Atlanta or Panama City Beach?

Atlanta has no beach of its own. The Gulf and the Atlantic are four to five hours' drive away, so summer swimming means Lake Lanier or Lake Allatoona, sandy lake shores used by local families on hot weekends.

Panama City Beach is about 43km of fine white quartz sand with clear green water on calm days. The quieter western end, the sheltered lagoon in St. Andrews State Park and boat trips out to undeveloped Shell Island give it a range Atlanta cannot touch. Rip currents are a real risk, though, so the flags matter.

Atlanta is a serious food city. It has Southern cooking in meat-and-threes and west-side soul food kitchens, smoked barbecue and a proper Sunday brunch. Along Buford Highway, Korean, Vietnamese, Ethiopian and Mexican kitchens cook for their own communities.

Panama City Beach does one thing simply and well, which is Gulf seafood: blackened grouper, shrimp baskets and local oysters eaten on dockside decks. Beyond that, the choice along Front Beach Road is mostly chains and themed restaurants, so a week there means eating much the same way most nights.

Most of Atlanta burned in 1864, so its sights are recent history rather than old streets, but that history carries real weight. The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park on Auburn Avenue, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, the High Museum and the Carter Presidential Library fill two or three good days.

Panama City Beach has almost nothing of this kind. The small Man in the Sea Museum on diving history and the older streets of St. Andrews across the bay take a morning at most. Anyone who wants museums has to drive somewhere else.

Atlanta's nightlife has real range. There are big clubs playing the hip-hop and trap the city exports, dive bars on Edgewood Avenue, one of the South's largest LGBTQ scenes in Midtown and dressy lounges in Buckhead. Each area is its own pocket, so plan on rides between them.

In Panama City Beach, a night out means a drink on a deck over the sand at sunset, tiki bars and cover bands, and most places are quiet by mid-evening outside summer. Spring break in March turns Front Beach Road loud and rowdy, which suits students and almost no one else.

Atlanta has more variety within reach. The granite dome of Stone Mountain, Kennesaw's battlefield trails and the Chattahoochee are all within half an hour, and the Blue Ridge foothills, Amicalola Falls and the southern end of the Appalachian Trail are about two hours north.

Panama City Beach is flat, and its outdoors is the water: dunes and snorkelling in St. Andrews State Park, kayaking on St. Andrew Bay, dolphin trips, fishing and diving on the offshore wrecks. Hikers will do better from Atlanta, and anyone who would rather be on a paddleboard will be happier on the coast.

Both need a car for every outing, but Atlanta offers a wider choice. You can visit the college town of Athens with its music history, Dahlonega's gold-rush square among the vineyards, the pre-Civil War houses of Madison, or Chattanooga's riverfront and Lookout Mountain two hours north.

From Panama City Beach, the best outing is the drive west along Highway 30A to the planned pastel towns of Seaside and Rosemary Beach. To the east lies Apalachicola, an old oyster port with brick warehouses. These are pleasant trips, but several of them are more versions of the coast you are already on.

Both work well with children, in different ways. Atlanta is a string of big attractions: the Georgia Aquarium with its whale sharks, the gorillas at Zoo Atlanta, the dinosaurs at Fernbank and the roller coasters at Six Flags, with driving and traffic in between.

Panama City Beach is a family resort where the day organises itself. You get shallow warm water, a condo with a pool, the sheltered lagoon at St. Andrews for a first snorkel, and a water park and mini-golf along the strip. Avoid March there, and expect heavy summer heat in both places.

Neither is easy without a car, but Atlanta at least has one useful corridor. MARTA rail runs from the airport through downtown and Midtown to Buckhead, and the BeltLine's Eastside Trail links several walkable neighbourhoods.

Panama City Beach is a 43km strip along one main road. The trolley bus is slow and sparse, pavements come and go, and summer traffic crawls. Once you have parked, the sand itself is the best place to walk.

Atlanta has the fuller range. The two malls facing each other on Peachtree Road in Buckhead hold the department stores and luxury labels, Buckhead Village adds designer boutiques, and Little Five Points has vintage clothes and record shops.

Panama City Beach offers Pier Park's chain stores and the shark-mouthed souvenir and beachwear warehouses on the strip, which are fine for swimwear and not much else. For anything more individual, the boutiques in the 30A towns are a better bet.

Overall costs come out much the same, but they fall in different places. In Atlanta, hotels away from Buckhead and convention weeks cost less than on either coast, eating on Buford Highway is fair value and the King sites are free. Car hire, parking and tickets to the big family attractions are what add up.

In Panama City Beach, the calendar decides the cost. Peak summer weeks on the beachfront are not cheap, but rates drop sharply outside summer and spring break, and a condo kitchen saves on eating out. Long winter stays are especially good value.

Atlanta has a full performing arts calendar. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra plays at the Woodruff Arts Center and the Alliance Theatre stages new plays, the opera and ballet run full seasons, and the 1920s Fox Theatre hosts touring Broadway shows. Major hip-hop, R&B and gospel tours come through too, with halls like the Tabernacle in between.

Panama City Beach has cover bands and acoustic sets on bar decks, summer concerts at the shopping centre, and a modest season at the restored theatre across the bay in Panama City. It is background music for a beach trip, not a reason to choose one.

Neither city is built for rest, and the calm each offers is of a different kind. Atlanta's real draw is the large Korean-style bathhouses in the northeastern suburbs, with hot and cold pools, sauna rooms and long lounging halls, some of them open round the clock.

Panama City Beach has only a few resort and day spas. Its calm comes from the setting: from autumn to spring the beach empties, and long sunset walks on the sand slow the pace in a way Atlanta's traffic never allows. In summer and during spring break, it is anything but quiet.