Branson

Branson needs 2 days: touring the Titanic Museum Attraction, a half-scale replica of the ship built atop an artificial iceberg, on one, and catching one of its more than 50 live-show theaters -country, gospel, magic- that make the city a direct rival to Nashville, on the other. April-June and September-October bring the mildest weather. It's inexpensive, with the highest concentration of theaters per capita in the United States. With just 12,000 residents, it has more theater seats than Broadway in New York, and its family entertainment industry -with no alcohol or adult content in the vast majority of its shows- made it an unusual tourist destination for a city its size.