Gatlinburg or Sarasota?

This category isn't close. Sarasota's beaches are the reason most people visit: Siesta Key's quartz sand stays cool underfoot, Lido Key is a short drive from downtown, and the Gulf is calm enough for toddlers. Red tide can close beaches at times, so check conditions first.

Gatlinburg has no coast at all. The nearest it gets is wading in the cold Little River, tubing near Townsend or a swim in Douglas Lake. Most visitors cool off in a pool or a cabin hot tub instead.

Neither town is a destination for food lovers. In Gatlinburg, meals are mostly pancake breakfasts, barbecue and big family restaurants along the Parkway, plus fudge shops and moonshine tastings. Good Appalachian trout or stack cake only turns up here and there.

Sarasota eats better. It has fresh Gulf grouper, stone crab, fish shacks on the keys, and the more ambitious dining rooms on Main Street and St Armands Circle. There's also the odd treat of Amish pie in Pinecraft.

Sarasota has far more to see. The Ringling alone fills a day, with Baroque art, John Ringling's Venetian Gothic mansion on the bay and the circus museum. Fans of modern architecture can also seek out Sarasota School houses around town.

Gatlinburg's sights are an observation tower and amusement parks. Its real heritage is in the craft studios on the Arts and Crafts loop and the old mountain cabins, mills and churches at Cades Cove, which are outings into the park rather than sights in town.

Neither suits a big night out, but Sarasota gives you more to do after dark. There are wine and cocktail bars on Main Street and open-air beach bars in Siesta Key Village, where a sunset drink often turns into several. Gatlinburg's evenings mean a stroll along the lit Parkway and a moonshine tasting, then back to the cabin hot tub. The strip is empty by late night.

Gatlinburg wins easily. You can be in old hardwood forest within minutes of town, with trails to Laurel Falls, Alum Cave and Mount LeConte, the road up to Clingmans Dome at about 2,025m, and black bears and elk in the park. The main drawback is traffic on the park roads in October and at weekends.

Sarasota's outdoors is flat and watery. It has alligators and a treetop walkway at Myakka River State Park, mangrove tunnels to kayak and dolphins in the bay. It's good for wildlife, but there's no mountain scenery or real hiking.

The day trips are about equally good, but very different. From Gatlinburg, you drive through the mountains to Asheville and the huge Biltmore Estate, or over Newfound Gap to Cherokee for Eastern Band history. Sarasota's trips run along the coast: the Dalí Museum in St Petersburg, Ybor City's cigar heritage in Tampa, the Greek sponge divers of Tarpon Springs and the Edison and Ford winter estates in Fort Myers.

Gatlinburg is built for families. It has an aquarium, alpine coasters, mini golf and mountaintop treetop bridges on the Parkway, Dollywood next door, and easy waterfall walks and junior ranger badges in the park. Expect queues and slow traffic in high season.

Sarasota works best for younger children who mainly want the sea. The water is calm and shallow, and Mote Marine's sharks and manatees are a hit. But there's no theme park within easy reach, and midday summer heat wears small children out.

You'll want a car in both places. In Gatlinburg, the compact Parkway and a trolley to Pigeon Forge cover the town, but the park and the hillside cabins need a car. Sarasota is spread out between the mainland and the keys. Downtown, St Armands and Siesta Key Village are each walkable, buses are slow, and in winter traffic backs up on the bridges.

Sarasota is a little better for browsing, with resort wear, jewellery and galleries around St Armands Circle and independent boutiques on Main Street and Palm Avenue. Gatlinburg's Parkway sells mostly fudge, T-shirts and novelty knives. Its best buys are handmade quilts, pottery and brooms from the craft studios, with the outlet malls in Pigeon Forge for brands.

Gatlinburg is the cheaper trip. A big cabin shared by a group is good value, especially midweek or in winter, and the national park costs little. Paid attractions and Dollywood are where a family's budget goes.

Sarasota charges full resort prices. Beachfront rooms on Siesta Key and Longboat Key are most expensive from January to April, and a hire car is hard to avoid. Staying on the mainland or coming in summer brings costs down.

Sarasota is unusually strong here for its size. It has an opera in a restored 1920s theatre, a ballet known for its Ashton repertoire, a full orchestra season and the Asolo Rep on the Ringling grounds, mostly from autumn to spring.

In Gatlinburg, the entertainment is dinner shows, country and gospel revues and magic acts in Pigeon Forge, plus bluegrass in the moonshine rooms. That's fun for families, but there's no classical music or serious theatre.

Sarasota is more relaxing overall, with its slow days, spas on Longboat and Lido Keys, sunrise yoga on the sand and the year-round warm water of Warm Mineral Springs. In Gatlinburg, the calm comes from where you stay: a secluded hillside cabin with a hot tub and mist on the ridges, well above the noisy Parkway.