San Antonio or Taos?

Neither city is a beach destination, but San Antonio does better for swimming. The spring-fed Comal and San Marcos rivers, under an hour away, stay cool and clear all year, and floating them on an inner tube makes a fine summer afternoon. Canyon Lake and the Hill Country swimming holes are other options.

Taos, high on its plateau, has almost nothing of the kind. The Rio Grande is for rafting, the mountain lakes are cold, and a pool or a hot spring is as close as it gets.

San Antonio is much the stronger place to eat. As the home of Tex-Mex it offers puffy tacos, enchiladas in chili gravy and Sunday barbacoa in family places on the West and South Sides. On top of that there is Central Texas brisket, and the Pearl has a farmers' market and more ambitious restaurants.

Taos has one real strength: northern New Mexican cooking with red or green chile, posole and blue corn, and horno bread from the Pueblo. Beyond that, the small population keeps the choice narrow, and a week covers most of it.

Both cities have a UNESCO World Heritage site and both fill two or three days, so they are close here. The difference is in what you see. San Antonio's story is Spanish colonial: the Alamo downtown and the chain of missions down the river, with San José's rose window and Espada's aqueduct. It also has solid art collections at the San Antonio Museum of Art and the McNay.

Taos centres on a living community rather than a monument. Taos Pueblo is still inhabited and is visited on the community's terms. The rest comes from the art colony: the Ranchos de Taos church painted by O'Keeffe and a string of small museums such as the Harwood and the Fechin House.

San Antonio is not a party city, but it has a proper night out. The River Walk patios suit a margarita by the water. The St. Mary's Strip, Southtown and the open-sided icehouses offer the evenings locals prefer, with beer gardens, cocktail bars and Tejano dance halls.

Taos hardly has a nightlife. There is an adobe hotel bar, a taproom, a saloon with a band, and après-ski in winter, and most nights end soon after dinner.

Taos is in another league for the outdoors. It has Wheeler Peak at 4,013m, alpine lakes above the ski valley, whitewater in the Taos Box and the rim of the Rio Grande gorge. That is real mountain and canyon country, with demanding skiing in winter and golden aspens in autumn.

The country around San Antonio is gentler: Government Canyon's trails, caverns in the limestone, kayaking on the Guadalupe and bluebonnets in spring. It is pleasant from October to April, but there is no wilderness of real scale, and summer heat makes hiking hard.

The two are well matched for outings, and both need a car. From San Antonio, the drives lead into the German-founded Hill Country towns, with Fredericksburg's wineries and Gruene's dance hall, or to Austin and its Capitol and music.

Taos has Santa Fe at the end of the High Road through Truchas and Chimayó, and O'Keeffe country at Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch, so its outings lean more towards art and landscape. Bandelier's cliff dwellings make a long but rewarding day.

San Antonio is far easier with children. Two big theme parks, SeaWorld and Six Flags Fiesta Texas, are on the edges of the city. In town, the zoo, the Witte Museum and the DoSeum fill the days, with river cruises and tubing in summer.

Taos suits only families who love the outdoors, with ski school in winter and gentle float trips and horse riding in summer. It has no zoo or theme park, and the altitude can wear out small children for the first days.

Both are car destinations, but San Antonio depends on one less. Its compact downtown is walkable along the shaded River Walk, the missions can be reached by bike on the river path, and VIA buses run along the main roads.

In Taos only the few streets around the plaza work on foot. The Pueblo, the gorge, the ski valley and every trailhead are spread across the valley. Most visitors arrive through Albuquerque, two and a half hours' drive away, so a hire car is part of the trip from the start.

Neither is a shopping destination and they offer about the same amount, but what you buy is very different. San Antonio has Mexican crafts at El Mercado, studios in La Villita, and western boots and hats, along with malls and outlet centres at San Marcos and New Braunfels.

Taos is narrower and more specialised. It has galleries around the plaza, turquoise and silver jewellery, micaceous pottery, Rio Grande weaving and santos, and you can buy bread or pots straight from Pueblo makers. Collectors will linger, but anyone else will be done in an afternoon.

San Antonio is the cheaper of the two. The convention trade keeps hotel rooms plentiful and moderately priced away from the river, tacos and barbecue cost little, and the missions are free. The extra costs are the hire car and the theme parks.

Taos has the prices of a small mountain resort. Simple motels and diners are fair, but historic inns, ski-valley lodging and the better restaurants charge resort rates in ski season and summer, and you cannot avoid hiring a car. Spring and late autumn are easiest on the budget.

San Antonio has the fuller calendar. The Tobin Center hosts symphony, opera and ballet, and the Majestic Theatre takes touring Broadway shows. Conjunto and Tejano music, mariachi around Market Square and Fiesta each spring give the city a sound of its own.

Taos has little on stage beyond a summer chamber music festival and a small arts centre. Its most memorable performances are the Pueblo's feast-day dances, such as San Gerónimo in late September, which visitors watch quietly and without cameras.

Taos is the far better place to slow down. Ojo Caliente's mineral pools under the cliffs are about fifty minutes away, and primitive hot springs sit beside the Rio Grande at the bottom of the gorge. In town, yoga studios and retreat centres draw on the quiet of the valley and its spiritual reputation.

San Antonio has no bathing culture of its own, so rest means a resort spa in the Hill Country or a hotel spa downtown. A quiet morning in the Japanese Tea Garden helps, but summer heat makes lazy days outdoors hard going.