Atlantic City or Nashville?

This is Atlantic City's strongest suit and Nashville's weakest. Atlantic City has a broad, flat beach under the Boardwalk, free to use and lifeguarded all summer. It continues south into quieter Ventnor, Margate and Longport and north to more local Brigantine. Surf and rip currents mean you swim between the flags.

Nashville's version is a swimming area at Percy Priest or Old Hickory Lake. The water there is warm, but it's an afternoon out at most, and locals spend it on pontoon boats rather than on sand.

Nashville eats far better. It has a dish of its own in cayenne-soaked hot chicken, plus meat-and-three cafeterias, smoked barbecue and Tennessee whiskey. Chef-led kitchens in East Nashville and the Gulch take Southern cooking in modern directions, and Nolensville Pike adds Kurdish, Mexican and Vietnamese food.

In Atlantic City, the casino steakhouses and buffets are polished but could be anywhere. The more personal food is outside them: Ducktown's Italian-American restaurants, big subs, crab shacks in Gardner's Basin and boardwalk saltwater taffy. It's satisfying, but not a reason to go.

Nashville has much more to fill the days. Music history is the core, from the Country Music Hall of Fame to the National Museum of African American Music and a daytime tour of the Ryman. Beyond music there are the Parthenon replica in Centennial Park, the Frist in its Art Deco post office, and the Hermitage and Belle Meade, which cover the region's harder history.

Atlantic City's heritage is the American seaside resort itself: the original Boardwalk of 1870, the street names on the Monopoly board, Boardwalk Hall's huge pipe organ, the Absecon Lighthouse and Lucy the Elephant in Margate. It's worth a day, not more.

Nashville has the livelier night out. Lower Broadway's multi-storey bars put a band on every floor and run as one long party at weekends. East Nashville's dive bars and cocktail lounges and Midtown's student crowd offer calmer alternatives.

Atlantic City's night happens inside the casinos. Gaming floors and lounges stay open around the clock, and summer weekends bring resort nightclubs and pool parties. That makes it the better choice for dancing, which Nashville largely lacks. But there's no street bar district, the blocks between resorts feel uneasy after dark, and midweek and winter are quiet.

Flat salt marsh and wide back bays on one side, wooded hills and limestone creeks on the other. Around Atlantic City the low barrier island is best for birdwatchers at the Forsythe wildlife refuge, where herons, egrets and migrating shorebirds fill the marshes. The bays suit kayaking, crabbing and fishing, and the Pine Barrens' sandy forest trails are about an hour inland.

Nashville gives walkers and paddlers a bit more variety. Radnor Lake and the Warner Parks have woodland trails inside the city, the Harpeth River is good for an easy canoe trip, and the Natchez Trace Parkway starts just to the south for cycling or a scenic drive. Spring wildflowers and autumn leaves are the times to go.

Atlantic City has the stronger day trips, mainly because of Philadelphia. It's about an hour and a half away and has Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and big-city museums. Cape May, an intact Victorian seaside town, is an hour south, and Smithville, Batsto and the Wildwood boardwalk are closer still.

Nashville's options are pleasant but smaller. Franklin's Main Street and Civil War battlefields are half an hour away, and Leiper's Fork and the Jack Daniel's distillery in Lynchburg are further out. Chattanooga is at the outer limit of a day out.

Nashville handles children better overall. The zoo at Grassmere, the Adventure Science Center's planetarium, the Lane Motor Museum and the Parthenon give several days of variety. The catch is a lot of driving, and Lower Broadway is best avoided.

In Atlantic City the beach does almost all the work, with help from the Steel Pier rides and the small aquarium. Casino floors are closed to under-21s, which is why many families stay in Ocean City or near Wildwood's amusement piers instead.

Both cities are easy in a small central area and car-dependent beyond it, but Atlantic City's core is simpler. Everything follows the Boardwalk and Pacific Avenue, where jitney buses run day and night, and trains connect it to Philadelphia.

Nashville's walkable patch takes in Broadway, the Ryman, the riverfront and the Gulch. After that it's ride-hailing or a hire car to reach the Opry, the Hermitage, East Nashville or 12 South, with heavy interstate traffic at rush hour.

Western wear and music give Nashville's shopping a character that Atlantic City's never quite finds. On the shore it's practical: an outlet district of chain brands near the Boardwalk, casino arcades and stalls of T-shirts and beachwear. Where Nashville sends visitors home with boots or a guitar, Atlantic City's best souvenir is a box of Boardwalk saltwater taffy or fudge.

In Nashville, Lower Broadway sells cowboy boots, hats and rhinestone shirts, and the guitar shops are among the best anywhere for browsing. Hatch Show Print sells its bold letterpress concert posters, and 12 South and East Nashville add independent boutiques, local designers and record shops.

Atlantic City is easier on the wallet if you can choose your dates. Casino hotels discount heavily midweek and out of season, and the beach and Boardwalk are free. Summer weekends, resort fees and parking can still make it expensive.

Nashville stays expensive more consistently. Downtown hotels, restaurants and ride-hailing all add up, and large groups push weekend rates higher. Its saving grace is that the Broadway bands play without a cover charge.

This is where the two differ most after the beach. In Nashville, music is the reason to come: Opry shows several nights a week, touring artists at the Ryman and songwriters playing their own hits in small rooms. Add bluegrass, Americana venues in East Nashville, a symphony at the Schermerhorn, and ballet and opera at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

Atlantic City offers headliners in casino arenas and showrooms, big concerts and boxing at Boardwalk Hall, and free summer beach concerts. People go for a particular show rather than for the scene.

Neither city is a place to unwind, though Atlantic City is slightly ahead. Several casino hotels have large spas with saunas and indoor pools, and the empty winter Boardwalk by the sea can be calm.

Nashville offers hotel and day spas, and quieter stays in leafy Belmont or Hillsboro. But the downtown mood runs on noise and late nights.