Atlantic City or Gatlinburg?

The gap here could hardly be wider. Atlantic City has a broad, free strip of pale sand under the Boardwalk, continuing south through Ventnor and Margate. Lifeguards are on duty all summer, and in July and August the Atlantic is warm enough for proper swims, though you need to watch for rip currents and the season is short.

Gatlinburg has no sea at all. Cooling off means cold river pools in the national park, tubing on the Little River near Townsend or a drive to Douglas Lake. For most visitors the cabin hot tub stands in for the beach.

Neither town is worth the trip for food alone, but Atlantic City gives a hungry visitor more to work with. Beyond the casino steakhouses and buffets there are the Italian-American dining rooms of Ducktown, big South Jersey subs, boardwalk pizza and crab shacks around Gardner's Basin and Margate.

Gatlinburg feeds a resort crowd on pancake houses, barbecue and Southern comfort cooking along the Parkway, and its local twist is the moonshine tasting room. You have to seek out proper Appalachian cooking such as trout, country ham and stack cake, and keen eaters often drive to Knoxville or Asheville.

There is not much sightseeing in either, but Atlantic City has more to show in town. It has the original Boardwalk, the streets that gave Monopoly its names, Art Deco Boardwalk Hall with its giant pipe organ, the climbable Absecon Lighthouse and Lucy the Elephant down in Margate.

Gatlinburg's town strip offers an observation tower rather than history. Its heritage lives in the working studios of the Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community and in the log cabins, mills and churches at Cades Cove and along the Roaring Fork, which you have to drive to.

Atlantic City is plainly the place to stay up late. The casinos never close, and on summer weekends their nightclubs and pool parties draw crowds from Philadelphia and New York. The streets between the resorts feel empty after dark, though, and midweek winter nights are flat.

In Gatlinburg an evening means a stroll along the lit Parkway, a moonshine tasting or a brewery terrace, then back to the cabin. There are no real clubs, and the strip is quiet by late night.

This is Gatlinburg's great strength. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park begins where the Parkway ends. Waterfall walks lead to Laurel and Grotto Falls, the Alum Cave trail climbs Mount LeConte and a road runs up towards Clingmans Dome at close to 2,025m. Black bears, deer and elk are common sights, and the Pigeon River adds whitewater rafting. Expect jammed roads in October.

The outdoors around Atlantic City is flat and gentle: birdwatching in the salt marsh at the Forsythe refuge, kayaking and crabbing in the back bays, and canoeing in the Pine Barrens about an hour inland. It is pleasant enough, but it is no match for the mountains.

Both have a strong day out within about an hour and a half, and Atlantic City has a slight edge for variety. From the shore you can go to Philadelphia for Independence Hall and the big museums, or to Cape May for its Victorian streets. Smithville, Batsto and the neighbouring boardwalk towns are closer still.

From Gatlinburg the best choices are Asheville and the Biltmore Estate, or the Newfound Gap road over to Cherokee and the story of the Eastern Band. Knoxville and the Pigeon Forge theme parks are nearer. The two lists differ in kind: a historic big city and a period seaside town on one side, a mountain arts town and Native American heritage on the other.

Gatlinburg is designed for children. It has an aquarium, alpine coasters, mini golf and mountaintop parks reached by gondola, with Dollywood close by and roomy cabins with games rooms to stay in. In the park there are easy waterfall walks and junior ranger badges. The price is crawling traffic and long queues in high season.

Atlantic City works for families mainly on the beach and at the Steel Pier rides. Children aren't allowed on the casino floors and some blocks are rundown, so many families stay in Ocean City instead.

Atlantic City is a little easier without a car, at least on the island. The Boardwalk is a long, level walk, jitney buses run along Pacific Avenue round the clock, and trains reach Philadelphia. You still need a car for the refuge, the Pine Barrens and Cape May.

Gatlinburg's Parkway is easy to walk and a trolley runs out to Pigeon Forge. But most cabins sit up steep hillside roads, the park is only practical by car, and traffic stalls for long stretches on busy weekends and in October.

Neither is a shopping destination and they come out about even, but the shopping is different in each. Atlantic City has brand outlets near the Boardwalk and arcades of shops in the casinos, and saltwater taffy and fudge are the local things to take home.

Gatlinburg's Parkway is mostly souvenirs and candy kitchens, but the Arts and Crafts Community loop is worth the drive for quilts, pottery, brooms and woodwork bought from the people who made them. The Pigeon Forge outlets cover the brands.

Costs come out much the same, and in both towns when you go matters more than where. Atlantic City is cheapest midweek and out of season, when casino hotels cut their rates, and most expensive on summer weekends. The beach and Boardwalk are free, but resort fees and parking add up.

Gatlinburg is good value for groups sharing a big cabin midweek or in winter, and the park itself costs little to enjoy. On the other hand, paid attractions and Dollywood eat into a family budget, and leaf season and the festive weeks push rates up.

Atlantic City has the bigger stages. Casino arenas and Boardwalk Hall bring in touring pop and rock acts, comedians and boxing, and summer adds free beach concerts with fireworks. It is easy to build a weekend around one headline show.

Live entertainment in Gatlinburg is smaller and more homespun. Bluegrass and country players perform in the moonshine tasting rooms and on the street, and Pigeon Forge has dinner shows and gospel revues. Its distinctive offer is mountain music, but if you want an orchestra or serious theatre, neither town has one.

Gatlinburg is the more restful choice, though not because of its spas, which are few. The calm comes from staying in a secluded hillside cabin with a hot tub on the deck and mist on the ridges, well above the noise of the Parkway.

Atlantic City has bigger casino resort spas with saunas and indoor pools, good for a pampering afternoon, but the round-the-clock casino atmosphere works against rest. Its quietest moments come on an off-season walk beside the winter sea.