Branson or Gatlinburg?

Neither town is near the sea, but Branson has a proper summer swimming season on Table Rock Lake. The water reaches about 27°C, and you can swim from sandy public swim areas or from rented pontoons in quiet coves. Lake Taneycomo in town is too cold for anything but trout fishing.

Gatlinburg has nothing comparable. Swimming there in summer means cold, fast river pools in the national park or tubing on the Little River near Townsend, and Douglas Lake is a forty-minute drive away. Most visitors settle for the hotel pool or the hot tub.

Both towns feed crowds rather than food lovers, with large Southern portions and plenty of chains, so neither is a reason to go. The flavour differs a little. Branson leans on buffets, catfish and set meals served with a dinner show, plus trout from the cold lake and cinnamon bread at the theme park.

Gatlinburg is a breakfast town of pancake houses, and its signature is moonshine poured in tasting rooms along the Parkway, with a few breweries and wineries alongside. Appalachian dishes like country ham, apple butter and stack cake turn up in a few scattered restaurants, and keen eaters drive to Knoxville or Asheville.

Neither town offers serious museums or historic architecture, and there is little between them. Branson's sights are novelty attractions on the strip, such as wax museums and the museum shaped like an ocean liner's bow. Its heritage shows in the frontier crafts demonstrated at the 1880s-themed park and in the eclectic Ralph Foster Museum at College of the Ozarks.

Gatlinburg's heritage lies mostly outside town. The working studios of the Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community keep the crafts alive. The log cabins, mills and churches of the old mountain families stand in the park at Cades Cove and along the Roaring Fork, so history is something you drive out to rather than walk past.

Both are early-to-bed towns. In Branson the show is the evening, and when the theatres empty there are only a few brewpubs by the lakefront and some hotel lounges.

Gatlinburg has a little more going on after dark. The lit Parkway is pleasant for a stroll, the moonshine tasting rooms stay busy into the evening, and there are a few rooftop and brewery terraces. Neither town has clubs, and both are quiet by late night.

Gatlinburg has the outdoors on its doorstep. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park starts where the Parkway ends. It has waterfall walks to Laurel Falls and Grotto Falls, the Alum Cave climb to Mount LeConte, the high road to Clingmans Dome, and bears, deer and elk to spot. Rafting on the Pigeon River and spring wildflowers add to it, though traffic at weekends and in October is the price.

Branson's Ozark country is gentler and centred on water: kayaking and bass fishing on Table Rock Lake, trout on Lake Taneycomo, walks in the Hercules Glades Wilderness and show caves. The best hiking in the region, on the Buffalo National River, is two hours' drive away.

Gatlinburg has the better list. Asheville and the Biltmore Estate are about an hour and a half away, and the drive over Newfound Gap to Cherokee and its museum of the Eastern Band makes a memorable day in itself. Knoxville and the heritage railway at Bryson City round out the list.

From Branson, the best outings are the steep Victorian streets of Eureka Springs and the Crystal Bridges art museum at Bentonville, along with the Civil War battlefield at Wilson's Creek. That is enough for a day or two, but everything needs a car and nothing has the pull of the Biltmore.

Both towns are built for families, and either will keep children busy for a week. The difference is in what fills the days. Branson pairs its Ozarks theme park and water parks with wholesome theatre, dinner shows with horses and stunts, and summer days on the lake in a rented boat.

Gatlinburg swaps the shows for nature: easy waterfall walks, bears seen from the car, creek wading and junior ranger badges, alongside the aquarium and alpine coasters on the Parkway and Dollywood nearby. Both towns suffer from summer traffic, and Gatlinburg's steep cabin roads can be awkward in winter.

Gatlinburg is the easier of the two without a car, at least in town. The downtown strip is compact enough to walk, and a trolley loops through it and on to Pigeon Forge, so if you stay in a downtown hotel you can leave the car parked for a day or two.

Branson spreads its theatres and hotels over several hilly kilometres of Highway 76, with patchy pavements and no useful public transport, so a hire car is essential. In both towns, cabins, trailheads and day trips mean driving, and traffic crawls at peak times.

Shopping is a sideshow in both towns. Expect fudge, souvenirs and brand outlets, and no luxury or fashion worth the trip. In Branson the mainstream shops are close at hand. Branson Landing's open-air stores sit on the Lake Taneycomo waterfront and the outlet malls line the strip, so you can fit an afternoon of shopping in between shows. Its best buys are glass, pottery, quilts and ironwork, and you often get to watch the glassblower or smith at work before you buy, either at the theme park or in one of the craft villages.

Gatlinburg's Parkway is mostly T-shirts, candy kitchens and novelty knives, and for brand names you have to drive down to the big outlets in Pigeon Forge and Sevierville. Crafts are the better reason to shop here. The Arts and Crafts Community spreads its working studios along a long loop road, so you drive from one door to the next, buying quilts, brooms, baskets and leather from the people who made them.

The two cost much the same, and in both the room is the cheap part and the paid entertainment is the expensive part. In Branson the money goes on show tickets, theme and water parks and boat hire, though packages that bundle shows with a hotel can soften the total.

Gatlinburg's advantage is that its main draw, the national park, costs little, and a shared cabin can be good value midweek and in winter. The Parkway attractions and Dollywood weigh on a family budget, though, and rates climb in October and over the festive season at the end of the year.

Live performance is Branson's reason for being, and Gatlinburg cannot compete. Dozens of theatres put on country and bluegrass acts, gospel quartets, tribute shows, magic and large biblical productions from morning to evening, and Christmas is as busy as summer.

Gatlinburg's music is more informal: bluegrass in the moonshine tasting rooms and on the street, mountain music at Dollywood, and a smaller cluster of dinner theatres in Pigeon Forge. Neither town has opera or serious theatre.

Neither town has a bathing tradition, and neither town centre is restful, so how calm your stay is depends on where you sleep. In Branson the answer is the lake: lodge resorts on Table Rock with full spas and quiet grounds, or a cabin on a wooded cove.

In Gatlinburg it is the mountain cabin, with a hot tub on the deck and mist settling on the ridges, though the spas are limited to a handful of resort and day spas.