Charleston or Pigeon Forge?

Charleston has real beaches: three barrier islands within about half an hour of the centre. They range from surfy Folly Beach with its pier to the dunes and old forts of Sullivan's Island and the wider, resort-style sand of Isle of Palms. The water is tidal and greenish rather than clear, but it is warm enough to swim from late spring into October.

Pigeon Forge lies far inland in the Tennessee foothills. Swimming there means the water park beside Dollywood, a hotel pool, the shores of Douglas Lake or the boulder pools in mountain streams. These are pleasant in summer but no substitute for a coastline.

Food is one of the widest gaps between the two. Charleston has a cooking tradition of its own. Lowcountry dishes such as shrimp and grits, she-crab soup and Frogmore stew carry Gullah Geechee roots, and you can eat them in restored townhouse dining rooms, at whole-hog barbecue joints or at seafood shacks on Shem Creek.

Pigeon Forge feeds people generously rather than memorably, with pancake houses, Southern buffets and steakhouses along the Parkway. Moonshine tastings and fudge at the Old Mill are the local touch. Keen eaters there drive to Knoxville or Asheville, while in Charleston the only problem is getting a table.

In Charleston the historic peninsula itself is the sight. Rainbow Row, the Battery and house museums such as the Nathaniel Russell and Aiken-Rhett houses show the old city, and Fort Sumter and the International African American Museum take a frank look at its past. Together they fill two or three days well.

Pigeon Forge offers entertainment rather than heritage: a Titanic replica, illusion museums and car collections. The 1830 Old Mill and Dollywood's craft demonstrations are the genuine pieces. For real mountain history, you head to the log cabins and churches inside the national park.

Neither is a place for clubbing, but Charleston does offer a proper night out. Upper King Street has rooftop, cocktail and oyster bars, the French Quarter has older taverns, and Folly Beach has a few beach bars. In Pigeon Forge, evenings revolve around dinner shows and lit-up go-kart tracks that wind down around ten, and adults who want a drink mostly head to Gatlinburg or back to the cabin hot tub.

Charleston's outdoors is flat and watery: tidal creeks, spartina marsh and live oaks hung with moss. It is best seen from a kayak, often with dolphins nearby, or on the quiet trails of the Francis Marion National Forest and the ACE Basin. But there are no hills, and summer brings mosquitoes.

For anyone who wants mountains, Pigeon Forge is far stronger. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park begins about half an hour away, with forested ridges above 2,000m, the climb to Mount LeConte, the short walk to Laurel Falls and black bears in Cades Cove. Spring wildflowers and October colour add to the draw.

Charleston has the stronger list of outings. The Ashley River plantations of Middleton Place, Magnolia and Drayton Hall are half an hour away. Savannah's squares and the Gullah culture around Beaufort each make a rewarding full day by car.

From Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Knoxville are easy trips, Cherokee lies over Newfound Gap, and Asheville with the Biltmore Estate is the best long day out. Beyond those, the choice thins to small places such as Dandridge and Townsend.

Charleston is easy with children in a calm way. It has the South Carolina Aquarium, the Children's Museum, the aircraft carrier at Patriots Point and gentle beaches. Small children tire of house tours, though, and there is no theme park.

Pigeon Forge exists for families. Dollywood, its summer water park, mountain coasters, zip lines and mini-golf can fill a week, and large cabins and indoor water-park hotels make group stays simple. The cost is time spent in Parkway traffic between stops.

Charleston at least has a centre you can walk. The historic peninsula is flat and compact, with pedicabs and a free shuttle, although the beaches and plantations need a car or ride-hailing. Pigeon Forge has no walkable core at all: it is a long multi-lane strip where a slow trolley helps on busy days, and the cabins and park trailheads can be reached only by car.

Charleston makes for the more enjoyable browsing. King Street runs from antiques dealers at its lower end to independent boutiques further up, there are galleries in the French Quarter, and Gullah artisans weave sweetgrass baskets at City Market. Shopping in Pigeon Forge is more practical: outlet malls with mid-market American brands towards Sevierville, plus quilts, pottery and stone-ground cornmeal around the Old Mill and craft studios in the hills above Gatlinburg.

Charleston charges big-city rates for its peninsula inns and well-known restaurants, more so on spring and autumn weekends. Walking the old streets, the Battery and the beaches costs nothing, and Mount Pleasant is cheaper to sleep in if you don't mind driving in every day.

Pigeon Forge is noticeably easier on the wallet. Motels and rental cabins are plentiful, a big cabin shared between families keeps the cost per person low, and the buffets and breakfast houses are inexpensive. Most of the money goes on Dollywood, dinner shows and other paid attractions.

The two are broadly level, but the evenings they offer are very different. Charleston's arts peak each late spring with Spoleto Festival USA, which brings opera, chamber music, dance and jazz. The rest of the year has plays at the Dock Street Theatre, the Charleston Symphony at the Gaillard Center and Gullah storytelling.

Pigeon Forge puts on shows every night: country and gospel revues, comedy, magic and dinner spectacles with horses, plus bluegrass and gospel on Dollywood's stages. It is broad family entertainment, with no classical music or serious theatre.

Neither has a bathing culture, and both rely on hotel and resort spas. Charleston is the more restful of the two because of its slow pace, with shaded walled gardens, quiet church courtyards, evenings at White Point Garden and resort spas out on Kiawah. In Pigeon Forge the calm is up in a hillside cabin with a porch and a private hot tub, while the Parkway below is all neon and traffic, so how restful your stay is depends on where you book.