Atlanta or Pensacola?

This is where the two cities differ most. Atlanta is four to five hours from either coast, so swimming means a lake day at Lanier or Allatoona. The water there is sandy and warm in summer, but it is a local outing, not beach life.

Pensacola is built around its sand. Pensacola Beach and the Gulf Islands National Seashore give miles of white quartz and clear green water, Perdido Key is quieter, and the sound side suits toddlers. Watch the warning flags, because rip currents run on rough days.

Atlanta has much more to eat. You get Southern cooking in its home setting, from west-side soul food kitchens to serious Sunday brunch, and also Buford Highway, where Korean, Vietnamese, Ethiopian and Mexican restaurants cook for their own communities. Chef-led places in Inman Park and the Westside add to the range.

Pensacola eats well within a narrower range: oysters, grouper sandwiches and royal red shrimp at casual waterfront places, plus a modest set of modern Southern restaurants on Palafox Street. Beyond seafood, the choice thins out quickly.

Atlanta's sights carry more weight. The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights make it a serious place to understand the civil rights movement. The High Museum and the Carter library fill further days.

Pensacola has more old townscape, since much of Atlanta was rebuilt after 1864. Its restored colonial and Victorian houses stand around Plaza Ferdinand, Fort Pickens guards the island's tip, and the huge naval aviation museum sits on an active base with ID checks. It has fewer major sights than Atlanta, but more streets to wander.

Atlanta is by far the bigger night out. Its clubs play the hip-hop and trap the city is known for, Edgewood Avenue packs dive bars into a few blocks, Midtown has one of the South's largest LGBTQ scenes and Buckhead does bottle service. The catch is that each area needs a ride from the next.

Pensacola has bars rather than clubs. There are pubs and rooftop terraces on Palafox Street and in Seville Quarter, sand-floored beach bars, and the rowdy old roadhouse at the state line. Outside summer and weekends, it goes quiet early.

The two are level on the outdoors, but the landscapes could hardly be more different. Atlanta has a tall hardwood canopy, the granite dome of Stone Mountain and the wooded bluffs of the Chattahoochee. Two hours north are the Blue Ridge foothills, with Amicalola Falls and the southern end of the Appalachian Trail.

Pensacola has no hills at all. Its outdoors is dunes, salt marsh, herons and dolphins, kayaking in the sound, tubing on the clear Blackwater River and diving on a sunken aircraft carrier. In both, spring and autumn suit outdoor plans best.

Atlanta has slightly more choice within a day's drive. Athens with its music history, gold-rush Dahlonega among the vineyards, antebellum Madison and Chattanooga's aquarium and Lookout Mountain are all within about two hours. Savannah needs an overnight stay.

From Pensacola, the best outing is Mobile, an hour west, with Fairhope and Fort Morgan across the bay. East along the coast, the options are mostly more beach towns, such as Destin and Seaside. Both cities need a car for every outing.

A family week in Atlanta can take in the whale sharks at the Georgia Aquarium, the gorillas at Zoo Atlanta, Fernbank's dinosaurs and puppet shows in Midtown, with Six Flags for older children. The cost is traffic and long drives between them, often in summer heat.

Pensacola makes the easier beach vacation, though it has less to do away from the sand. The sound side has calm water for toddlers, and condos come with kitchens and pools. On days off the beach, there are the aircraft at the aviation museum and the tunnels at Fort Pickens. Families looking for theme parks will find it thin.

You need a car in both, but Atlanta at least has MARTA rail along one useful corridor, from the airport through downtown and Midtown to Buckhead. The BeltLine's Eastside Trail also links several neighbourhoods on foot. Expect heavy motorway traffic at rush hour.

Pensacola is walkable only downtown and in the historic district, plus a free beach trolley in season. The island, the naval air station and Perdido Key are spread along highways and bridges, so even short trips are drives.

Atlanta is clearly the better place to shop, though mostly in the American mall sense. Buckhead is where the serious spending happens, with department stores, luxury labels and designer shops gathered along Peachtree Road, enough for a full afternoon of browsing. For second-hand clothes and vinyl, Little Five Points is scruffier and more independent, and the BeltLine's warehouse markets put local makers next to chain stores.

Pensacola has far less. A walk down Palafox Street turns up a few independent, antique and gift shops, and the Saturday market adds local crafts, but that is an hour's browsing rather than a day. Beyond it there is a chain-store mall inland and swimwear by the beach. Neither city has a local craft to carry home.

Overall costs are similar, but the money goes in different places. In Atlanta, hotels outside Buckhead and away from convention weeks cost less than on the coasts, Buford Highway meals are fair value and the civil rights sites are free. The big family attractions charge steeply.

Pensacola's prices depend on the season. Beachfront rooms are dearest in summer and on long weekends and drop sharply out of season. The aviation museum is free and the seashore costs little. In both cities, remember to budget for car hire.

Atlanta has a full-scale scene. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Alliance Theatre are at the Woodruff Arts Center, the opera and ballet run full seasons, and the Fox Theatre hosts Broadway tours. Major hip-hop, R&B and gospel tours come through, with the Tabernacle and smaller rooms filling the middle.

Pensacola's stage is the restored 1925 Saenger Theatre, home to the local symphony, opera and ballet, along with community theatre and bar bands. It makes a good evening out, but on a regional scale.

Neither city is somewhere to go for a spa, and their quieter sides are different. Atlanta's best option is the Korean bathhouses in the northeastern suburbs, with hot and cold pools and sauna rooms, some open round the clock. The city itself rarely feels slow.

Pensacola has only hotel day spas and massage studios. Outside the summer peak, though, the island and Perdido Key are quiet enough to switch off on an uncrowded beach.