Charleston or Gatlinburg?

Charleston is a real beach destination. Folly Beach, Sullivan's Island and Isle of Palms are all within about half an hour of the old town, and in summer the warm Atlantic makes swimming easy, even if the water is tidal and greenish rather than clear.

Gatlinburg is hundreds of kilometres inland. Cooling off there means wading or tubing in cold mountain rivers near Townsend, or swimming in Douglas Lake. If sand and sea matter to you, only Charleston offers them.

Food is one of the main reasons to choose Charleston. It has a regional cuisine of its own, with shrimp and grits, she-crab soup and Carolina Gold rice, rooted in Gullah Geechee cooking. Chefs serve it in restored townhouses, and there's whole-hog barbecue and seafood shacks on Shem Creek too. Its weak points are cheap international food and how hard it can be to book a table.

Gatlinburg feeds a resort crowd, with pancake houses, family barbecue and fudge shops along the Parkway, and moonshine tastings for something local. Good Appalachian food such as trout and stack cake is rare, and keen eaters tend to drive to Knoxville or Asheville.

Charleston's whole historic peninsula is a sight in itself: Rainbow Row, the Battery, walled gardens and single houses south of Broad Street. The Aiken-Rhett and Nathaniel Russell houses, the Old Slave Mart and Fort Sumter in the harbour tell a hard and important history, and two or three days covers it well.

Gatlinburg's town has observation towers and amusements rather than heritage. Its real history, the log cabins and mills of the mountain families, survives out in the park at Cades Cove and Elkmont. The Arts and Crafts Community loop is the one cultural outing close to town.

Neither town is worth choosing for nightlife, but Charleston gives you more of an evening out. Upper King Street fills with rooftop bars, cocktail rooms and oyster bars at weekends, and the French Quarter has quieter wine bars.

Gatlinburg's evenings mean a walk along the lit Parkway, a moonshine tasting and perhaps a brewery terrace, and the strip is empty by late night. For many visitors, the night ends in the cabin hot tub.

Gatlinburg is the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains. Within minutes of town you are in deep hardwood forest, on trails that range from the Laurel Falls walk to the Alum Cave climb up Mount LeConte. Black bears, elk and October foliage add to it. The main drawback is weekend traffic on the busiest roads.

Charleston's Lowcountry is quieter and best seen by water. You can kayak through spartina marsh among dolphins, or walk in the Francis Marion forest and the ACE Basin among alligators and wading birds. It has no hills, and its summer mosquitoes are worse than anything in the mountains.

Charleston has the richer choice of outings. Middleton Place, Magnolia and Drayton Hall along the Ashley River, and Boone Hall in Mount Pleasant, are about half an hour away and pair formal gardens with the history of slavery. McLeod Plantation on James Island tells that history alone. Savannah's squares and Beaufort's Gullah sea islands each fill a longer day.

Gatlinburg's best outing is Asheville, about an hour and a half away, with the Biltmore Estate, and that one trip is as good as anything near Charleston. The Newfound Gap road also crosses the mountains to Cherokee's museum and Oconaluftee village. After those and Knoxville there isn't much left. In both towns you need a car for day trips.

Gatlinburg is designed for family trips. Along the Parkway there's an aquarium, mirror mazes, mini golf and gondolas up to treetop bridges. Dollywood's rides and water park are a short drive away, and the park adds easy waterfall walks and junior ranger badges. Expect long queues and slow traffic in high season.

Charleston is calmer and works best for school-age children. The South Carolina Aquarium, the aircraft carrier at Patriots Point and the boat to Fort Sumter are good outings, and the beaches have gentle surf. House tours will bore small children, though, and there's no theme park.

Both towns are walkable in the centre and depend on cars beyond it, but Charleston needs the car less. Its flat historic peninsula covers most sights within about 3km of walking, with pedicabs and a free shuttle in between. You only need to drive for the beaches and plantations.

Gatlinburg's Parkway is easy on foot, and a trolley runs out to Pigeon Forge. However, most cabins sit up steep, winding roads, and every trailhead needs a car. In October the park roads can stall for long stretches.

Charleston has the better shopping street. King Street goes from antiques and galleries on lower King to fashion brands and independent design boutiques further up. City Market is where Gullah weavers sell sweetgrass baskets.

Gatlinburg's Parkway is mostly fudge, T-shirts and novelty knives. The rewarding finds are handmade quilts, pottery and brooms bought directly from studios in the Arts and Crafts Community, and the outlet malls in Pigeon Forge are nearby for brands.

Charleston is expensive. Hotels on the peninsula cost as much as in much larger cities, and well-known restaurants and house tours add up. Walking the old streets and lying on the beach are free, but staying in Mount Pleasant to save money means driving in every day.

Gatlinburg is easier on the budget. Older motels and big shared cabins are good value, particularly midweek and in winter, and the national park itself costs little. The money goes on paid attractions and Dollywood tickets, and prices climb steeply in leaf season and at Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year.

Charleston has more on stage, especially in late spring, when Spoleto Festival USA brings opera, dance, chamber music and jazz for more than two weeks. The rest of the year, the Dock Street Theatre, the symphony at the Gaillard Center and Gullah storytelling performances keep a steady programme.

Gatlinburg offers family entertainment instead: dinner shows and gospel revues in Pigeon Forge, and bluegrass in the moonshine tasting rooms. Mountain music is its real strength, but there's no orchestra or serious theatre.

Neither town has a bathing tradition, and both have only resort and day spas, so the difference lies in how each one helps you slow down. In Charleston, rest means shaded gardens, quiet church courtyards and evenings at White Point Garden, with resort spas out on Kiawah.

In Gatlinburg, it means a secluded cabin with a hot tub on the deck and mist over the ridges. Stay well above the town, though, because the Parkway is crowded and noisy.