Chattanooga or Gulf Shores?

This is where the two cities differ most. Chattanooga has only fresh water: small swimming areas on Chickamauga Lake and at Harrison Bay, plus cool creek holes on the plateau. They are good for a hot afternoon but not for a beach day.

Gulf Shores is built around its shore, an unbroken run of fine white sand from Fort Morgan to the Florida line, with quieter stretches backed by dunes in Gulf State Park. The sea is warm enough to swim from late spring into October, but rip currents mean keeping an eye on the flags.

Both cities eat in a casual Southern way, but Chattanooga has more depth. Chef-led restaurants and craft breweries on the Southside and Main Street, plus the brunch spots of the North Shore, keep a few days of meals varied, even if there is little international cooking.

Gulf Shores is narrower still and built almost entirely on Gulf seafood: Royal Reds, oysters, snapper and gumbo, eaten at open-air shacks and big restaurants on decks. Buying fresh shrimp from the seafood markets and cooking it in a condo kitchen is one of its real pleasures.

Chattanooga has a real story to tell. The 1863 battles are marked at Point Park and along Missionary Ridge, its railway past survives at the old Terminal Station, and the Hunter Museum sits on its bluff above the river. Together they fill two or three good days.

Gulf Shores has one substantial sight, Fort Morgan, which is worth a morning. Beyond that, visitors who want culture drive to Mobile or Pensacola.

Neither is a place for a big night, and the difference is in the setting. Chattanooga goes out in breweries and cocktail bars on the Southside, with Station Street the liveliest block, and it is mostly quiet before the small hours. Gulf Shores has sandy open-air beach bars and frozen drinks instead, with the state-line roadhouse at Perdido Key staying loud late and spring break bringing a younger crowd.

Chattanooga is by far the stronger base for the outdoors. Lookout, Signal and Raccoon mountains rise above town and its sandstone bluffs draw climbers. The Tennessee River Gorge, the Ocoee whitewater and Cloudland Canyon add paddling, rafting and waterfall hikes within about an hour.

Gulf Shores is flat and watery instead. It has paved trails through the maritime forest of Gulf State Park, migrating birds at the western end, dolphin cruises, deep-sea fishing and kayaking in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. It is pleasant rather than dramatic, and the summer heat pushes everything into the early morning.

Both offer a similar number of outings, but at different distances. From Chattanooga the big names, Nashville and Atlanta, are each about two hours away, and Huntsville's Space and Rocket Center and the Jack Daniel's distillery at Lynchburg are other choices, so most outings make long days.

From Gulf Shores the places are smaller but much closer. Historic Mobile with the USS Alabama, bayside Fairhope, Pensacola's naval aviation museum and the car ferry to Dauphin Island are all within about an hour.

Both work well with children, but Gulf Shores comes out ahead because the whole resort is built for families. It has condos with pools, soft sand, a water park, a small zoo and the Ferris wheel at Orange Beach. Rip currents and summer heat are what parents need to manage.

Chattanooga suits families who want more than a beach week. It has the Tennessee Aquarium, the Creative Discovery Museum, and the Incline Railway, Ruby Falls and Rock City on Lookout Mountain. That is a major aquarium Gulf Shores does not have, though the attractions are spread out and you need a car between them.

Chattanooga at least has a centre you can walk. The riverfront, the aquarium, Bluff View and the Southside are all linked on foot, the Walnut Street Bridge crosses to the North Shore, and a free shuttle runs through downtown. Beyond that you need a car.

Gulf Shores has no such centre. It stretches for miles along a single beach road, with the attractions spread along highways inland, and walking only works along your own stretch of beach. Bikes help in Gulf State Park, but traffic over the bridges is heavy on summer weekends.

Neither is a shopping destination, though Chattanooga has a little more character. It has the converted railway warehouses of Warehouse Row and the boutiques, galleries and outdoor-gear shops on Frazier Avenue. Gulf Shores is mostly beachwear and souvenir emporiums, with the large outlet mall in Foley as the standby on a rainy day.

Overall costs are much the same, but the money goes in different places. In Chattanooga the main costs are admission to the aquarium and the Lookout Mountain attractions, restaurant tax and tipping, and a hire car, offset by free trails and the free downtown shuttle.

Gulf Shores depends on the season. Condos in June and July are expensive, while the same rentals drop sharply in winter and the shoulder months, and a condo kitchen keeps meals cheap at any time of year.

Chattanooga has more on stage. There is the gilded 1920s Tivoli Theatre, the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, a long-running community theatre, and bars on the Southside where bands play bluegrass and Americana. Even so, it is enough for only an evening or two.

Gulf Shores has no theatre or classical music at all. Its music comes from bands on beach-bar stages, the songwriters' festival at the state-line roadhouse every November, and touring country and rock acts at the amphitheatre in Orange Beach in the warmer months.

Neither has a spa tradition, and both have only a few hotel and day spas. The rest comes from the setting. In Chattanooga that means an unhurried afternoon on the riverfront or a porch in Bluff View between active days. In Gulf Shores it means a slow week of sunsets from a condo balcony, for travellers who want to switch off completely.