Atlanta or Key West?

Atlanta sits four to five hours from either coast. The nearest swimming is at Lake Lanier or Lake Allatoona, about an hour's drive away. They are fine on a hot weekend but no reason to plan a trip around the water.

Key West clearly wins here, though for the sea more than the sand. The reef keeps the water calm and warm for most of the year, which makes it good for floating and snorkelling. The town's own beaches are small: Smathers is a strip of imported sand, and at Fort Zachary Taylor you need water shoes for the coral rubble.

Atlanta has much more range at the table. You can eat Southern cooking in meat-and-three cafeterias and west-side soul food kitchens, then cross to the Korean, Vietnamese and Ethiopian restaurants of Buford Highway. Sunday brunch and craft breweries add to it, although you need a car to cover it all.

Key West eats well for a few days on pink shrimp, grouper, conch fritters, Cuban coffee from takeaway windows and arguments over Key lime pie. Beyond seafood and island comfort food the choice runs thin, and Duval Street itself serves mostly bar food.

Neither city fills a week of sightseeing, but Atlanta's heritage matters more. The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights make it a key place for understanding the civil rights movement, and the High Museum adds serious art. The fire of 1864, though, left little old townscape to wander.

Key West is the reverse, because the town itself is the sight. Its Old Town of conch cottages and Victorian verandas under banyans is a pleasure to walk. The Hemingway Home with its six-toed cats and the Truman Little White House have plenty of character, but they are small.

Both cities stay out late, in very different ways. Atlanta is a club city and the home of Southern hip-hop and trap. It has bottle-service rooms in Buckhead, dive bars and small dance floors on Edgewood Avenue, and one of the South's largest LGBTQ scenes in Midtown. Each area is a separate pocket, though, and you need a ride between them.

Key West is a bar crawl on foot. You carry a drink between the open-sided bars and rooftop decks of Duval Street, where the gay scene at the upper end is long established. It is loud, boozy and casual, with few real clubs.

The outdoors here comes down to land or water. Atlanta means trees and trails: Piedmont Park and the BeltLine in town, the granite dome of Stone Mountain and the Chattahoochee within half an hour, and the Blue Ridge foothills and the start of the Appalachian Trail about two hours north.

Key West has almost nothing on land, but the water makes up for it. Boats leave daily for the Florida Reef, where you may see rays and turtles. The mangrove flats suit kayaking and fishing for tarpon and bonefish. Bring hiking boots for one city and a snorkel for the other.

Atlanta has far more places to drive to. Athens and its music history, Dahlonega among the North Georgia vineyards, the pre-Civil War houses of Madison and Chattanooga's riverfront are all within about two hours by car. They are pleasant rather than famous.

Key West sits at the end of the road. The ferry to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas makes a memorable day, and the drive over the Seven Mile Bridge to Marathon has its moments, but after that the options run out quickly.

There is much more for children in Atlanta. Besides its well-known zoo and aquarium, it has a hands-on children's museum by Centennial Olympic Park, roller coasters at Six Flags and a cable car to the top of Stone Mountain. Hotels are roomy too. The downside is the time spent in traffic and the summer heat.

In Key West, children are happiest in the water, in the calm shallows at Fort Zachary Taylor or on a glass-bottom boat. The town's attractions, a small aquarium and a butterfly conservatory, are few, and the evenings feel adult.

Atlanta was built around the car. MARTA's rail line links the airport with downtown, Midtown and Buckhead, and the BeltLine's Eastside Trail joins a few neighbourhoods on foot. Away from that corridor you depend on a car or a ride app, and on heavily congested motorways.

Key West is far easier. Old Town is compact and flat, most sights lie a short walk from Duval Street, and a rented bike covers the rest. A car is more nuisance than help in its narrow streets, but you will need one to reach Big Pine or Bahia Honda.

Atlanta offers more, though most of it is familiar American retail. Luxury labels fill the facing malls on Peachtree Road in Buckhead, Little Five Points sells vintage clothes and records, and the BeltLine warehouse markets have stalls run by local makers.

On Key West's Duval Street the shops sell mostly T-shirts and Key lime soap. The better finds are tropical prints in the Old Town galleries, hand-rolled cigars and sponges from the harbour shops. They are worth a browse on an evening walk rather than a whole shopping day.

Neither city is a bargain, but Atlanta is much easier on the wallet. Its hotels cost noticeably less than on either coast, the Buford Highway kitchens are fair value, and the civil rights sites are free. What adds up are car hire, tax and tips, and tickets to the big attractions.

On Key West, limited land keeps rooms expensive, especially in winter, and diving, boat trips and the Tortugas ferry quickly add to the bill. Cycling instead of driving and eating at fish shacks helps, and late summer is the cheapest season.

Atlanta has a full formal scene. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra plays at Symphony Hall, the Alliance Theatre stages new plays, the opera and ballet run full seasons, and touring Broadway shows come to the Fox Theatre. Major hip-hop, R&B and gospel tours fill its arenas and halls such as the Tabernacle.

Key West's music is informal and plays every night. You will find singer-songwriters and cover bands in the open-air bars, drag cabaret, and jugglers and tightrope walkers at sunset on Mallory Square. The serious side is limited to the Tennessee Williams Theatre and a symphony that plays only in winter.

Atlanta's best offer is the big Korean-style bathhouses in the northeastern suburbs, with hot and cold pools and sauna rooms, about half an hour's drive from the centre. Otherwise its sprawl, traffic and humid summers keep the city far from restful.

Key West is the more relaxing of the two, though not by much. Old Town's quiet lanes, guesthouses set around small pools and gardens, and easy yoga and massage give a stay an unhurried pace. It has no bathing tradition, though, and the party on Duval Street is never far away, especially at weekends.