Gatlinburg or Milwaukee?

Neither is a beach destination, but Milwaukee at least has sand. Bradford Beach under the East Side bluffs fills on warm weekends with volleyball and cabanas, though Lake Michigan is cool and a swim is only realistic in high summer.

Gatlinburg is landlocked in the mountains, so cooling off means a cold river pool, tubing on the Little River near Townsend or lake swimming at Douglas Lake, and in practice a cabin hot tub.

Milwaukee eats much better. Its German, Polish and Serbian roots give it a proper local table: the Friday fish fry, bratwurst, cheese curds, frozen custard and the supper club, with a long brewing tradition, the Public Market and good Mexican cooking on the South Side.

Gatlinburg feeds crowds rather than food lovers. Expect pancake houses, barbecue and Southern comfort cooking along the Parkway, fudge shops and moonshine tastings, with genuine Appalachian dishes such as trout and stack cake only in scattered places.

Milwaukee has far more to see. The Calatrava pavilion of the Milwaukee Art Museum on the lakefront, the Harley-Davidson Museum, the Pabst Mansion, the Basilica of St Josaphat and the warehouse streets of the Third Ward fill two or three solid days.

Gatlinburg's town offers observation towers and amusements rather than history. Its best culture is the working studios of the Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community, and the old mountain cabins, mills and churches at Cades Cove and along the Roaring Fork, which need a drive into the park.

Milwaukee is the place for a night out. The neighbourhood tavern is the classic evening, with Water Street for a loud crowd, Brady Street for dives and cocktails, and Walker's Point and the Third Ward for taprooms, wine bars and the LGBTQ scene, busiest on summer patios.

Gatlinburg's evenings amount to a stroll on the lit Parkway, a moonshine tasting and a few bars before the strip empties, and most visitors end the day in their cabin hot tub.

Gatlinburg has the big landscape. The national park starts at the edge of town, with hardwood forest, streams, waterfall walks, the high road over Newfound Gap and wildlife from black bears to elk, plus wildflowers in spring and foliage in October. The trade-off is traffic on popular roads and trailheads.

Milwaukee's nature is gentle and urban: the lakefront parks, Olmsted's Lake Park ravines, long flat bike trails and a kayak on the river, with the glacial hills of Kettle Moraine about an hour away.

Milwaukee has a slight edge, mainly because Chicago is a train ride away and needs no car once you arrive. Madison, Cedarburg's stone mills, Frank Lloyd Wright's buildings in Racine, Kohler and Lake Geneva add a varied second tier.

From Gatlinburg everything is by road. Asheville and the Biltmore Estate are the high point, Cherokee across the mountains tells the story of the Eastern Band, and Knoxville, Bryson City and Pigeon Forge fill out the rest.

Gatlinburg is the stronger family base. The Parkway is a row of child-friendly attractions, Dollywood and its water park are close, cabins sleep several families, and the park adds bear spotting, creek wading and junior ranger badges. Expect queues, crawling traffic and tight parking in high season.

Milwaukee is calmer and easier to manage, with a well-regarded zoo, Discovery World, a children's museum and the Domes for cold days, but its family appeal shrinks sharply in the long winter.

Both have a walkable core and both really need a car, but the reasons differ. Gatlinburg's Parkway is compact and served by a trolley, yet most visitors stay in hillside cabins on steep roads and drive to every trailhead, often in heavy traffic.

Milwaukee's downtown, Third Ward and Riverwalk are pleasant on foot with a short streetcar, and parking is easy, though the zoo and outer sights mean a car or ride-hailing.

Neither is a shopping destination, and what you take home differs. Gatlinburg's best buys are handmade quilts, pottery, brooms and woodwork from the crafts loop, with outlet malls in nearby Pigeon Forge. Milwaukee offers Third Ward boutiques and galleries, vintage shops on Brady Street and Wisconsin cheese and sausage from the Public Market.

Costs come out much the same, but they land in different places. In Gatlinburg a shared cabin and the national park are good value, while paid attractions and Dollywood drive up a family's bill and leaf season pushes rates up.

In Milwaukee hotels are modest by American standards and taverns, fish fries and many festivals are cheap, but big summer weekends raise room prices and a hire car adds up.

Around Gatlinburg, live entertainment is light and homespun: bluegrass and country players in the moonshine tasting rooms and on the street, mountain music at Dollywood, and dinner shows, gospel revues and magic acts in nearby Pigeon Forge. For anything classical, you have to drive to Knoxville.

For a proper night at the concert hall or theatre, Milwaukee is far ahead. The city's symphony orchestra, the Florentine Opera, the Milwaukee Ballet and a repertory theatre all perform through the season, and the ornate Pabst Theater brings in touring bands. In summer, Summerfest fills the lakefront with weeks of concerts.

Gatlinburg is the more restful stay, though not because of its spas. A secluded hillside cabin with a hot tub, a rocking chair and mist on the ridges is the draw, as long as you stay well above the noisy Parkway.

Milwaukee has little beyond hotel spas and a calm lakefront walk, so a proper spa day means driving north to Kohler.