Asheville or St. Petersburg, Florida?

This is no contest. Asheville is hours from any coast, and swimming there means cold waterfall pools in Pisgah, the rock slide at Sliding Rock, tubing on the French Broad and a little sand at Lake Lure. These make pleasant summer half-days at best.

St. Petersburg has the Gulf barrier islands on its doorstep, with wide white sand at St. Pete Beach and Pass-a-Grille and wilder shores at Fort De Soto and on Caladesi Island, which you reach by ferry. The water is calm, shallow and warm for half the year, though downtown sits on the bay, so a beach day starts with a short trip west.

Asheville is the more rewarding place to eat. Dozens of taprooms are spread across downtown, the South Slope and West Asheville, and the kitchens cook from Appalachian farms: trout, heirloom corn, foraged ramps, barbecue and biscuits, with the farmers' markets showing where it all comes from.

St. Petersburg is more casual and built on Gulf seafood, with grouper sandwiches and smoked fish spread at waterfront shacks and a good craft beer scene of its own. It lacks Asheville's regional depth, though the Cuban and Spanish cooking of Tampa's Ybor City is close by.

The two are evenly matched, and each takes two or three days, but they differ in kind. Asheville's sights are mostly buildings. The Biltmore Estate, a Gilded Age château with Olmsted gardens, fills a whole day, and the downtown keeps intact Art Deco and Beaux-Arts landmarks such as the domed City Hall and the Grove Arcade.

St. Petersburg is a museum town. The Dalí Museum on the waterfront holds the largest Dalí collection outside Spain, with the Museum of Fine Arts, the Chihuly glass and an Arts and Crafts museum nearby. Its streets offer murals rather than historic architecture.

Neither city is built for late nights. In both, an evening means walking between taprooms and cocktail bars, and things wind down early. Asheville's evenings revolve around beer and a folksy feel, spread between downtown, the South Slope and Haywood Road in West Asheville, with a summer drum circle in Pritchard Park.

St. Petersburg adds rooftop terraces on Central Avenue and tiki bars on the beaches, where the night begins with a Gulf sunset. For a rowdier night, Tampa's Ybor City is a short drive across the bay.

Asheville is the outdoor destination of the two. The Blue Ridge Parkway, Pisgah National Forest, Mount Mitchell and the Great Smoky Mountains all lie within about an hour, with waterfall walks, ridge hikes over grassy balds, some of the country's best mountain biking and whitewater rafting.

St. Petersburg's nature is on the water and at sea level. Paddling through the mangroves at Weedon Island or Shell Key brings dolphins, rays and, in winter, manatees, and the Pinellas Trail suits easy cycling. But there are no hills, and summer heat pushes activity into the early morning.

Neither offers a long list of excursions, and the difference lies in what you go out to see. From Asheville, outings are mostly into the landscape and small mountain towns: Hendersonville, Brevard's waterfall country, and Cherokee, which gives the best look at the region's original people.

St. Petersburg has more towns with their own character within reach: the cigar-factory streets of Ybor City in Tampa, the Ringling estate in Sarasota and the Greek sponge docks of Tarpon Springs, with Orlando's theme parks at the limit of a long day.

St. Petersburg is the easier family destination. Shallow, gentle Gulf water suits small children, and beachfront resorts are set up for families. A hands-on children's museum is in the city, and the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Busch Gardens and the Florida Aquarium are all a short drive away.

Asheville suits active children rather than very young ones, with bears and red wolves at the Western North Carolina Nature Center, Sliding Rock, tubing and zip lines. It has no large zoo, aquarium or theme park, and Dollywood is two hours away over the mountains.

Both have a walkable centre and little else you can reach easily without a car. From Asheville's hilly downtown you can walk to the South Slope and the River Arts District, but the Biltmore, the Parkway and the trailheads mean driving on slow, winding mountain roads.

St. Petersburg is flat, with a downtown trolley loop, a rapid bus to St. Pete Beach and good cycling on the Pinellas Trail in the cooler months. The other beaches and Tampa still call for a hire car.

Handmade Appalachian craft gives Asheville the edge. Pottery, woodwork, weaving and glass fill the downtown galleries, the working studios of the River Arts District and the Folk Art Center on the Parkway, while the 1920s Grove Arcade and the streets around Lexington Avenue add independent boutiques, bookshops and vintage clothing.

St. Petersburg has small independent shops but no craft tradition to match. You'll find vintage and record shops and local galleries along Central Avenue and in the Grand Central District, a Saturday market in winter and swimwear in the beach towns. For brand names, visitors drive to the malls in Tampa.

Costs are much the same in both: American prices, tips on top and a hire car to budget for. The difference is in timing. Asheville is most expensive on autumn weekends when the leaves turn, and cheapest midweek and in winter.

St. Petersburg is most expensive from February to April, when northern visitors come south, and cheaper in the hot, stormy summer. In both, the best things are free: trails and waterfalls in one, beaches and waterfront parks in the other.

Asheville has the stronger music culture, rooted in Appalachian tradition: bluegrass and old-time jams, buskers downtown, free evenings of fiddle music and clogging at Shindig on the Green, and a folk festival that has run since 1928. Riverside and downtown venues add touring Americana and indie acts.

St. Petersburg's scene is more conventional. It centres on the Mahaffey Theater, which hosts the Florida Orchestra and touring shows, with a regional theatre company and bar bands at weekends. For opera and ballet, visitors cross to Tampa.

For a restful trip Asheville has more to offer, because slowing down is part of the town's character, not just a by-product of the weather. It grew up partly as a mountain health resort, and today you can book yoga, massage or alternative therapies across town, or spend a day at one of the big resort spas above the city. Its strongest card is Hot Springs, under an hour north-west, where you soak in mineral water in outdoor tubs by the French Broad, something St. Petersburg cannot match.

St. Petersburg has no springs and no bathing culture, so its spa time means the grand beach hotels and a few day spas and yoga studios downtown. Rest there is simpler: watching the sunset from the sand or spending an idle afternoon in Pass-a-Grille. It is most relaxing in the mild, dry winter, because in summer the heat sends you indoors by midday.