Clearwater or Nashville?

Clearwater has one of the best beaches anywhere in the country. Its fine, pale sand runs into calm, clear water you can wade into a long way. Sand Key, Caladesi Island and Honeymoon Island give quieter sand within easy reach, and the Gulf stays warm for swimming from late spring well into autumn.

Nashville is hundreds of kilometres from the sea. Its only swimming is at small lake beaches on Percy Priest and Old Hickory, which are fine for a hot summer afternoon but not a reason to come.

Nashville is the better place to eat. Hot chicken, meat-and-three cafeterias, slow-smoked barbecue and Tennessee whiskey give it a cooking style of its own. Chef-driven kitchens in East Nashville and Germantown and the international run along Nolensville Pike add range beyond the Southern classics.

Clearwater's food is casual and coastal: grouper sandwiches, shrimp baskets and stone crab eaten at dockside shacks, with plenty of chain grills along the beachfront. The best meal out is often a trip to the Greek tavernas of Tarpon Springs.

Nashville has far more to see. The Country Music Hall of Fame, the National Museum of African American Music and a daytime tour of the Ryman make it a strong city for anyone interested in music history. The Parthenon replica, the Frist Art Museum in its Art Deco post office, and the Hermitage and Belle Meade plantations widen the picture.

Clearwater has a restored 1920s theatre and a few older buildings on its downtown bluff, and little more. Culture there means driving to St Petersburg or Tampa.

Nashville goes out far harder. Lower Broadway's multi-storey honky-tonks have a band on every floor until the small hours, and East Nashville's dive bars and cocktail lounges offer a calmer alternative. Neither city is a place for dance clubs, though: here the night is about drinking to live music.

Clearwater's evenings start with the crowd watching the sunset at Pier 60 and wind down at tiki decks and beach bars with cover bands. Things get louder only in spring, and anyone wanting more heads to Ybor City in Tampa.

Clearwater has the edge, and most of its outdoors is on the water. You can kayak through mangrove channels, paddleboard over seagrass flats, and see dolphins in the harbour and manatees in winter. Caladesi and Honeymoon Islands keep the coast wild, and the flat Pinellas Trail is good for easy cycling.

Nashville is greener and hillier, with forest walks at Radnor Lake and the Warner Parks, gentle canoeing on the Harpeth and the Natchez Trace Parkway for scenic drives. Its best outdoor seasons are spring and autumn, while Clearwater's are winter and spring.

Clearwater's surroundings give it a slight lead. The Dalí Museum in St Petersburg, Ybor City in Tampa, the Greek sponge harbour at Tarpon Springs and Sarasota's Ringling Museum are bigger draws than anything in the town itself, and Orlando's theme parks are within a long drive.

Nashville's outings are smaller and more historic: Franklin's Main Street and Civil War battlefields, the village of Leiper's Fork, and the whiskey distilleries around Lynchburg. Both need a car.

Clearwater keeps children busy with less effort, because so much of the day happens on or near the water. Dolphin-watching and pirate-themed boat trips leave from the marina, there is a playground by Pier 60, and Busch Gardens, the Adventure Island water park and the Florida Aquarium are all within about forty minutes in Tampa. The catch is high summer, when heat and afternoon thunderstorms cut beach days short and push outings into the mornings.

Nashville takes more planning, and its attractions for children are spread across the city rather than gathered in one place. The Lane Motor Museum's collection of odd cars amuses all ages, the Country Music Hall of Fame runs family activities, and in summer the water park by Percy Priest Lake and the city's splash pads help with the heat. Restaurants are friendly to families, but expect long drives between sights, as you would around Clearwater once you leave the island.

Both are car-based places with weak buses, so the difference lies in what you can reach on foot. In Clearwater that is the beach island, where hotels, restaurants and sand sit close together, with a trolley down to Sand Key and a ferry to downtown.

In Nashville it's a compact downtown where Broadway, the Ryman, the Hall of Fame and the Gulch are a short walk apart. The Opry, the plantations and the outer neighbourhoods all need ride-hailing or a hire car.

Nashville has more to browse, and it has a clear theme. Cowboy boots, hats and rhinestone shirts line Lower Broadway, there are excellent guitar shops, and Hatch Show Print sells its letterpress posters. 12 South and East Nashville add boutiques and record shops.

Clearwater offers beachwear, souvenirs and mainland malls. Natural sponges from Tarpon Springs are the most local thing to bring home.

Neither is cheap, and both cost about what you'd expect in an American resort or big city. Clearwater is a little easier on the budget if you stay on the mainland, cook in a condo or come in summer. Its beaches are free apart from parking.

In Nashville, weekend and event demand pushes up downtown hotel prices, and ride-hailing costs add up. On the other hand, the music on Broadway has no cover charge, and staying midweek helps a lot.

This is Nashville's strongest card, and nothing in Clearwater comes close. The Grand Ole Opry and the Ryman Auditorium anchor a scene that runs from intimate songwriter nights and a bluegrass club near the Gulch to the Nashville Symphony at the Schermerhorn. The Tennessee Performing Arts Center stages ballet and opera.

Clearwater has Ruth Eckerd Hall for touring acts and Broadway tours and the small Capitol Theatre downtown. Anyone wanting opera or ballet drives to Tampa.

Clearwater is the more restful choice. It has no spa culture beyond resort treatment rooms, but its low-rise, unhurried pace fills the day with pools, balconies, long lunches and quiet evenings by the marina. The exceptions are spring break weekends and the hottest summer weeks.

Nashville's downtown is built around noise and late nights. A calmer stay is possible only in leafy Belmont or Hillsboro, away from Broadway.