Branson or Pigeon Forge?

Branson has a genuine summer swimming season on Table Rock Lake, where the clear water reaches about 27°C from June to early September. You swim at a handful of public beaches and swim areas, many of them on imported sand, or from a pontoon rented for the day and moored in a wooded cove. Lake Taneycomo in town is too cold for swimming and is left to the trout fishermen.

Pigeon Forge is further from good swimming. Douglas Lake, a reservoir to the north-east, has summer swimming along its shores, but it takes a drive to get there, and the boulder pools in the national park streams are for wading rather than swimming. Most families end up at the water park beside Dollywood or in the hotel pool.

Food is much the same in both towns: big plates of fried chicken, biscuits and barbecue, buffets, and dinner shows that serve a set meal. Each has one local touch. In Branson it is fresh trout from cold Lake Taneycomo and skillet cooking at the theme park. In Pigeon Forge it is moonshine tastings along the Parkway and cornmeal treats from the Old Mill, and Knoxville or Asheville are close enough for a more ambitious dinner.

Neither town is a place for history. Both strips are full of novelty museums, and each even has an ocean-liner-themed attraction. Branson's best heritage is the frontier crafts at its 1880s-style theme park and the eclectic Ralph Foster Museum. Pigeon Forge has one genuinely old building in the 1830 Old Mill, which still grinds flour, and the log cabins and churches of the national park are not far away.

Both towns go quiet once the evening entertainment ends, and neither has clubs. In Branson the night ends when the theatre shows let out, and the few brewpubs around the lakefront shopping district are the only options after that. In Pigeon Forge the go-kart tracks and lit-up attraction complexes stay busy until about ten, there are moonshine tasting rooms, and adults who want a few drinks can drive to Gatlinburg's bars.

Branson's Ozark setting is attractive in a gentle way: limestone bluffs, caves, wooded hollows around Table Rock Lake and good walking in Hercules Glades. For bigger scenery you drive about two hours to the Buffalo National River.

Pigeon Forge is the stronger choice. The Great Smoky Mountains rise to more than 2,000m half an hour away, with hikes from short waterfall walks to the full climb of Mount LeConte, black bears in Cades Cove and a scenic road over Newfound Gap. Here the mountains are the main reason to come, not an extra.

Both towns have a decent short list of day trips, but of different kinds. From Branson you can visit Victorian Eureka Springs on its steep streets, or Crystal Bridges in Bentonville for serious American art. From Pigeon Forge, Knoxville's Market Square is close, the Cherokee museum and village lie over the mountains, and Asheville's Biltmore Estate makes a long, full day out. You need a car from either town.

Both towns are built for families, each around a large hill-country theme park with roller coasters, craft demonstrations and seasonal festivals, plus water parks, go-karts and mini golf. Both also have the same downsides: summer heat, crawling traffic and the need to drive everywhere.

The difference is what you add to the theme park. In Branson it is the lake, with boat days, a paddlewheel showboat and caves, plus an aquarium in town. In Pigeon Forge it is the national park, with easy waterfall walks and bear spotting, and big group cabins where several families can share one stay.

You will need a hire car in either town. Branson's theatres and hotels are spread over hilly roads, and locals use colour-coded back roads to skip the traffic on the strip. Pigeon Forge has a slight advantage in its trolley along the Parkway and on to Gatlinburg, which helps on crowded days, though it is slow and does not reach the cabins or trailheads. Branson's lakefront district and old downtown are at least walkable, which Pigeon Forge's strip is not.

Shopping is similar in both: outlet malls, fudge and souvenir shops, and no fashion or luxury stores. The crafts are what is worth buying. In Branson that means hand-blown glass and ironwork made in front of you, plus the lakeside Branson Landing for mainstream stores. Around Pigeon Forge it means stone-ground cornmeal from the Old Mill and the studio workshops above Gatlinburg making brooms, baskets and leather.

The two cost about the same. In both, rooms are cheap outside peak weeks, buffets keep meals modest, and the money goes on attraction tickets, a hire car and tips. In Branson, bundled show-and-hotel packages can bring the total down. In Pigeon Forge, families who share a big cabin save on lodging, and hiking in the national park costs very little.

Branson is the bigger stage town by a wide margin. Its theatres run shows from morning to night for most of the year, with country, bluegrass and gospel, tribute acts, magicians and large biblical productions with live animals, and the Christmas season is as busy as summer.

Pigeon Forge does a smaller version of the same thing: evening dinner shows with horses or pirate ships, comedy and gospel revues, and Dollywood's bluegrass stages during the day. Neither has opera or serious theatre, but Knoxville's downtown theatres are close enough for an evening out from Pigeon Forge.

In both towns you find calm by staying away from the strip. Branson's quiet places are the large lodge resorts on Table Rock Lake, with full spas, and the condos on wooded coves. Pigeon Forge's are its hillside cabins, with porches, fireplaces and private hot tubs looking over the ridges. That makes Branson better for proper spa treatments and Pigeon Forge better for a secluded couple's retreat.