Gatlinburg or Orange Beach?

There is no contest here. Gatlinburg is hundreds of kilometres from the sea. Summer swimming there means wading or tubing in cold, fast mountain rivers such as the Little River near Townsend, or a lakeshore at Douglas Lake.

Orange Beach is built around its Gulf shore: fine white quartz sand, low dunes and clear, warm summer water that shelves gently enough for children. Watch the flags for rip currents, and expect the sea to be cool in winter.

Neither town is a food destination, but Orange Beach has the more distinctive cooking. Its strength is Gulf seafood eaten by the water: Royal Red shrimp, oysters, snapper and West Indies salad at fish houses on the back bays and around the marina.

Gatlinburg feeds its crowds on pancake breakfasts, barbecue and Southern comfort cooking, with fudge and moonshine tastings as the local treats. Good Appalachian cooking, such as trout, country ham and stack cake, takes some finding, and keen eaters often drive to Knoxville or Asheville.

There isn't much sightseeing in either town, but Gatlinburg has more to show you. In the Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community you can watch weavers, potters and broom-makers at work. A short drive into the park, the log cabins, mills and churches at Cades Cove and along the Roaring Fork keep mountain history alive.

Orange Beach has little beyond a small museum of Native American and fishing history. The coast's forts and old towns all lie outside it.

Orange Beach has more going on after dark, especially in summer and over spring break. Then the famous ramshackle roadhouse on the Alabama-Florida line and the decks around the marina and Perdido Pass stay busy late, though you need a car or taxi to get between them.

In Gatlinburg an evening means a stroll along the lit Parkway, a moonshine tasting and perhaps a brewery terrace, and the strip is empty by late night. For many cabin guests the hot tub is the evening.

For the outdoors, Gatlinburg is far ahead. The national park starts where the Parkway ends, with hardwood forest, waterfall walks at Laurel Falls and Grotto Falls, the long climb up Mount LeConte and the road to Clingmans Dome at about 2,025m. Black bears, deer and elk are part of the outing, and the Pigeon River adds whitewater rafting.

Orange Beach is flat country of marsh, dunes and sheltered bays. It is best for kayaking, cycling the backcountry trail past alligator ponds, dolphin cruises and charter fishing, with good birding at Bon Secour during the migrations.

Both towns have a fair list of outings, and both need a car. From Gatlinburg the draw is mountain scenery and grand houses: the Newfound Gap road over to Cherokee and its museum of the Eastern Band, and Asheville with the Biltmore Estate about an hour and a half away.

From Orange Beach the outings are about coastal history. Choose between Pensacola's Spanish quarter and naval aviation museum, Mobile's antebellum streets and battleship, and Fort Morgan or the ferry to Dauphin Island.

Both towns are made for family vacations, and the difference is in how the days are spent. In Gatlinburg children get the Parkway's attractions, a large aquarium, chairlift rides and the big theme park in Pigeon Forge, plus easy waterfall walks and bears seen from the car.

Orange Beach is a sandcastle trip, with gently shelving water, condos with pools and kitchens, dolphin boats and a Ferris wheel by the marina. The drawbacks differ too: traffic and queues in the mountains, fierce midsummer sun and rip currents on the coast.

Neither works well without a car, but Gatlinburg is the easier of the two. Its downtown strip is compact enough to walk, and a trolley runs through town and on to Pigeon Forge. Stay in a downtown hotel and you can leave the car for a day or two, though you still need it for the cabins, the trailheads and the park.

Orange Beach strings its condos, restaurants and marina along one coastal highway with little public transport, so you drive even to dinner. Bicycles help on the paved trails.

Gatlinburg gives you more reason to browse. Besides the souvenir and candy shops on the Parkway, the Arts and Crafts Community sells quilts, pottery, brooms and woodwork straight from the makers' studios, and the Pigeon Forge and Sevierville outlets are close.

Orange Beach sells mostly beachwear, fishing gear and souvenirs. There is the outlet mall in Foley for brands, but very little local craft.

Gatlinburg is the easier on the wallet, though neither is cheap. Older motels and shared cabins can be good value, and the national park costs little. The paid attractions are where the bill grows.

Orange Beach charges beach-resort rates for summer condos and seafood dinners, and you will almost certainly need a hire car. Both reward groups who share a large rental, and both are much cheaper in their quiet seasons: winter on the Gulf, and midweek or winter in the mountains, away from leaf season.

Around Gatlinburg, live entertainment means the dinner show. The theatres of nearby Pigeon Forge put on country and gospel revues, comedy and magic most nights of the year. In town, bluegrass players perform in the moonshine tasting rooms, and Dollywood keeps mountain music in its programme.

Orange Beach goes for touring acts and bar bands instead. Country, rock and pop tours play the marina amphitheatre in the warmer months, and singer-songwriters perform in the beach bars in season. Each November the long-running songwriters' festival takes over the stages around the state line. You won't find opera, an orchestra or serious drama in either town.

In Gatlinburg you rest up on the hillside, not in town. That means a secluded cabin with a hot tub on the deck, a rocking chair and mist settling over the ridges, with the crowds and amusement noise of the Parkway far below. If you stay in the centre, you lose most of that.

The calm in Orange Beach is the calm of the seaside: slow, empty mornings and sunsets over the back bays. It depends on the season. Autumn to spring is the quietest time, and summer weekends and spring break are loud. In both towns, spa treatments are limited to a handful of resort and day spas.