Chattanooga or Virginia Beach?

This is where the two cities differ most. Virginia Beach has a wide pale-sand Oceanfront with a long boardwalk, lifeguards and surf, calm Chesapeake Bay beaches near First Landing for toddlers, and quieter dunes at Sandbridge.

Chattanooga is a river city far inland. Swimming there means the designated areas at Chickamauga Lake and Harrison Bay or a cold creek pool on the plateau, which is pleasant for an afternoon but nothing like a beach vacation.

Neither is a food destination, and they are about equal. What differs is the cooking. Chattanooga serves Southern comfort food, such as meat-and-three plates, smoked brisket, biscuits and catfish, with chef-led restaurants and breweries on the Southside.

Virginia Beach is about seafood: Lynnhaven oysters, blue crab cakes and she-crab soup, best eaten at dockside places by the inlet and the bay rather than on the chain-heavy resort strip.

Chattanooga has more to see, though neither city will fill a week. Point Park and Missionary Ridge keep the 1863 battles alive, the Hunter Museum gives you a solid American art collection on its bluff, and the Bessie Smith Cultural Center and the old Terminal Station add railway and African American history.

Virginia Beach has the 1607 landing site at Cape Henry, the old lighthouse and the Thoroughgood House, and that is close to the full list. Serious history there means driving out of town.

Virginia Beach is livelier, at least in summer. Atlantic Avenue and the boardwalk fill with beach bars, rooftop decks and sports bars full of vacationers and sailors, and Town Center offers quieter cocktail lounges.

In Chattanooga, a night out is breweries, cocktail bars and a little live music around the Southside and Station Street. It is relaxed and over early. The difference narrows off-season, when the Oceanfront goes quiet as well.

Chattanooga has the much richer outdoors. It sits where the Tennessee River cuts through the Cumberland Plateau, so climbing bluffs, hang-gliding launches, mountain-bike trails and gorge paddling are all close to town, and the Ocoee and Fall Creek Falls are within easy reach.

Virginia Beach is flat coastal plain, but it has its own appeal. There are cypress swamp trails at First Landing, an empty barrier shore at False Cape, kayak trips to watch dolphins, and surfing. It is better for gentle walking and time on the water than for anything strenuous.

Virginia Beach has the better excursions, mainly because Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown are about an hour away and together make an outstanding history day. Norfolk's waterfront and Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks give you more options.

From Chattanooga, the main outings are two-hour drives to Nashville or Atlanta, which makes for long days. The Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Lynchburg's distillery and the nearby Chickamauga battlefield are closer and easier.

Both work well with children, but Virginia Beach has the edge thanks to the sea. Toddlers get calm bay water, and the city adds the Virginia Aquarium, a water park and the boardwalk, with a big amusement park and Colonial Williamsburg within an hour.

Chattanooga has more packed into a small area. The Tennessee Aquarium and the Creative Discovery Museum are downtown, and Lookout Mountain has the Incline Railway, Ruby Falls and Rock City, but there is no beach day to fall back on.

Both cities need a car, but Chattanooga is easier without one. Its riverfront, art district, Southside and North Shore are within walking distance, joined by the Walnut Street Bridge and a free downtown shuttle.

In Virginia Beach you can get by on foot only if you stay at the Oceanfront and use the boardwalk and the summer trolley. Everywhere else is suburban sprawl, and summer traffic into the resort area adds to the hassle.

Neither city is worth a shopping trip, and they are much the same. Chattanooga's best browsing is on Frazier Avenue, where small boutiques sit next to outdoor-gear shops, plus the converted warehouses of Warehouse Row. Virginia Beach is malls and chain stores, and its one local speciality is surf shops.

The two cost about the same overall, but the spending is spread differently. In Virginia Beach the season sets the price: oceanfront rooms are expensive on summer weekends and much cheaper out of season, while the beach itself is free. In Chattanooga, prices hold steadier through the year, but the paid aquarium and Lookout Mountain attractions add up quickly for a family. Both need a hire car.

The two are about level, and both are modest. Chattanooga has more character indoors, with the gilded 1920s Tivoli Theatre, its own symphony and opera company, and small bars playing bluegrass and Americana.

Virginia Beach is better for summer: a big outdoor amphitheatre for touring rock and country acts and free concerts along the boardwalk, with Norfolk's opera and symphony half an hour away.

Neither city is a place for a spa retreat, and beyond hotel spas they offer little. Chattanooga's calm comes from slow afternoons in Bluff View or by the river. Virginia Beach is more restful in spring and autumn, or early in the morning on the boardwalk, and it can get crowded and loud in high summer.