Asheville or Naples, Florida?

Asheville is high in the mountains, hours from any coast. Its swimming means cold plunges under Pisgah waterfalls, the rock slide at Sliding Rock, summer floats on the French Broad and the small beach at Lake Lure. These are fine summer afternoons, not a beach vacation.

Naples is built around the beach. Fine pale sand runs the length of the city, with paths at the ends of the streets in Old Naples, and the dunes of Barefoot Beach and the broad sands of Marco Island lie further along the coast. The Gulf is calm and shallow and warm enough to wade into most of the year. The only small irritations are summer storms, the odd algae bloom and stingrays in the shallows.

Asheville eats and drinks better. Its brewing scene runs from downtown to West Asheville, and the cooking draws on Appalachian farms, with trout, heirloom corn, foraged ramps, barbecue and biscuits, backed by tailgate markets and the WNC Farmers Market. It is weak on cooking from outside the American South.

Naples is comfortable rather than interesting. Steak, Italian and modern American dining rooms line Fifth Avenue South, and the best of the local food is Gulf seafood, such as grouper sandwiches and winter stone crab at the fish houses around Tin City. There are few markets and little street food, and the bills are high.

Asheville has enough to fill two or three days. The Biltmore Estate alone takes a full day, with its château and Olmsted gardens, and the downtown keeps a rare run of 1920s Art Deco and Beaux-Arts buildings, including the domed City Hall and the Grove Arcade. The Folk Art Center and the Thomas Wolfe Memorial round out the list.

Naples is a young resort with few sights. The Baker Museum's American and modern art and the Revs Institute's historic racing cars are worth an afternoon, and Palm Cottage gives a glimpse of the early town. Beyond the Mediterranean-style streets of Old Naples there is little to keep you indoors.

Neither city keeps late hours, but Asheville at least has a night out. Taprooms, cocktail bars and dives sit within walking distance of each other downtown and on the South Slope, Haywood Road has a more local crowd, and in summer the Friday drum circle in Pritchard Park draws a crowd.

Naples winds down with a sunset drink at a beach or tiki bar, then dinner and a glass in a piano lounge on Fifth Avenue South. The crowd is older, there are almost no clubs, and the town goes quiet especially early in the summer.

Both cities sit on the edge of serious wild country, but Asheville's is the bigger draw. The Blue Ridge Parkway, Pisgah National Forest, Mount Mitchell and the Great Smoky Mountains are all within about an hour. They offer ridge hikes over grassy balds, some of the country's best mountain biking and whitewater on the Nantahala and Pigeon rivers, with rhododendron in late spring and colourful forests in October.

Naples offers flat, watery wilderness instead. The Everglades, Big Cypress and the Corkscrew Swamp boardwalk lie close by, with alligators, wading birds and sometimes manatees. Paddling the mangrove channels of the Ten Thousand Islands is the outing to save a day for. The catch is that it is really a winter landscape, as summer heat and mosquitoes make long days hard going.

Asheville has a slightly better choice of day trips, and most of them lead into the mountains. Cherokee, with its museum and Oconaluftee village, gives the deepest sense of the region's history. The waterfalls around Brevard, the Carl Sandburg Home at Flat Rock and Greenville's riverside downtown make good contrasting days.

From Naples the outings are pleasant but rarely memorable. They include the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, shelling and cycling on Sanibel and Captiva, and the old fishing town of Everglades City. Sarasota's Ringling museums and Miami are at the edge of a day's driving.

Asheville suits active children. They can see black bears and red wolves at the Western North Carolina Nature Center, go tubing and zip-lining, and visit the farmyard at Biltmore. A lot of the stay goes on driving between scattered sights, though, and the nearest theme park, Dollywood, is two hours over the mountains.

Naples is easier with children, mainly because of the sea. Calm, shallow water and dolphins seen from the shore keep young children happy for days. Naples Zoo with its boat ride past the primate islands, the Golisano Children's Museum and the mangrove boat trips cover the rest. The midday heat in summer is the main thing to plan around.

Both cities need a car for the things most people come to see. Asheville has a little more you can do on foot. The hilly downtown, the South Slope breweries and the River Arts District are close enough to make a car-free day or two easy, but the Parkway, Biltmore and the trailheads mean slow, winding mountain driving.

In Naples the walkable part is the small, flat grid of Old Naples around the pier, which is easy on a bicycle too. Beyond it the city sprawls along wide roads, and the northern beaches, the Everglades and every day trip need a car, with heavier traffic in winter.

There is about as much shopping in each city, but it is aimed at different buyers. Asheville sells handmade things: pottery, glass, weaving and woodwork from the working studios of the River Arts District, the Folk Art Center on the Parkway and the independent shops around the Grove Arcade and Lexington Avenue.

Naples is about resort style. Fifth Avenue South and Third Street South have jewellers, linen and resort-wear boutiques, an open-air mall north of downtown holds the international designer brands, and big outlet malls are half an hour away. Choose Asheville for a one-off piece and Naples for labels.

Neither is cheap, but Asheville costs noticeably less. Inns near downtown and Biltmore are expensive by American standards and rise steeply on autumn weekends. The mountains themselves cost nothing, though, and a midweek or winter stay brings real savings.

Naples is priced for a wealthy winter crowd, from its beachfront resorts to its restaurants, and its high season runs from roughly January to April. The free beaches help. So does coming in summer or staying inland and cooking for yourself, though summer means trading comfort for savings.

Asheville's music is the more distinctive. Bluegrass and old-time jams fill pubs and porches, buskers play downtown, and on summer evenings Shindig on the Green brings free fiddle music and clogging. The Mountain Dance and Folk Festival has run since 1928, and touring Americana and indie bands play the riverside venues most nights.

Naples is stronger on formal performance. The Naples Philharmonic has its own hall, touring Broadway shows come through, and a professional theatre stages plays downtown. All of that runs in the winter season, though, and almost nothing happens in summer.

Asheville has the longer tradition of rest. Its mountain air drew nineteenth-century health seekers, and the town still has plenty of retreats, yoga studios and grand hillside resort spas. At Hot Springs, forty minutes away, mineral water fills outdoor tubs beside the French Broad.

Naples relaxes in a simpler way. Large resort spas are open to non-guests, and the rest of the day goes to long sunset walks along the Gulf, golf and quiet streets. There are no springs and no spa tradition of its own.