Gatlinburg or Philadelphia?

Neither city has a beach, but Philadelphia at least has the Atlantic within reach. The Jersey Shore, from Atlantic City and Wildwood down to Victorian Cape May, has wide sand and warm enough swimming from late June into early September, though weekend traffic comes with it.

Gatlinburg is hundreds of kilometres inland. Swimming there means wading and tubing in cold mountain rivers like the Little River near Townsend, the lakeshore at Douglas Lake, or simply the cabin hot tub. Mind the currents at the well-known jumping spots.

Philadelphia is by far the better place to eat. Cheesesteaks, roast pork sandwiches and hoagies are everyday local food, Reading Terminal Market and the Italian Market are worth a visit on their own, and the bring-your-own-wine dining rooms of East Passyunk and Fishtown add real range.

Gatlinburg feeds a resort crowd: pancake houses, barbecue and family restaurants along the Parkway, with fudge shops and moonshine tastings for local colour. Good Appalachian trout, country ham and biscuits are out there, but you have to go looking for them.

This is where the two cities differ most. Philadelphia is where the United States was founded, at Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, with Georgian Society Hill around them. It also has museums of real weight in the Barnes Foundation, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Penn Museum, enough for several days.

Gatlinburg itself is attractions and an observation tower rather than history. Its culture is in the working studios along the Arts and Crafts Community loop and in the log cabins, mills and churches of Cades Cove and the Roaring Fork, which are drives out into the park.

Philadelphia has a proper night out, even if it is mostly in pubs: warehouse bars and craft-beer halls in Fishtown and Northern Liberties, cocktails around Rittenhouse Square and the long-established Gayborhood, with student crowds filling the weekends. In Gatlinburg the evening is a stroll along the lit Parkway, a moonshine tasting and an early return to the cabin deck, and the strip has emptied by late night. Neither is a city for dance clubs.

Gatlinburg wins this outright. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park begins where the Parkway ends. It has waterfall walks to Laurel Falls and Grotto Falls, the Alum Cave climb to Mount LeConte, Clingmans Dome at about 2,025m, black bears and elk, and rafting on the Pigeon River. The price is the traffic in leaf season.

Philadelphia's outdoors is gentler but close at hand: the wooded Wissahickon gorge inside Fairmount Park, the Schuylkill River Trail past Boathouse Row towards Valley Forge, and the Pine Barrens or Poconos further out. It is good for a run or a bike ride, not for wilderness.

Philadelphia's place on the Northeast rail corridor puts New York, Baltimore and Washington within a day. Lancaster County's Amish country, Gettysburg, Longwood Gardens and Princeton add plenty more.

Gatlinburg has a shorter list, and it is all by car: Asheville and the Biltmore Estate, Cherokee across Newfound Gap, the heritage railway at Bryson City and Knoxville's old market square. Beyond those the options thin out.

Gatlinburg is designed around children. The Parkway has an aquarium, mirror mazes, alpine coasters and gondola rides, Dollywood is next door in Pigeon Forge, and the park offers easy creek wading and bear spotting. Big cabins with games rooms let several families stay together, though summer traffic and queues test everyone's patience.

Philadelphia also works well, but through its museums: the Franklin Institute's giant heart, the Please Touch Museum for under-eights, a dinosaur hall and the country's oldest zoo, while the Liberty Bell brings history alive for older children. It suits curious school-age children better than a week of rides.

Philadelphia is far easier without a car. Center City's flat grid puts Old City, Rittenhouse Square and the Museum District within walking distance. Subway, trolleys and regional rail, including a direct train to the airport, cover the rest, even if the system is a little rough.

In Gatlinburg only the Parkway strip is walkable, with a trolley running out to Pigeon Forge. You need a car for the cabins up steep hillside roads, for the trailheads and for every day trip, and in October traffic can stall for long stretches.

Philadelphia has the wider range: brands and boutiques on Walnut Street, independent shops in Old City and Fishtown, Jewelers' Row, and the huge King of Prussia mall half an hour away, with no sales tax on clothing.

Gatlinburg's Parkway is mostly souvenirs, candy and novelty knives. The real reason to shop there is the handmade quilts, pottery and brooms sold straight from the studios of the Arts and Crafts Community. For brands, people drive to the outlets in Pigeon Forge.

Neither is a bargain, though Gatlinburg comes out slightly cheaper. An older motel, or a big cabin shared midweek or in winter, is good value, and the national park costs little. Parkway attractions and Dollywood tickets add up quickly for a family, and rates jump in October and at the end of the year.

Philadelphia's Center City hotels and sit-down meals cost what American cities usually do. The founding sights are free, though, a hoagie makes a filling lunch, and bringing your own wine cuts the cost of dinner.

Philadelphia is a serious music city. The Philadelphia Orchestra plays on the Avenue of the Arts, the 1857 Academy of Music is home to the opera and ballet, Curtis students give recitals, and the Walnut Street Theatre is the oldest working theatre in the country. Jazz and indie clubs add more.

Gatlinburg's entertainment is aimed at families: dinner shows and country and gospel revues in Pigeon Forge, bluegrass players in the moonshine tasting rooms and mountain music at Dollywood. It has charm, but no orchestra or opera.

Gatlinburg makes it easier to slow down, because the calm comes with where you sleep. A cabin high on the hillside, with warm water on the deck and only forested ridges in view, is quieter than anywhere in Philadelphia, as long as you stay well away from the noise of the Parkway strip. Neither town has a real spa tradition, so pampering is modest in both.

Philadelphia is a brisk city, and you have to find calm in pockets: an hour on a bench in Rittenhouse or Washington Square, or the creekside path through the Wissahickon, the closest it comes to the Smokies' woods. For an extra treat there is a day spa in town or a Korean-style bathhouse out in the suburbs.