Asheville or Wilmington?

Asheville is a mountain city several hours from the sea, so there is no real comparison here. Swimming means cold plunges below waterfalls, the natural rock slide at Sliding Rock, tubing on the French Broad River or the small sandy beach at Lake Lure.

Wilmington has three beach towns to choose from: polished Wrightsville with its fishing pier, Carolina Beach with its boardwalk, and quieter Kure. You need a car and some patience with summer parking, and rip currents call for care. From late May to October, though, the sea is warm enough for proper beach days.

Asheville eats and drinks better. Its breweries are the main event, spread across downtown, the South Slope and West Asheville. The kitchens draw on Appalachian farm produce, from trout, heirloom corn and ramps to biscuits and barbecue, and the farmers' markets show where it comes from.

Wilmington's strength is the coast: shrimp, flounder and oysters, shrimp and grits, and the eastern style of vinegar-sauced whole-hog barbecue, with its own breweries in the north end of downtown. Beyond that it has fewer standout restaurants, and in both cities the international choice is thin.

Asheville has the bigger single sight in the Biltmore Estate, a Gilded Age house with Olmsted gardens that fills a full day. Its downtown of Art Deco and Beaux-Arts buildings, from the domed City Hall to the Grove Arcade, adds a second strong reason to look around.

Wilmington's appeal is quieter. Its large historic district has antebellum houses under live oaks, the Bellamy Mansion tells the story of the old port's wealth and enslaved labour, and the Battleship North Carolina sits across the river. The museums are modest, and the old port suits an afternoon's stroll more than a full programme of sightseeing.

Neither is a late-night city, and the difference is one of mood. Asheville's evenings revolve around brewery taprooms and cocktail bars downtown and on the South Slope, with a looser local strip on Haywood Road, and most places wind down around midnight. Wilmington's Front Street fills with students and visitors on weekend nights, rooftop terraces look over the river, beach bars take over in summer, and bars stay open until 2am.

This is Asheville's great advantage. The Blue Ridge Parkway, Pisgah National Forest, Mount Mitchell and the Great Smoky Mountains are all within about an hour. Between them they offer walks over grassy balds, waterfall trails, serious mountain biking and whitewater rafting.

Wilmington's outdoors are flat and watery. You can paddle out to undeveloped Masonboro Island, surf and sail off Wrightsville, fish from the piers or offshore, and walk the pine savanna of Carolina Beach State Park, where Venus flytraps grow wild. It suits birdwatchers and paddlers, but there is nothing to climb.

Both offer pleasant small-town outings rather than famous destinations, and the difference is mountains against coast. From Asheville the drives lead to Brevard's waterfall country, Hendersonville and Flat Rock, Black Mountain and Cherokee, whose museum and Oconaluftee village give the best introduction to the region's first people. Greenville's riverside downtown is about an hour away.

From Wilmington the best day runs south past Fort Fisher and Brunswick Town to Southport, then by ferry to car-free Bald Head Island. New Bern, Beaufort and the resort strip at Myrtle Beach are further out.

Wilmington is the easier family choice, mainly because of its beaches. Carolina Beach has a boardwalk with rides and arcades, and the aquarium at Fort Fisher, the battleship decks and the Children's Museum fill rainy days. Beach rental houses make self-catering simple.

Asheville suits active children who love animals and the outdoors. There are bears and red wolves at the Nature Center, Sliding Rock, river tubing, zip lines and the Biltmore farmyard. With no aquarium or theme park in town, and Dollywood two hours away, younger children may run out of things to do sooner.

In both cities a car is close to essential, and walking works only in a compact centre. The difference is the terrain. Asheville's downtown is hilly in places, and beyond it the mountain roads are slow and winding, with heavy traffic on October weekends. Wilmington's historic district is flat and linked by the riverwalk, and the slow driving comes on the suburban roads out to the beaches on summer weekends.

Asheville gives you a real reason to shop: the Appalachian craft tradition. Pottery, glass and weaving are sold in the River Arts District studios, the downtown galleries and the Folk Art Center, and there are independent shops in the Grove Arcade and around Lexington Avenue.

Wilmington's Front Street and the Cotton Exchange have pleasant boutiques, bookshops and antique dealers, and the beach towns sell surf wear. There is no local craft worth seeking out, though, and neither city has luxury brands.

Wilmington is a little kinder on the budget. Off-season rooms in the city are reasonable and casual seafood and barbecue are fair value, though beachfront rentals cost more in summer.

Asheville's inns and hotels near downtown and Biltmore are expensive, especially on autumn weekends when the leaves turn, and a visit to Biltmore is a costly day out. The trails and the Parkway are free. In both cities you will need a hire car, and tax and tip are added to every meal.

Asheville's music is the more distinctive draw. There are bluegrass and old-time jams, street buskers, touring Americana and indie acts most nights, and free summer fiddle music and clogging at Shindig on the Green. The Mountain Dance and Folk Festival has run since 1928.

Wilmington's centrepiece is Thalian Hall, a restored 19th-century opera house. Alongside it are a larger performing arts centre, a community symphony, summer stages by Greenfield Lake and the river, and long-standing jazz and blues festivals. It makes for a pleasant evening out, but the city has no musical tradition of its own to match Asheville's.

Asheville grew up as a place to recover in the mountain air. That shows in its yoga studios, retreats and alternative therapies and in the large spas of the hillside resort hotels. About forty minutes away, Hot Springs has mineral water piped into outdoor tubs beside the French Broad.

Wilmington has day spas, resort spas near the beaches and a slow waterfront pace, but no bathing tradition and no proper retreats. Out of season it is a restful place to stay, but not one to visit for treatments.