halls. It is pleasant, but you would not plan a trip around it.

Neither city has a bathing or spa culture, so wellness in both comes down to hotel spas and a slow pace. In New Orleans, the restful side is a quiet courtyard guesthouse, a streetcar ride under the oaks and a lazy afternoon in City Park.

San Antonio has the resort option: guests who really want rest usually head to the golf and Hill Country resorts on the north side, with the Japanese Tea Garden for a calm morning in town.