Chattanooga or St. Petersburg, Florida?

This is the widest gap between the two. Chattanooga has no beach worth the name, just small swimming areas at Chickamauga Lake and Harrison Bay and cool creek holes on the plateau, which are good for an hour on a hot afternoon.

St. Petersburg is built for beach days. The barrier islands give it fine white sand and shallow, calm water, from St. Pete Beach to the wilder shores of Fort De Soto, with Clearwater and Caladesi Island a short drive north.

Both cities eat casually, but St. Petersburg has a little more range. Chattanooga sticks to Southern plates such as meat-and-three, barbecue, catfish and biscuits, with its chef-led kitchens and breweries on the Southside.

St. Petersburg has Gulf seafood: grouper sandwiches, smoked fish spread and stone crab eaten at fish shacks on the beach. It also has a deeper craft beer scene along Central Avenue, and Tampa's Cuban cooking is close by. Neither is a destination for serious food lovers.

Chattanooga's heritage is mostly outdoors and historical. There are the 1863 battlefields at Point Park and Missionary Ridge, the old Terminal Station, the Walnut Street Bridge and the Hunter Museum on its bluff.

St. Petersburg is stronger for art indoors. The Dalí Museum is the real draw, and the Museum of Fine Arts, the James Museum of Western art and the Chihuly glass are all a short walk away along the waterfront. Each city fills two or three days, but the museums tip the balance south.

Neither city is for dancing until dawn, but St. Petersburg gives you more to do after dark. Chattanooga's evenings are breweries and cocktail bars on the Southside, with Station Street as the liveliest block, and most places go quiet early.

Central Avenue in St. Petersburg has more bars, rooftop terraces and taprooms within easy walking distance of each other. The beaches add tiki bars at sunset, and Ybor City across the bay is there for a bigger night.

Chattanooga is the outdoor city here, and it is not close. The Tennessee River cuts through the Cumberland Plateau right at the edge of town, which gives it sandstone climbing, hang gliding from Lookout Mountain, gorge paddling, Olympic whitewater on the Ocoee and waterfalls at Cloudland Canyon and Fall Creek Falls.

St. Petersburg's nature is flat and watery. You can kayak through mangroves at Weedon Island and Shell Key, and there are dolphins, birds and winter manatees to see. It is lovely in its way, but there are no hills, and summer heat limits you to early mornings.

The two are about even, and both need a car. Chattanooga's outings are big-city drives to Nashville and Atlanta, plus Huntsville's rocket centre, the Jack Daniel's town of Lynchburg and the Chickamauga battlefield.

St. Petersburg's trips are shorter and more coastal. You can reach Ybor City in Tampa, the Ringling in Sarasota, the Greek sponge docks at Tarpon Springs and Anna Maria Island, with Orlando's theme parks at the far edge of a day.

Both work well with children, but in different ways. In Chattanooga the riverfront aquarium, the children's museum and Lookout Mountain's Incline Railway, Ruby Falls and Rock City make a busy sightseeing break.

St. Petersburg is a beach-based family vacation. It has shallow Gulf water for small children, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, and Busch Gardens and ZooTampa across the bay. Summer heat and driving between sights take planning in both.

Getting around is much the same in both: a walkable centre with a car-dependent spread beyond it. Chattanooga's free downtown shuttle and the Walnut Street Bridge link the riverfront, Southside and North Shore, but the mountains and trails need wheels.

St. Petersburg has a trolley loop and a rapid bus to St. Pete Beach, and the Pinellas Trail suits cyclists. The other beaches and every outing are still easiest by car.

Chattanooga's one real specialty is outdoor gear, sold alongside small boutiques and galleries on Frazier Avenue on the North Shore, with a mix of shops in the converted railway warehouses of Warehouse Row. For chain stores, locals drive out to the Hamilton Place mall.

St. Petersburg gives browsers a little more to do. Central Avenue and the Grand Central District have vintage and record shops, local boutiques and galleries selling glass and prints, and there is a Saturday morning market downtown in winter. For designer labels, shoppers still drive to the malls in Tampa.

Neither is a budget destination, with American tax, tipping and car hire in both. Chattanooga comes out slightly gentler, because it has cheaper hotels than the big cities, free trails and parks, and a free downtown shuttle, though the family attractions charge full price.

In St. Petersburg, beachfront rooms peak in late winter and you pay for parking at the beach. Hot summer and early autumn, or staying inland, ease the bill.

St. Petersburg has a little more on stage. The Mahaffey Theater hosts the Florida Orchestra, and there is a professional regional theatre, a church turned concert hall and an outdoor courtyard for bands, with Tampa's large arts centre half an hour away.

Chattanooga relies on the gilded 1920s Tivoli Theatre, a small symphony and opera company, and bar stages where bluegrass and Americana are the local sound. Fans of that music often move on to Nashville.

Chattanooga's idea of rest is an unhurried afternoon on the riverfront or on a porch in Bluff View. Beyond that there are only hotel spas and a few day spas, and most visitors come to climb and hike rather than unwind.

St. Petersburg makes slowing down much easier. The large historic beach hotels have resort spas, downtown has yoga studios, sunset on the sand is a nightly ritual and Pass-a-Grille's streets stay sleepy. It is at its most restful in the mild, less humid winter.