Gatlinburg or Orlando?

Gatlinburg is deep in the mountains, so swimming means cold river pools in the national park, tubing near Townsend or a drive out to Douglas Lake. The water is a way to cool off in summer, not a reason to go.

Orlando is inland too, but it can offer a real beach day. Cocoa Beach and New Smyrna Beach are about an hour east, with soft sand and warm Atlantic water, and the calmer Gulf around Clearwater is further away. Day to day, though, most swimming happens in hotel pools and water parks.

Both cities cook for visitors in volume, but Orlando has more to find once you leave the tourist areas. Gatlinburg's Parkway runs to pancake houses, barbecue, fudge and moonshine tastings, and proper Appalachian cooking such as trout, country ham and stack cake turns up only here and there.

Orlando's resort dining is mostly chains and themed restaurants, and Epcot's World Showcase is the best place to graze inside the parks. What makes the difference is the city beyond them: Asian kitchens in Mills 50, chef-led restaurants and farmers' markets in Winter Park and Audubon Park, and steak and seafood along Sand Lake Road, all reached by car.

Neither is a sightseeing destination, though Orlando has a little more to see. Gatlinburg's heritage lives in the working studios of the Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community. The old cabins, mills and churches of the mountain families stand out in the park at Cades Cove and Elkmont.

Orlando's best cultural afternoon is the Morse Museum in Winter Park, with its Tiffany collection and chapel interior. The Orlando Museum of Art and the history centre downtown add a little more. A museum lover will run out of things to see in either place within a day or two.

In Gatlinburg, an evening means a stroll along the lit Parkway, a moonshine tasting and perhaps a bar or brewery terrace. There are no clubs to speak of, and many visitors simply end the day in the cabin hot tub.

Orlando gives you a real night out. The themed bars at Disney Springs and CityWalk quieten fairly early. Downtown, Orange Avenue and the streets around Church Street stay busy late at weekends with a student crowd, and there are gay bars in Ivanhoe Village and Mills 50.

This is where Gatlinburg pulls far ahead. The Great Smoky Mountains begin at the edge of town, with hardwood forest, waterfall walks such as Laurel Falls, and the road over Newfound Gap to Clingmans Dome at close to 2,025m. Bears, deer and elk live in the park. Spring wildflowers and autumn foliage mark the seasons, though popular trailheads jam at weekends.

Orlando's outdoors is flat and watery. You can kayak at Wekiwa Springs, see manatees at Blue Spring in winter, ride an airboat past alligators or go birdwatching at Merritt Island. These are good mornings out rather than the reason for a trip.

Gatlinburg's outings lead over the mountains, while Orlando's run out to the coast and to older towns, and each gives a few good days. From Gatlinburg the best is Asheville, about an hour and a half away, with its arts district and the Biltmore Estate. The Newfound Gap road crosses to Cherokee's museum and Oconaluftee village, with the heritage railway at Bryson City close by, and Knoxville's market square is about an hour off. After those, the choice runs out.

Orlando's outings cover more subjects. The Kennedy Space Center, about an hour east, has the Saturn V and the shuttle Atlantis, and St Augustine's Spanish fort and old streets lie just under two hours north. To the west, Tampa's Ybor City and the Dalí Museum in St Petersburg fill a full day, and lakeside Mount Dora is a gentler outing closer in.

Gatlinburg makes a good family vacation, and Orlando makes one on a scale no other city matches. Along Gatlinburg's Parkway there are an aquarium, mirror mazes, alpine coasters and parks reached by chairlift, with Dollywood a short drive away. The national park adds easy waterfall walks and bear spotting, and families stay in roomy cabins.

Orlando has four Disney theme parks, plus Universal, SeaWorld and Legoland, with resort transport, character breakfasts and suites with bunk rooms. Queues and peak crowds come with both. In Gatlinburg traffic is the main trial, and in Orlando it is the summer heat.

Gatlinburg is the easier place to get around, though neither works without a car. The Parkway strip is compact and walkable and a trolley runs out to Pigeon Forge, so from a downtown hotel you can leave the car parked for a day or two. Cabins, trailheads and day trips still need one.

Orlando spreads along Interstate 4 and its toll roads, with no practical walking between parks, hotels and downtown, so a car is close to essential. The exception is staying on-site, where Disney's monorail, boats and gondolas and Universal's water taxis take you between parks and hotels.

Gatlinburg's Parkway is mostly souvenirs, candy kitchens and moonshine. Its Arts and Crafts Community offers what Orlando lacks, though: quilts, pottery, brooms and woodwork bought from the people who made them.

Orlando is a real shopping destination, as Gatlinburg is not. The premium outlets on International Drive and Vineland Avenue and the luxury labels at the Mall at Millenia draw visitors for their own sake, and Park Avenue in Winter Park adds boutiques and galleries.

Gatlinburg is easier on the budget. Older motels and big cabins shared between families are good value, especially midweek and in winter, and the national park costs little. Parkway attractions, Dollywood and leaf-season rates are what push the bill up.

Off-site rooms in Orlando, in Kissimmee and along International Drive, are fairly priced. But multi-day park tickets, express passes, meals in the parks, hire cars and parking make a typical stay more expensive, and on-site resorts cost more again.

Gatlinburg's live entertainment is homely: bluegrass and country in the tasting rooms and on the street, mountain music at Dollywood, and dinner shows and gospel revues in Pigeon Forge. For an orchestra or serious theatre, people drive to Knoxville.

Orlando has the stronger stage. The Dr. Phillips Center hosts touring Broadway shows and the Orlando Philharmonic, Orlando Shakespeare Theater plays in Loch Haven Park and the Orlando Fringe fills the spring. The polished shows and fireworks in the parks come on top of all that.

Neither is a place to choose for rest, but each relaxes you in its own way. In Gatlinburg the calm comes from the cabin itself: a secluded hillside, a hot tub on the deck and mist on the ridges, with only a handful of day spas in town.

In Orlando it comes from the big resort hotels around Lake Buena Vista, whose full spas, lazy rivers and landscaped pools make a good day off between parks. Couples looking for quiet will find it on the lakeside streets of Winter Park.