Chicago or Gatlinburg?

Chicago has actual beaches: sandy lakefront strands from Oak Street, below the Gold Coast towers, to North Avenue and Montrose, warm enough for a swim in high summer. Gatlinburg is deep in the mountains with no shore at all. There, cooling off means tubing the cold Little River near Townsend or a drive to Douglas Lake, and in practice it usually means the cabin hot tub.

Chicago is a serious eating city. Its own classics include deep-dish and tavern-cut pizza and the Italian beef, there's fine dining along Randolph Street, and whole neighbourhoods specialise in Mexican, South Asian, Vietnamese and Polish cooking.

Gatlinburg feeds a resort crowd: pancake breakfasts, barbecue, fudge and fruit-flavoured moonshine. Good Appalachian trout or country ham turns up only now and then. Food lovers are far better served in Chicago.

There's little contest here. Chicago is where the skyscraper grew up, and a river cruise through the Loop, Wright's Robie House, the Art Institute and the Museum Campus could fill a week.

Gatlinburg's sights in town are an observation tower and amusement parks. Its real heritage lies elsewhere: in the Arts and Crafts Community's studios and in the old mountain cabins, mills and churches at Cades Cove and Elkmont. Those are excursions, not sightseeing.

Chicago goes out late, with neighbourhood bar scenes in Wicker Park and Logan Square, clubs in River North with roots in house music, and a large gay district in Northalsted. An evening in Gatlinburg means a stroll along the lit Parkway, a moonshine tasting and perhaps a brewery terrace, with no real clubs. Most visitors head back to the cabin early.

This is Gatlinburg's great strength. The Great Smoky Mountains begin at the end of the Parkway, with hardwood forest, Laurel Falls, the road up to Clingmans Dome, and bears, deer and elk. Spring fireflies and October colour give the seasons real character, though leaf-season traffic is the price.

Chicago's outdoors is the lake. Its long shoreline path suits cycling and walking, and the parks are good for birding. Real trails mean driving an hour to Indiana Dunes or further to Starved Rock.

Gatlinburg has the better outings. Asheville and the Biltmore Estate are within reach, and so is Cherokee, over Newfound Gap, with its museum and Oconaluftee village. Knoxville and the Bryson City railway add more. From Chicago, the easy picks are Milwaukee by train and the Wright houses of Oak Park, then car trips to Lake Geneva or the Michigan shore, all pleasant but on flat prairie.

Both work well with children, in very different ways. Chicago's family appeal is museums and animals: the coal mine and U-boat at the Museum of Science and Industry, dinosaurs at the Field Museum, belugas at the Shedd and a free zoo in Lincoln Park.

Gatlinburg is built for family vacations. It has go-karts, alpine coasters, an aquarium and gondola rides on the Parkway, with Dollywood nearby. Out in the park, children can wade in creeks and earn junior ranger badges. Expect traffic and queues in peak season.

Chicago is easy without a car. The L runs in from both airports, and the flat, gridded centre puts the Art Institute, Millennium Park and the Museum Campus within walking distance, though crossing between neighbourhoods often means a bus. In Gatlinburg, the Parkway strip and its trolley are fine on foot, but cabins, trailheads and day trips all need a car. Park roads can grind to a halt on busy weekends.

Chicago has proper shopping streets: flagships and vertical malls on the Magnificent Mile, luxury labels on Oak Street, and independent boutiques and record shops in Wicker Park and Andersonville. Gatlinburg's Parkway mostly sells souvenirs, candy and novelty knives. Its best buys are handmade quilts, pottery and brooms from the craft studios on the Arts and Crafts loop, with outlet malls a short drive away in Pigeon Forge.

Gatlinburg is the gentler option on the wallet. A big cabin shared between families, or an older motel midweek, keeps lodging reasonable, and the national park itself costs little, though Dollywood and the paid attractions add up quickly.

Chicago is expensive. Downtown hotels, high taxes and sit-down meals all push costs up. Taquerias, the L and free sights like the lakefront and Millennium Park soften the bill.

Chicago is one of the best cities in the country for a night out at a performance: the Chicago Symphony, the Lyric Opera, the Goodman and Steppenwolf, Second City improv, and blues and jazz clubs that play late.

Gatlinburg's entertainment is lighter. It runs to bluegrass in the tasting rooms and family dinner shows, country revues and magic acts in Pigeon Forge. Mountain music is the authentic part, and Dollywood stages plenty of it.

Neither is a spa destination, and they relax you in different ways. In Chicago, the restorative option is heat and water: the old Russian-and-Turkish bathhouse in Wicker Park, a Korean jjimjilbang in the suburbs and the warm glasshouses of the Garfield Park Conservatory in winter. Gatlinburg's calm comes from the way people stay there, in a quiet cabin above the trees with a hot tub and mist on the ridges, well away from the crowded Parkway.