Cocoa Beach or Nashville?

On the beach the two are about as far apart as they could be. Cocoa Beach sits on a thin barrier island facing the open Atlantic, so you get real ocean surf, a long run of pale sand firm enough for walks at low tide, fishing off the pier, and quieter dunes towards Cape Canaveral or south at Satellite Beach. The water is greenish rather than clear, and rip currents are a real risk, so anyone with children should stay near the lifeguarded parks by the pier.

Nashville is hundreds of miles inland and has only reservoir swimming. Percy Priest and Old Hickory lakes have small swimming areas and warm water in summer, but locals spend their time there on pontoon boats rather than on the sand. That fills a hot afternoon, not a whole trip, and there is no surf, no tide and no ocean horizon.

Cocoa Beach is about relaxed meals after a day in the sun: Port Canaveral rock shrimp, fish tacos and raw bars at dockside places on the Banana River, and big breakfasts before a surf. Along the main road, chain restaurants fill the gaps, and there are few meals worth planning a day around.

Nashville has a cuisine of its own. Hot chicken comes graded from mild to painful, and meat-and-three cafeterias serve okra and greens, alongside barbecue and Tennessee whiskey. Chef-led kitchens in East Nashville and the Gulch, and the Kurdish and Vietnamese places on Nolensville Pike, add a range the coast cannot match.

In Cocoa Beach there is almost nothing to visit beyond the wooden pier. Its one great sight is a rocket rising from the Cape, watched from the sand or the causeways.

Nashville gives you several full days of sights, nearly all of them about music. These include the Country Music Hall of Fame, the National Museum of African American Music and the old tabernacle of the Ryman. The Parthenon replica in Centennial Park, the Art Deco Frist and the plantation houses of the Hermitage and Belle Meade add art and the region's harder history.

A night out in Cocoa Beach means a beach bar or sports bar near the pier, with a covers band on the deck. Most evenings are over well before midnight, although spring break brings a louder, younger crowd.

Nashville is one of the country's big nights out. The honky-tonks of Lower Broadway have a band on every floor and stay full until the small hours, and hen and stag groups turn weekends into one long party. East Nashville's dive bars and cocktail lounges are the calmer option. Neither city has much of a club scene, but Nashville goes out far more often and stays out far later.

Cocoa Beach has the richer outdoors, even though the land is flat. You can kayak the Indian River Lagoon among manatees and dolphins, or paddle at night through water lit by bioluminescent plankton. Merritt Island's refuge has alligators, winter birdlife and sea turtles nesting in summer, and the beach breaks are some of the steadiest on the east coast for learners.

Nashville offers what the coast lacks: wooded hills and forest trails at Radnor Lake and the Warner Parks, easy canoeing on the Harpeth, and cycling along the Natchez Trace Parkway. It is gentle country, though, without the wildlife of the lagoon.

The two are equally good for outings, but the outings differ in kind. From Cocoa Beach the big draws are the Kennedy Space Center, with the Saturn V and the shuttle Atlantis, and Orlando's theme parks, an hour inland. St Augustine's Spanish fort is the one historic town worth the drive, and it is a long day.

From Nashville you get small-town history and whiskey instead. Franklin's Civil War battlefields are half an hour away, Leiper's Fork has its galleries, and the Lynchburg distilleries are about an hour and a half off. Chattanooga is at the edge of a day trip.

Cocoa Beach is the easier place to bring children. It has a wide sandy beach with lifeguards in the town parks, surf lessons for beginners, condos with pools and kitchens, and the thrill of the space centre and a launch. Strong currents and summer lightning storms are the things to plan around.

Nashville works if you plan around its attractions. The zoo at Grassmere, the planetarium at the Adventure Science Center and the Parthenon are good choices, but they are spread out by car. The downtown strip, loud and built for adult drinking, is best avoided with children in the evening.

In both places you will need a car, but Nashville is a little easier without one. In Cocoa Beach a bicycle covers the few miles of downtown and the pier. Everything else, from the space centre to the wildlife refuge, is a drive, and the nearest major airport is about an hour away in Orlando.

Nashville's downtown packs Broadway, the Ryman, the Hall of Fame and the Gulch into a short walk, with a pedestrian bridge across the river. Reaching the Opry, the Hermitage or East Nashville still means ride-hailing or driving, often in heavy interstate traffic.

In Cocoa Beach, shopping means surf culture: a giant round-the-clock surf store on the main road, boards from local shapers, and beachwear and gift shops. For anything else, people go to Cocoa Village or Orlando.

Nashville has more to browse, and it has a theme of its own. You will find cowboy boots and rhinestone shirts on Broadway, some of the best guitar shops anywhere, and the concert posters of Hatch Show Print, a letterpress shop dating from the 19th century. 12 South and East Nashville add independent boutiques and record shops.

Cocoa Beach is the cheaper stay. Motels and older condos keep rooms affordable outside the busiest weeks, and the seafood grills are fair value. A hire car, the space centre ticket and any park admissions in Orlando still add up over a week.

Nashville's downtown hotels are expensive, especially on weekends when group bookings push rates up. Ride-hailing between spread-out neighbourhoods also adds up. The main saving is the music: the Broadway honky-tonks charge no cover, and staying midweek or eating at hot chicken counters makes a real difference.

In Cocoa Beach, live performance mostly means a covers band on a beach-bar deck. There is a regional arts centre in Melbourne and a community playhouse in Cocoa Village, and both are a drive away.

Nashville is the reason many people take a music trip at all. The Grand Ole Opry plays several nights a week, and the Ryman's pews and acoustics host touring acts of every genre. Songwriters play their own hits in small rooms, and there is bluegrass near the Gulch. The Schermerhorn and the Tennessee Performing Arts Center add the symphony, ballet and opera.

Neither city is a spa destination, but Cocoa Beach is the more restful. It has an unhurried pace, early walks on the sand, sunsets over the river, beach yoga and quiet weekdays.

In Nashville the downtown mood is all noise and late nights, and wellness means hotel or day spas. For a calmer stay, choose the leafy streets of Belmont or Hillsboro, with their porches and quiet parks.