Atlanta or Wilmington?

This is where the two cities differ most. Atlanta is four or five hours' drive from either coast, so swimming means the sandy shores of Lake Lanier on a summer weekend, or a hotel pool.

Wilmington has three beach towns within half an hour: polished Wrightsville, Carolina Beach with its boardwalk, and quieter Kure. The Atlantic is warm enough to swim in from late May into October. The city itself sits on the river, though, so every beach day starts with a drive, and on rough days you need to watch for rip currents.

Atlanta eats on a different scale. Its Southern cooking ranges from meat-and-three cafeterias to soul food kitchens on the west side. Buford Highway adds Korean, Vietnamese, Mexican and Ethiopian restaurants cooking for their own communities, and Wilmington has nothing like it.

Wilmington's strength is narrower and coastal: local shrimp, flounder and oysters, raw bars on the waterfront and vinegar-sauced whole-hog barbecue. Both cities brew good beer. Beyond seafood and the modern Southern menus downtown, though, Wilmington's choice thins out quickly.

Neither city fills a week of sightseeing, but Atlanta's sights carry more weight. The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and the High Museum are of national importance, even though the fire of 1864 left little old townscape to wander.

Wilmington is the reverse: its museums are modest, but it is a much better place to stroll. Blocks of antebellum and Victorian houses stand under live oaks, the Bellamy Mansion tells the story of the old port, and the Battleship North Carolina is moored across the river.

Atlanta is one of the homes of Southern hip-hop and trap, and its nights have real range: big clubs, small dance floors on Edgewood Avenue, one of the South's largest LGBTQ scenes in Midtown and dressy lounges in Buckhead. Each area is its own pocket, though, so moving between them takes a ride.

Wilmington keeps things casual, with bars and rooftop terraces around Front Street, a student crowd and beach bars in summer. There is little club culture, and weeknights are quiet out of season. What it does have is a downtown where a whole night out is within walking distance.

Both cities have plenty of outdoors, of opposite kinds. Atlanta's is hills and hardwood forest: the granite dome of Stone Mountain, the battlefield trails at Kennesaw, floating the Chattahoochee, and the Blue Ridge foothills and the southern end of the Appalachian Trail about two hours north.

Wilmington is flat and watery. You can kayak out to Masonboro Island, surf or paddleboard off Wrightsville, fish from the piers, and see the Venus flytrap growing wild in Carolina Beach State Park. Hikers will prefer Atlanta, and paddlers will prefer Wilmington.

Atlanta has the slightly better spread of outings. Athens is a college town with a music history, Dahlonega has its gold-rush square among the vineyards, and Madison has well-preserved pre-Civil War houses. Chattanooga, with its riverfront and Lookout Mountain, is about two hours away.

Wilmington's day trips are smaller in scale: old Southport and the ferry to car-free Bald Head Island, the earthworks at Fort Fisher, and New Bern or Beaufort further north. In both cities you need a car for every one of them.

Atlanta has more to fill a family week: the Georgia Aquarium with its whale sharks, the gorillas at Zoo Atlanta, the dinosaurs at Fernbank, the Center for Puppetry Arts, and Six Flags for older children. The price is a lot of driving and sticky summer heat.

Wilmington is simpler, and it suits a summer on the sand. There are the old-fashioned rides on the Carolina Beach boardwalk, a smaller aquarium at Fort Fisher, the decks of the battleship to explore and plenty of rental houses near the beach.

You will need a car in both, for different reasons. Atlanta's MARTA rail line usefully links the airport, downtown, Midtown and Buckhead, but the wider metro area is vast, hilly and jammed at rush hour.

Wilmington has no rail at all, but its downtown and historic district are compact and flat, and the riverwalk ties them together. The beaches are 15km or more away, though, so getting there means driving and then hunting for parking in summer.

Atlanta has far more choice. Two large malls face each other on Peachtree Road in Buckhead, with department stores and luxury labels, and Buckhead Village adds designer boutiques. Little Five Points has vintage clothes and record shops.

Wilmington is low-key, with independent shops, galleries and antique dealers on Front Street and in the Cotton Exchange, plus surf wear in the beach towns. Neither city has a local craft worth seeking out.

Overall costs are much the same: you pay tax and a tip on every meal, and a hire car is hard to avoid in either city. The difference is in what drives the bill up. In Atlanta it is Buckhead hotels, convention weeks and the steep entry charges at the big family attractions, though the King sites are free.

In Wilmington it is the season. Rooms are reasonable in the off-season, but summer demand for beachfront hotels and rental houses pushes prices up.

Atlanta has a full big-city calendar. The Atlanta Symphony plays at the Woodruff Arts Center, the Alliance Theatre stages new work, and there are full opera and ballet seasons as well as Broadway tours at the Fox. Major hip-hop, R&B and gospel tours fill the arenas and the Tabernacle.

Wilmington's scene is active for a city of its size. It centres on Thalian Hall, a 19th-century opera house, along with a community symphony, outdoor summer stages by Greenfield Lake and long-standing jazz and blues festivals. It is something to fit around a beach trip rather than plan one around.

Neither city is a place for a spa retreat, but each helps you relax in its own way. Atlanta has the more interesting facilities: large Korean-style bathhouses in the northeastern suburbs, with hot and cold pools and sauna rooms. Its traffic and sprawl wear you down, though.

Wilmington has only day spas, resort spas and yoga studios. Its slow pace and calm evenings on the waterfront do much of the work instead.