Detroit or Pigeon Forge?

Neither is a beach destination, but Detroit at least has real lake shores: the small sandy beach on Belle Isle and the long, shallow, calm water of Lake St. Clair Metropark, both fine for a summer afternoon. Pigeon Forge is deep in the foothills, so a swim there means the Douglas Lake reservoir, boulder pools in the park's streams, or more often the water park and hotel pools.

Detroit has a food identity of its own. There are chilli-covered Coney dogs at old diner counters, square Detroit-style pizza, Eastern Market on Saturdays and modern kitchens in Corktown and Midtown. The best of it is in its communities: Lebanese and Yemeni cooking in Dearborn, Mexicantown, and the Polish bakeries of Hamtramck.

Pigeon Forge serves big portions of comfort food along the Parkway: pancake houses, Southern buffets, barbecue and chain steakhouses, with moonshine tastings as the one local touch. For a properly good Southern meal, people drive to Knoxville or Asheville.

There is little contest here. Detroit has a major art museum in the Detroit Institute of Arts, with Diego Rivera's industry murals filling a courtyard, as well as the Charles H. Wright Museum, the modest house where Motown began, and a full day of American history at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. Downtown, the Guardian and Fisher buildings show off the city's early skyscraper age.

Pigeon Forge's sights are made for entertainment: the half-scale Titanic, illusion museums and car collections. The 1830 Old Mill is the one genuinely historic building. For real Appalachian heritage, visitors go to Dollywood's craft workshops or the old cabins and churches inside the national park.

Detroit is where techno was born, and its nights still run on warehouse parties and small clubs where the music matters most. There are also dive bars, cocktail bars and brewery taprooms across Corktown, Midtown and downtown. The scene is scattered, so a night out usually means taxis between neighbourhoods, but it is a real night out.

Pigeon Forge winds down around ten. Evenings there mean dinner shows and go-karts, then a sports bar or a moonshine tasting room. Adults who want a drink in a livelier setting drive to Gatlinburg.

Pigeon Forge is the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains. You get forested ridges, the Laurel Falls walk and the steep Alum Cave trail, the Appalachian Trail along the crest, the drive over Newfound Gap to Clingmans Dome, and bears and wild turkey in Cades Cove. Spring wildflowers and October colour are the high points, though the town itself sits in a plain valley.

Detroit's outdoors are flat and centred on water: Belle Isle's woods and lagoon, a ride along the RiverWalk, and kayaking or sailing on Lake St. Clair. They make a good afternoon, not the reason for the trip.

Both have a similar choice of day trips, and both need a car, but the kind of outing differs. From Detroit you go to towns and museums: leafy Ann Arbor, the excellent art museum in Toledo, Bavarian-style Frankenmuth, or across the river to Windsor in Canada with a passport.

Pigeon Forge's trips are mountain drives. Knoxville's Market Square is close, Cherokee and the Oconaluftee village are over Newfound Gap, and the longer run to Asheville's Biltmore Estate makes the best full day.

Pigeon Forge exists for families. Dollywood has rides, music and seasonal festivals, there is a water park next door for summer, and the Parkway is lined with mountain coasters, zip lines and mini-golf. Lodging comes in big cabins and water-park hotels made for groups.

Detroit has good things for children, including the large zoo in Royal Oak, Greenfield Village's steam trains and the hands-on Michigan Science Center. They are spread around the metro area, though, and children here get less dedicated fun than in Pigeon Forge. Both places mean a lot of time in the car.

Detroit is a little easier without a car. Downtown and the riverfront are walkable, and the People Mover and the QLine streetcar along Woodward Avenue reach the stadiums, the theatres and the Midtown museums. Beyond that corridor you need a car or ride-hailing.

Pigeon Forge is a single multi-lane strip where you can walk only inside each attraction complex. The trolley is slow and doesn't reach the cabins or the park trailheads, so a car is essential, and you should expect long jams in summer, October and over Christmas.

Detroit has the better shopping of the two, though it is small-scale. Its strength is the independent makers and vintage shops of Midtown and Corktown, selling Detroit-made watches, leather goods and prints, with crafts and flowers at Eastern Market on market days. Dearborn and Mexicantown are good for sweets and specialist groceries to take home. For big brands you have to drive to a mall in the suburbs.

Pigeon Forge offers outlet centres along the Parkway full of mid-market American labels, along with pottery, quilts and stone-ground cornmeal around the Old Mill. In the hills above Gatlinburg there are studios making brooms, baskets and woodwork. Beyond those, the strip sells mostly T-shirts, fudge and cabin decor, and there are no fashion shops.

Detroit is somewhat kinder on the budget. For a big American city its hotels are cheap, and Coney dogs, pizza and Middle Eastern meals cost little, though a hire car, parking and tips add up, and rooms near the stadiums get dearer on event nights.

Pigeon Forge can be cheap to sleep in, especially in a large cabin split between families, and its buffets are inexpensive. The spending comes from Dollywood tickets, dinner shows and paid attractions, which add up quickly with children.

Detroit is a serious music city. The symphony plays in Orchestra Hall, the Detroit Opera performs in a restored downtown house, and touring shows fill the Fox and Fisher theatres. Jazz clubs, the free Detroit Jazz Festival on Labor Day weekend and a Motown, soul and gospel tradition mean live bands most nights.

Pigeon Forge also puts on shows every evening, but they are family entertainment: country and gospel revues, comedy, magic and dinner spectacles, with bluegrass on Dollywood's stages. For opera, orchestral music or jazz, you have to go to Knoxville.

Neither place has a bathing tradition, and both offer little beyond hotel and day spas. Pigeon Forge comes out ahead because of its hillside cabins, where you can spend a quiet evening on a porch or in a private hot tub above the ridges, as long as you stay well away from the noisy strip. Detroit's calm moments are a slow walk on the RiverWalk or an afternoon on Belle Isle, in a city that revolves around work, sport and music.