Gatlinburg or Washington DC?

Neither city is a beach destination, and in both you leave town to swim. Gatlinburg's water is the cold, clear rivers of the national park, with tubing on the Little River near Townsend and some lakeshore swimming at Douglas Lake. Washington's nearest sand is the small, brackish beaches of the Chesapeake Bay around Annapolis, which are warmer in summer but a proper outing, and the Atlantic resorts are a weekend trip.

Gatlinburg feeds a resort crowd: pancake houses, barbecue and Southern comfort cooking along the Parkway, with fudge shops and moonshine tasting rooms in between. Good Appalachian trout, country ham and stack cake do exist, but you have to seek them out, and keen eaters usually drive to Knoxville or Asheville.

Washington is in a different league. There are Ethiopian restaurants around Shaw and U Street, pupusas in Columbia Heights, Chesapeake oysters and blue crabs in season, and plenty of grazing at Eastern Market and Union Market. Serious tasting menus around Penn Quarter and Logan Circle cover the top end.

There is little sightseeing in Gatlinburg itself. Its landmarks are an observation tower and mountaintop amusements, and its living heritage is the loop of working craft studios. The real mountain history, the log cabins, mills and churches at Cades Cove and Elkmont, is out in the park and makes a drive rather than a stroll.

Washington is one of the great museum cities. Most of the Smithsonian collections, the National Gallery and the National Museum of African American History and Culture are free and stand side by side on the Mall, surrounded by the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial and the other monuments. A week here can be full without repeating yourself.

Gatlinburg barely has a night out. People stroll the lit Parkway, try moonshine and have a drink on a brewery terrace, and the strip is quiet by late evening. Washington has a real bar scene, driven by young staffers and students, with cocktail bars and rooftops on 14th and U Streets, cheap late drinking in Adams Morgan, dives on H Street and the long-established LGBTQ+ heart of Dupont Circle.

Gatlinburg is the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains, and within minutes you are among old hardwood forest, waterfalls such as Laurel Falls and Grotto Falls, and black bears. The Alum Cave climb to Mount LeConte, elk in the eastern valleys and the synchronous fireflies of spring give it real wilderness.

Washington is green for a capital, with Rock Creek Park, the flat C&O Canal towpath and the gorge at Great Falls close at hand. The proper mountains, Shenandoah and the Blue Ridge, are a long drive away, so your outdoor time is mostly spent walking and cycling by the river.

Gatlinburg has a few strong outings. Asheville and the Biltmore Estate are the best of them, and Cherokee, on the far side of the mountains, tells the story of the Eastern Band. After those, plus Knoxville and the theme parks of Pigeon Forge, there is not much else.

Washington has many more, and nearly all of them are about history. Old Town Alexandria is on the Metro, and Mount Vernon, Baltimore and Annapolis are each about an hour away. Gettysburg, Antietam and Harpers Ferry cover the Civil War, and Philadelphia's Independence Hall is a fast train ride off.

Both work well with children, but in different ways, and Gatlinburg has the edge for a classic family vacation. It offers an aquarium, alpine coasters, chairlift rides to treetop bridges, Dollywood nearby, and creek wading and junior ranger badges in the park. The downsides are traffic and queues.

Washington's appeal is learning without an entry fee: dinosaurs at Natural History, rockets at Air and Space and the free National Zoo. With the Metro's lifts, buggies are easy, but the long, hot Mall and the lack of theme parks make it better for school-age children than for toddlers.

Washington is far easier without a car. The centre is flat and laid out on a grid, and the Metro reaches Arlington, Alexandria and the airport, with bike-share filling the gaps. Only Georgetown needs a bus or a walk. In Gatlinburg the Parkway strip is walkable and a trolley runs to Pigeon Forge, but the cabins, trailheads and day trips all need a car, and the park roads can stall for long stretches on busy weekends.

Gatlinburg's Parkway is mostly souvenirs, candy kitchens and novelty knives, so the worthwhile buys are the quilts, pottery, brooms and woodwork sold straight from the studios of the Arts and Crafts Community, with outlet malls a short drive away. Washington has more variety: brick-fronted boutiques and antique shops in Georgetown, luxury labels at CityCenterDC, weekend stalls at Eastern Market and good museum shops. It has no craft tradition to match Gatlinburg's, though.

Gatlinburg is the cheaper stay. Older motels and big cabins shared between families can be good value, especially midweek and in winter, and the park costs little to enjoy, though the paid attractions and Dollywood quickly add up for a family.

Washington's rooms and restaurants are priced for expense accounts. What balances that is the free sightseeing, since the museums, the zoo and the memorials cost nothing, and staying out in Arlington helps with the hotel bill.

In Gatlinburg, live entertainment means bluegrass in the tasting rooms and the dinner shows and country revues of Pigeon Forge, with mountain music at Dollywood. It is fun, but there is no theatre or orchestra.

Washington has a real stage culture. Arena Stage, the Shakespeare Theatre Company, the Folger and Ford's Theatre are all here, alongside the National Symphony and the opera, and the Lincoln and Howard theatres on U Street put on big touring acts. In summer there are lawn concerts at Wolf Trap.

Neither has a spa tradition, but Gatlinburg is the more restful place to stay. A secluded cabin with a hot tub and a rocking chair, looking out over misty ridges, makes slowing down easy, as long as you stay up the hillside and away from the noisy strip. In Washington, rest comes down to hotel spas and quiet moments you find for yourself, such as an early walk round the Tidal Basin or a bench in the Dumbarton Oaks gardens.