Chattanooga or Philadelphia?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Philadelphia at least has real sea within reach. Atlantic City, Ocean City and Wildwood are a little over an hour's drive away, with wide sand and proper Atlantic swimming in high summer, though that means a side trip rather than part of the stay.

Chattanooga is too far from any coast for that. Its swimming is in fresh water, at the small roped-off areas on Chickamauga Lake and at Harrison Bay, or in the creek pools up on the plateau. These are good for cooling off on a hot afternoon, not for spending a day on the sand.

Philadelphia eats with more depth and more character. Cheesesteaks, roast pork with broccoli rabe and hoagies are everyday food. Reading Terminal Market and the Italian Market give it the market culture Chattanooga lacks, and East Passyunk and Fishtown add Mexican and Vietnamese cooking plus bring-your-own-wine dining rooms.

Chattanooga does Southern comfort food well: meat-and-three plates, biscuits, barbecue and catfish, with chef-led places and breweries on the Southside. After a few days the range starts to feel narrow, with little international cooking.

Chattanooga's history is concentrated in the Civil War battlefields on Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, the old Terminal Station and the Bessie Smith Cultural Center. The Hunter Museum of American Art and the Walnut Street Bridge round it out, which makes two or three good days.

Philadelphia works on a different level. Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell are where the nation began, and Society Hill's Georgian streets surround them. On top of that come world-class collections at the Barnes Foundation and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, plus oddities like the Mütter Museum and Eastern State Penitentiary, easily enough for most of a week.

Philadelphia offers far more choice after dark, even though it is a pub city rather than a club city. Fishtown's warehouse bars, the cocktail crowd around Rittenhouse Square, East Passyunk's corner taverns and the Gayborhood mean you can change scene each night, and the student crowd keeps weekends busy.

Chattanooga's going out comes down to breweries and patios on the Southside, Main Street and the short Station Street strip. It suits a relaxed beer and an early night.

This is Chattanooga's real strength. The Tennessee River cuts a wooded gorge through the Cumberland Plateau right beside town, and the sandstone bluffs make it one of the best climbing bases in the eastern United States. The Ocoee whitewater, Cloudland Canyon and Fall Creek Falls are all within a short drive.

Philadelphia's outdoors is gentler and largely urban. The Wissahickon gorge in Fairmount Park and the Schuylkill River Trail out past Boathouse Row are lovely for a run or a ride. The Pine Barrens and Poconos are farther out and have none of the drama of the Tennessee ridges.

Philadelphia sits on the Northeast rail corridor, which puts New York, Baltimore and Washington within easy train reach for full days out. Amish Lancaster County, Princeton, Valley Forge, Longwood Gardens and Gettysburg add plenty of variety on top.

From Chattanooga every outing is a drive. Nashville and Atlanta take about two hours each way, while Huntsville's Space and Rocket Center, Lynchburg and Sewanee make good single outings. The choice runs out sooner.

Both cities are easy with children, but in different ways. Chattanooga is built around attractions: the Tennessee Aquarium's river and ocean buildings, then the Incline Railway, Ruby Falls and Rock City on Lookout Mountain, all aimed squarely at children but spread out enough that you will drive between them.

Philadelphia leans on museums you can walk to, such as the Franklin Institute's giant heart, the Please Touch Museum for under-eights and the dinosaur hall at the Academy of Natural Sciences. The country's oldest zoo and costumed guides in Old City make history easy for older children to grasp.

In Philadelphia most visitors never need a car. William Penn's flat grid links Old City, Society Hill, Rittenhouse Square and the Parkway museums on foot, and SEPTA's subway, trolleys and airport train cover the rest, if a little roughly.

Chattanooga's downtown is walkable too, with a free electric shuttle and the Walnut Street Bridge over to the North Shore. Once you head beyond that, buses are sparse, and the mountain attractions and trailheads all mean hiring a car.

Philadelphia gives shoppers much more to do. There are brands and boutiques along Walnut Street, independents in Old City and Fishtown, and the historic Jewelers' Row. Food gifts come from Reading Terminal Market, King of Prussia mall is half an hour out, and there is no sales tax on clothing.

Chattanooga is modest by comparison: the converted Warehouse Row, the small boutiques on Frazier Avenue and the Hamilton Place mall. Its one real specialty is outdoor gear.

The two cost about the same, with American hotel rates, tax and tip on restaurant bills, and full-price admissions. The difference is in where you can save. In Philadelphia the founding sights are free, a hoagie makes a cheap lunch and bringing your own wine keeps dinners down, and you can skip the car.

In Chattanooga the trails, parks and downtown shuttle cost nothing. Against that, the aquarium and Lookout Mountain attractions charge family-attraction prices, and a hire car is almost unavoidable.

Philadelphia is a serious music city. The Philadelphia Orchestra plays on the Avenue of the Arts, and opera and ballet are staged in the 1857 Academy of Music. Curtis Institute students give recitals, and the Walnut Street Theatre is the oldest working theatre in the country, with jazz clubs and Fishtown indie venues adding to the mix.

Chattanooga's programme is smaller. Touring shows and the local symphony and opera play the gilded Tivoli Theatre, and bluegrass and Americana bands play in Southside bars, which is good for an evening or two.

Neither city is a place to come for spas, and both have little beyond hotel and day spas. The difference is in the pace. Chattanooga is small and unhurried, with slow afternoons on the riverfront or a porch in Bluff View. Philadelphia is quicker and gruffer, so calm means a bench in one of Penn's squares, a walk in the Wissahickon or a drive to a Korean-style bathhouse in the suburbs.