Bethany Beach or Pigeon Forge?

The two could hardly be further apart here. Bethany Beach exists for its beach: pale sand along the whole front, lifeguards in summer, moderate Atlantic surf, and the Inland Bays behind the island where small children can paddle in calmer water. Within half an hour you also have the undeveloped dunes at Indian River Inlet and the quiet sands of Fenwick Island.

Pigeon Forge is in the Tennessee foothills, a long way from any coast. Swimming there means the water park beside Dollywood, a hotel pool, the shore of Douglas Lake or the boulder pools of the mountain streams.

Neither is worth the trip for the food, but Bethany Beach has the edge because its seaside staples belong to the place: blue crabs steamed and cracked at picnic tables, crab cakes and fried clams, with farm stands selling sweet corn and peaches in high summer. Rehoboth Beach, a short drive north, has a much larger restaurant scene and its own craft brewing.

Pigeon Forge serves big, plain portions along the Parkway, with pancake houses, Southern buffets and barbecue among the national chains. Moonshine tastings and the fudge and cornmeal treats sold by the Old Mill are its local touch, and for a serious meal people drive to Knoxville or Asheville.

Neither town is a sightseeing destination, though Pigeon Forge has a little more to fill an afternoon. Its real piece of history is the Old Mill of 1830, still grinding flour on the Little Pigeon River, and Dollywood's craft workshops show something of mountain life. The rest is built for entertainment, such as the half-scale Titanic, while the log cabins and churches of the national park are close by.

Bethany Beach has its carved totem pole, a small collection on the church camp the town grew from, and Second World War watchtowers standing along the shore. For museums and historic streets you have to drive elsewhere.

Both are early-to-bed resorts, so the difference is in kind. Bethany Beach is deliberately quiet, with a stroll on the boardwalk and a drink over dinner, and anyone after crowded late bars drives up to Dewey Beach or down to Ocean City. Pigeon Forge stays lit and busy until about ten with go-karts and attraction complexes, drinking means sports bars, brewpubs or moonshine tasting rooms, and adults wanting a later night head to Gatlinburg.

Pigeon Forge is much the stronger choice for the outdoors. The Great Smoky Mountains rise to more than 2,000m half an hour away, with waterfall walks, the Appalachian Trail along the crest, and black bears and wild turkey in the open valley of Cades Cove. Spring wildflowers and October colour give it two good walking seasons.

Bethany Beach is flat barrier-island country of dunes, salt marsh and shallow bays, better for kayaking, crabbing and watching ospreys than for any real effort. Its highlight is Assateague Island, under an hour south, where wild ponies graze among the dunes.

For outings the two are evenly matched, but the trips go in different directions. From Bethany Beach the drives follow the coast to small towns: historic Lewes and its port, the Victorian main street of Berlin, and the ferry across Delaware Bay to Cape May.

Pigeon Forge looks inland and over the mountains. Knoxville has a proper walkable downtown, and Cherokee, across Newfound Gap, tells the story of the Eastern Band of Cherokee. The longest trip is to Asheville and the Biltmore Estate, which takes a full day.

Pigeon Forge does families on a bigger scale. Dollywood and its water park are the main draw, with go-karts, mountain coasters and mini-golf along the Parkway, the aquarium in Gatlinburg and easy waterfall walks in the park, and large cabins sleep several families together. The price is time in the car and slow traffic between stops.

Bethany Beach is the gentler choice: a guarded beach, bike rides, crabbing off a dock and free family evenings at the bandstand, all in a small, quiet town. It has no zoo, aquarium or theme park, so for more excitement you drive to the boardwalk rides in Rehoboth or Ocean City.

You arrive by car in both, but Bethany Beach is much easier once you are there. The town is small and flat, so the beach, the shops and your rental are a short walk or bike ride apart, and a summer bus runs along the coast road.

Pigeon Forge is a long multi-lane strip where you can walk only inside individual attraction complexes. The Parkway trolley is slow and does not reach the hillside cabins, and the park trailheads can only be reached by car.

Both rely on outlet malls, so the difference lies in what surrounds them. Bethany Beach itself has only a short row of surf shops, gift stores and bookshops, but the big outlet spread outside Rehoboth Beach comes with Delaware's tax-free shopping, and there are antiques shops inland and galleries in Lewes. Pigeon Forge has outlets along the Parkway and towards Sevierville, though its more distinctive buys are mountain crafts: pottery and quilts by the Old Mill, and brooms, baskets and woodwork from the studios above Gatlinburg.

Pigeon Forge is the cheaper base. With thousands of motel rooms and cabins, lodging stays reasonable, a big cabin shared between families works out cheaply per person, and breakfast houses and buffets cost little. The money goes on Dollywood, dinner shows and paid attractions.

Bethany Beach is expensive in July and August, when most people rent oceanfront houses by the week and eating out is priced like a resort. It is much easier on the wallet in June and September, and free beach access, self-catering and the lack of sales tax all help.

Pigeon Forge is the clear choice for an evening show. Dozens of Parkway theatres put on country and gospel revues, comedy, magic and dinner shows with horses or pirate ships every night, and Dollywood adds bluegrass and gospel on its stages. It is broad family entertainment, and for anything more serious you go to Knoxville.

Bethany Beach has free summer concerts at the boardwalk bandstand, where cover bands and brass groups play to families on blankets. Beyond that there is only Rehoboth's community theatre and its autumn jazz festival.

In Bethany Beach the quiet belongs to the whole town, while in Pigeon Forge you find it behind your own cabin door. Bethany's leafy residential streets and calm evening boardwalk make for a slow pace of reading, sleeping and long walks, and in spring and autumn the place goes almost silent.

Pigeon Forge's calm is private: a hillside cabin with a porch, a fireplace and a hot tub over the ridges, well away from the neon and traffic of the Parkway below. For treatments, neither town has more than a few day spas, and neither has any bathing tradition.