Chattanooga or Fort Myers?

This is where the two differ most. Chattanooga only has freshwater swimming: small swimming areas on Chickamauga Lake and at Harrison Bay, and cool creek pools on the plateau. They are good for an hour on a hot afternoon.

Fort Myers has proper beaches, though they are a drive away on the barrier islands. There is the long pale sand of Fort Myers Beach, the quieter Lovers Key and the shelling beaches of Sanibel and Captiva, and the calm, shallow Gulf water suits children and nervous swimmers.

Both serve simple regional food, and neither is a trip for serious eaters. The difference is what is on the plate. Chattanooga does Southern comfort cooking: meat-and-three plates, barbecue, biscuits and catfish, with its best restaurants and breweries on the Southside and Main Street.

Fort Myers is about Gulf seafood eaten on a deck, such as grouper sandwiches, shrimp and stone crab, and the sunset matters as much as the meal. Away from the River District and Sanibel, most of what you find is chain dining along the highways.

Chattanooga has more to see and more history behind it. The 1863 battlefields on Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, the Hunter Museum on its bluff, the Bessie Smith Cultural Center and the walk across the Walnut Street Bridge fill two or three days.

Fort Myers really has one main sight. The Edison and Ford Winter Estates make a fine half day among riverside gardens, and the palm-lined McGregor Boulevard and a few old brick streets downtown fill out a single day.

Neither is a place for a late night, and both wind down early. Chattanooga's evenings mean craft beer and cocktails on the Southside, with Station Street the busiest block and students and young locals out at weekends. Fort Myers is split between the pubs and rooftop bars of the River District and the beach bars by the pier, where watching the sunset is the main event, and for much of the winter the crowd is older.

Chattanooga has mountains and sandstone bluffs, and Fort Myers has flat wetlands. The mountains give far more to do. Lookout, Signal and Raccoon Mountains rise straight above town, making it a serious base for climbing, hang gliding, mountain biking and hiking, and Ocoee whitewater and the waterfalls of Cloudland Canyon and Fall Creek Falls are within reach.

Fort Myers offers wildlife rather than terrain. Spoonbills and herons at Ding Darling on Sanibel, the cypress boardwalk at Corkscrew Swamp, kayaking through mangrove tunnels and manatees in winter suit birdwatchers and paddlers better than climbers.

Both need a car and have about the same amount to offer, but the outings are different. From Chattanooga the main pull is the big cities two hours away, Nashville and Atlanta, along with the rocket centre at Huntsville and the small towns of Lynchburg and Sewanee. From Fort Myers the trips are shorter and coastal: polished Naples and the island villages of Sanibel, Captiva and Boca Grande, with the Ringling museum in Sarasota and Everglades City at the edge of the Everglades further out.

Chattanooga is built for a sightseeing trip with children, and Fort Myers for a week on the sand. Chattanooga has more ready-made attractions: the Tennessee Aquarium, the Creative Discovery Museum, the Incline Railway, Ruby Falls and Rock City make a full programme, and Coolidge Park's carousel and splash fountains fill the free time.

In Fort Myers the beach is the attraction, with shallow, calm water, shell hunting and dolphin spotting, but there is no aquarium, zoo or theme park nearby. It is the better choice if the vacation is built around the sand, and the weaker one for a busy sightseeing trip.

Neither is easy without a car, but at least Chattanooga's centre works on foot. The riverfront, the aquarium, Bluff View and the Southside are all within walking distance, a free shuttle runs through downtown, and the Walnut Street Bridge takes you across to the North Shore.

Fort Myers is spread across a low-density county, and the beaches, Sanibel and the nature reserves are all a drive away. In the winter season, traffic over the bridges to the islands backs up badly.

Fort Myers has an outlet mall and Sanibel's shell shops, while Chattanooga has small boutiques and outdoor gear. The Florida side gives a shopper a little more. Bargain hunters head for the outlets and the large open-air centres towards Estero, and Periwinkle Way on Sanibel is good for browsing galleries.

Chattanooga's best shopping is in the converted railway warehouses of Warehouse Row and along Frazier Avenue, and outdoor equipment is the only thing it really does well. In neither place is shopping a reason to go.

Neither is a budget destination, and both come with the usual American extras of tips, sales tax and a hire car. Chattanooga costs about the same all year, with its paid family attractions the main expense and the trails and riverfront free. Fort Myers costs vary with the season. Beachfront rooms on Sanibel are expensive in winter, while staying inland or coming in summer brings the bill down sharply.

The two are evenly matched and both modest. Chattanooga has the gilded Tivoli Theatre, a symphony and opera company and bar bands leaning towards bluegrass and Americana, all year round. Fort Myers has touring Broadway shows at the Barbara B. Mann hall and a repertory company in a 1908 theatre, but its programme runs through the winter and largely stops in summer.

Sanibel and Captiva are made for slowing down. Low buildings, bike paths, early nights, a pool and a massage at the resort make Fort Myers the easier place to switch off for a week, though its spas are inside hotels and there is no bathing tradition.

Chattanooga is quiet and unhurried enough for an afternoon on the riverfront or a porch in Bluff View. Still, most people come here to climb, hike and paddle, not to rest.