Kansas City or Pigeon Forge?

Neither city is a beach destination, and both are a very long way from any coast. The swimming is different in kind, though. Kansas City has sandy lake beaches in county parks on the edge of the metro area, plus pools. Pigeon Forge has the shores of Douglas Lake, Dollywood's water park and, best of all, cool pools among the boulders of the Smokies streams, which makes a summer swim more memorable.

Kansas City is far better for eating out, and barbecue is the reason. Burnt ends and hickory-smoked meats come from old counters near the stockyards and 18th and Vine, and the city has steakhouses from its cattle-town past. The River Market adds Vietnamese, Ethiopian and Middle Eastern cooking, and the Westside is known for Mexican food.

Pigeon Forge feeds people well but plainly. Along the Parkway you will find pancake houses, Southern buffets and chain restaurants, and the only local touches are moonshine tastings and fudge by the Old Mill. For an ambitious meal you would drive to Knoxville or Asheville.

Kansas City has real sightseeing. The Nelson-Atkins has major Chinese holdings and Oldenburg's shuttlecocks on its lawn. The WWI museum sits under the Liberty Memorial, and 18th and Vine tells African American stories through baseball and jazz. Union Station and the Spanish-style Plaza add architecture.

Pigeon Forge was built for entertainment. Its sights are a half-scale Titanic, illusion museums and car collections, and the 1830 Old Mill is its one true historic building. The history worth seeking out is in the log cabins and churches of the national park.

Kansas City gives you a real choice of evenings, even if it is no party city. You can watch a game in the big sports bars of the Power and Light District, drink at Westport's scruffy student strip, or go to the calmer cocktail and craft beer bars of the Crossroads.

In Pigeon Forge, evenings mean go-karts and lit-up attractions until about ten. After that there are a few brewpubs and moonshine tasting rooms. Adults wanting a drink usually drive to Gatlinburg or go back to the hot tub.

Here Pigeon Forge is in a different league. The Great Smoky Mountains rise to more than 2,000m just up the road, with waterfall walks such as Laurel Falls, the climb to Mount LeConte, black bears in Cades Cove and the drive over Newfound Gap. There are wildflowers in spring and blazing colour in October.

Kansas City's outdoors is pleasant but tame. It has rolling prairie, the large Swope Park, Loose Park's rose garden, paved creek trails and reservoirs for boating. For real hiking you would drive several hours to the Ozarks.

Pigeon Forge has more to drive to. You can go to Gatlinburg's crafts studios, Knoxville's Market Square, the Cherokee museum and Oconaluftee village over Newfound Gap, or the Biltmore Estate and art deco centre of Asheville for a full day out.

Kansas City's outings are smaller in scale. Truman's home and library in Independence, the college town of Lawrence, the river town of Weston and St Joseph's Pony Express museum each make a pleasant half day. In both places you need a car.

Pigeon Forge exists for families. Dollywood is the centrepiece, with coasters, crafts and seasonal festivals. The Parkway adds mountain coasters and mini-golf, and the national park offers easy waterfall walks and bear spotting. Large cabins and water-park hotels are built for groups, though traffic on the strip in peak weeks tests patience.

Kansas City is also easy with children. It has Worlds of Fun, a big zoo, Science City inside Union Station and the aquarium and Legoland Discovery Centre at Crown Center. Its attractions are spread out rather than gathered in one resort, so expect plenty of driving.

Both are car places, but Kansas City gives you more options. Its streetcar runs along Main Street from the River Market through downtown and Union Station to Crown Center and beyond, so if you stay near the line you can manage a day or two without a car, and the highways are uncrowded.

Pigeon Forge is one long multi-lane strip. The trolley is slow and doesn't reach the hillside cabins, the trailheads can only be reached by car, and traffic crawls in summer, October and the Christmas weeks.

Kansas City has the wider range. The 1920s Country Club Plaza has tiled towers and upmarket stores, the Crossroads has galleries and vintage shops, and Westport and 39th Street have record shops and thrift stores.

Pigeon Forge's shopping is outlet malls and souvenirs, with no fashion to speak of. Its strength is mountain crafts. You will find quilts, pottery and stone-ground cornmeal around the Old Mill, and brooms, baskets and woodwork from the studios above Gatlinburg, which are better to take home than Kansas City's barbecue sauce.

Overall costs come out much the same, but the savings come from different places. Kansas City's hotels are cheaper than in the coastal cities, parking is easy and the Nelson-Atkins charges nothing for general entry, but most visitors still hire a car and pay separately for each attraction.

Pigeon Forge is cheapest for groups, since a big cabin shared between families works out well per person and breakfasts and buffets are inexpensive. Lodging costs more in the peak seasons, and theme park days and dinner shows add up, while walking in the national park costs very little.

Kansas City has the stronger stage, and its jazz is the draw. This is the home of the swing that produced Count Basie and Charlie Parker, and small clubs still hold late jam sessions. The Kauffman Center houses the symphony, opera and ballet, and in summer the Starlight Theatre stages musicals in the open air.

Pigeon Forge puts on plenty of shows, but all in one style. Its theatres run country and gospel revues, comedy, magic and dinner shows with horses or pirate ships, and Dollywood has bluegrass on its stages. There is no jazz, opera or serious drama.

Pigeon Forge is the easier place to slow down, thanks to its cabins rather than its spas. A wooded rental high above the Parkway, with a porch, a fireplace and a private hot tub facing the ridges, makes for a very quiet evening. Down on the neon strip, the pace is the opposite.

Kansas City has hotel and day spas. About forty minutes north is Excelsior Springs, an old mineral-water resort. Its calm comes from the city's unhurried pace, such as a morning in the Nelson-Atkins sculpture park.