Chattanooga or Sarasota?

This is where the two cities differ most. Chattanooga is far from any coast, so swimming means the small roped-off areas at Chickamauga Lake and Harrison Bay, or a cold creek pool on the plateau on a hot afternoon. These are good for a dip, not for days on the beach.

Sarasota is built around its beaches. Siesta Key's white quartz sand slopes into shallow, calm water. Lido Key is close to downtown, Longboat Key and Anna Maria Island are quieter, and at Venice you can hunt for fossil shark teeth. The one catch is red tide, which can occasionally close a beach.

The two eat about equally well, but the food is different. Chattanooga serves inland Southern cooking: meat-and-three plates, biscuits, smoked brisket and catfish, with breweries on the Southside to go with it. Sarasota looks to the Gulf, with grouper sandwiches, stone crab claws and fish shacks on the keys, and it has a surprise in Pinecraft's Amish family restaurants and pie. Neither has much street food or international range.

Chattanooga's heritage is spread out on the ground. There are the Civil War battlefields at Point Park and Missionary Ridge, the old Terminal Station and the Bessie Smith Cultural Center, with the Hunter Museum above the river adding American art.

Sarasota has a slight edge because of one great site. The Ringling is worth a full day for its Rubens canvases, the Venetian Gothic Ca' d'Zan and the circus museum. Mid-century modernist houses give architecture lovers a further reason to look around.

Both are early, quiet places at night, but the evenings feel different. In Chattanooga that means craft beer, cocktail bars and the short bar strip on Station Street, with a younger, student crowd at weekends. In Sarasota it means wine bars on Main Street and sunset drinks at the open-air bars of Siesta Key Village, with an older crowd. For a big night, Sarasota residents drive to Tampa or St Petersburg.

Chattanooga is the much stronger choice for the outdoors. The Tennessee River cuts through the Cumberland Plateau right beside the town, so you can climb sandstone bluffs, hang-glide off Lookout Mountain, ride trails in Prentice Cooper State Forest or paddle the wooded gorge. Within a short drive are the Ocoee's Olympic whitewater and the canyon rim trails of Cloudland Canyon.

Sarasota's outdoors is flat and full of wildlife. You can see alligators and walk the treetop canopy walkway at Myakka River State Park, kayak through mangrove tunnels off Lido Key, and watch dolphins and manatees in the bay. It suits gentle paddling and birdwatching rather than anything steep.

The two offer about the same, in different directions. From Chattanooga you can reach Nashville or Atlanta for a long day, and the Space and Rocket Center at Huntsville, the Jack Daniel's distillery town of Lynchburg and the Chickamauga battlefield are closer.

From Sarasota you can cross the Sunshine Skyway to St Petersburg's Dalí Museum, or drive on to Ybor City in Tampa and the Greek sponge docks of Tarpon Springs. Edison and Ford's winter estates at Fort Myers lie to the south. You need a car from either city.

Both work equally well for families, in different ways. Chattanooga is a good choice for a sightseeing vacation, with the two-building Tennessee Aquarium, the Creative Discovery Museum, and the Incline Railway, Ruby Falls and Rock City on Lookout Mountain.

Sarasota is about the beach, with shallow, calm water where toddlers can paddle safely. Mote Marine Laboratory's sharks and manatees and the Ringling's huge circus model fill the days off the sand. In both cities, summer heat pushes outings into the morning.

Chattanooga is a little easier to get around. Its compact centre links the riverfront, Bluff View and the Southside on foot, the Walnut Street Bridge crosses to the North Shore, and a free electric shuttle runs through downtown. You still need a car for the mountain and the trails.

Sarasota is spread across the mainland and the keys. Downtown, St Armands Circle and Siesta Key Village are each walkable, and a free trolley runs along Siesta Key, but almost everything else needs a car, and winter traffic on the bridges can be slow.

Sarasota is the better place to browse. St Armands Circle on Lido Key is a ring of resort-wear shops, jewellers and galleries, and there are more independent boutiques on Palm Avenue. Chattanooga's converted Warehouse Row and the small shops on Frazier Avenue are pleasant, and its real specialty is outdoor gear for climbing and paddling.

Chattanooga is the cheaper of the two, though it is not a budget destination. Hotels and meals cost less than in the big cities, and the trails, parks and downtown shuttle are free, but the attraction tickets and car hire add up.

Sarasota costs more, mainly for beachfront rooms on Siesta Key and Longboat Key in the winter season, and restaurant meals come at full resort prices. Visiting in summer or staying on the mainland brings the cost down, and the public beaches are free.

Sarasota is far ahead for anyone who plans evenings around a stage. It has its own opera in a restored 1920s theatre, a ballet company known for its Ashton repertoire, a full orchestra season and the Asolo Repertory Theatre on the Ringling grounds, most of it from autumn to spring.

In Chattanooga, the gilded Tivoli Theatre and a small symphony and opera company make for an evening or two. The real local sound is bluegrass and Americana in the bars on the Southside.

Sarasota is the place to unwind. It has resort spas on Longboat Key and Lido Key, yoga on the sand at sunrise and the year-round warm waters of Warm Mineral Springs to the south, although winter crowds on the keys can spoil the calm. Chattanooga has only hotel spas and quiet porches in Bluff View, and most visitors go there to be active rather than to rest.