Gatlinburg or Myrtle Beach?

These two are not close. Gatlinburg is a mountain town a long way from the sea, and swimming there means cold, fast river pools in the national park, tubing on the Little River near Townsend or the lakeshore at Douglas Lake.

Myrtle Beach is built on the Grand Strand, about 100km of flat sand with shallow, gentle water where children can play all afternoon. Surfside, Garden City and the state parks to the south have dunes and fewer people. Go between late spring and autumn, when the sea is warm.

Both towns feed resort crowds in volume, and both have pancake houses along the strip, but Myrtle Beach eats better. In Gatlinburg most meals are barbecue, Southern comfort cooking and fudge. Trout, country ham and biscuits appear only in the odd restaurant, and keen eaters drive to Knoxville or Asheville.

Myrtle Beach can draw on the sea. Shrimp, oysters and flounder come off the boats at Murrells Inlet, there is Calabash-style fried fish just to the north, and shrimp and grits is on many menus. Fine dining is scarce in both towns.

Neither is a sightseeing town, though Myrtle Beach has a little more to fill a day. Gatlinburg's strip is attractions and an observation tower. Its heritage is in the studios of the Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community and in the old cabins, mills and churches out at Cades Cove and along the Roaring Fork.

The best of Myrtle Beach is south of town at Brookgreen Gardens. This former rice plantation has American sculpture set under live oaks and exhibits on the people enslaved there, and the Moorish-style Atalaya stands next door.

For going out, choose Myrtle Beach. In summer the boardwalk blocks fill with beach bars and rooftop decks, and dance clubs in the entertainment complexes stay open late. In North Myrtle Beach, people still dance the shag in the long-standing clubs on Main Street.

A Gatlinburg evening is a walk along the lit Parkway, a moonshine tasting or a beer on a brewery terrace, then back to the cabin hot tub. There are no real clubs, and the strip is quiet by late night.

Gatlinburg has much the stronger outdoors. The Great Smoky Mountains begin where the town ends, with deep hardwood forest, the waterfall walks to Laurel and Grotto Falls, the Alum Cave climb up Mount LeConte, and black bears you often see from the road. Spring wildflowers, synchronous fireflies and October colour give each season its own appeal.

The landscape at Myrtle Beach is low and wet: salt marsh, maritime forest and cypress swamps on the Waccamaw that you can kayak, with herons and alligators at Huntington Beach State Park. It is good for birdwatching and golf but has no hills to hike.

Each has one standout outing and a handful of smaller ones. From Gatlinburg the big trip is Asheville and the Biltmore Estate. The drive over Newfound Gap to Cherokee, with its museum of the Eastern Band, is a fine mountain journey in its own right.

From Myrtle Beach it is Charleston, a long day south for antebellum streets and harbour forts, with Georgetown's old port and Wilmington's riverfront nearer to hand. Gatlinburg's outings lead into mountains and Native American history, while Myrtle Beach's follow a coast of old ports and plantations.

Both towns were built for family vacations and do the job equally well; what differs is the setting. Gatlinburg has an aquarium, mountaintop parks with treetop bridges and Dollywood nearby, plus creek wading, junior ranger badges and roomy cabins with games rooms.

Myrtle Beach offers gentle surf, resort pools with lazy rivers, a seaside amusement park with an old wooden roller coaster and pirate-themed mini golf. Traffic is heavy in high season in both, and at Myrtle Beach it is best to avoid spring break weeks with children.

Gatlinburg is the easier of the two without a car, though neither is easy. The downtown strip is compact enough to walk and a trolley loops through town and on to Pigeon Forge, so from a downtown hotel you can leave the car parked for a day or two. You still need one for the park and the hillside cabins, and October traffic can stall.

Myrtle Beach spreads along the whole Grand Strand on multi-lane highways with few pavements and only sparse buses. The boardwalk blocks and the beach itself are pleasant to walk, but almost everything else means driving.

Gatlinburg is the place for handmade things, while Myrtle Beach is the place for outlets and beachwear. Along the loop road of the Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community, makers sell quilts, pottery, brooms, baskets and woodwork from their own studios. The Parkway itself is mostly candy kitchens, T-shirt stores and novelty knife shops. For brands, people drive a short way to the outlet malls in Pigeon Forge and Sevierville.

Myrtle Beach has two big outlet centres inside the city, waterfront complexes that mix chain shops with restaurants, and the Market Common on the old air force base, which feels more like a town centre. Huge beach shops along the highway sell swimwear and inflatables. Neither town has any luxury fashion, and the only local craft on the coast is the sweetgrass baskets sold along the road to the south.

Gatlinburg costs a little more to visit, though the gap is small. Sharing a big cabin with a group or an extended family keeps the cost of a bed down, especially midweek and in winter, and days in the national park cost little. What pushes a family's bill up is the paid attractions on the Parkway and at Dollywood.

Myrtle Beach comes out slightly cheaper because it has so many rooms. Oceanfront stays can be very cheap out of season, and many units have kitchens, which cuts the cost of eating. In both towns timing matters most. At the coast, avoid July and long weekends. In the mountains, avoid October's leaf season, Thanksgiving and the weeks from Christmas to New Year.

The two are evenly matched here, and both offer polished family revues rather than concert halls. Gatlinburg's shows are mostly in the dinner theatres of Pigeon Forge, and bluegrass and country are played in the moonshine tasting rooms. Dollywood keeps the mountain music tradition going.

Myrtle Beach has its own large theatres for country, gospel and Christmas shows, dinner shows with knights or pirates, touring rock and country acts, and cover bands in the beach bars on summer nights. If you want opera or serious drama, neither town will do.

Neither has spas worth travelling for, but Gatlinburg makes the more restful stay if you choose where you sleep with care. A hillside cabin with a hot tub, a rocking chair and mist on the ridges is the town's real form of relaxation, well away from the noise of the Parkway.

Myrtle Beach relies on its resort and golf hotel spas, and the main strip in summer is anything but calm. For rest, stay at the quieter Pawleys Island end in spring or autumn.