Louisville or Orange Beach?

These two are nowhere near each other here. Louisville sits far inland on a working river where nobody swims, so summer bathing means a pool or a drive out to the reservoir lakes.

Orange Beach is built around a long strip of white quartz sand on the Gulf. The water shelves gently enough for small children, and in summer the sea is warm enough to stay in for hours. The things to watch for are rip currents, jellyfish in some summers and a cool sea in winter.

Louisville has the more interesting table. Bourbon runs through everything, from the bars of Whiskey Row to the distillery tasting rooms. The city has dishes of its own, such as the hot brown, burgoo and Derby pie, and a cluster of good Southern and farm-to-table restaurants in NuLu, the Highlands and Butchertown.

Orange Beach does one thing well: Gulf seafood such as Royal Reds, oysters and snapper, eaten at waterside fish houses. Beyond a few good dinners, the choice narrows to the same fried platters up and down the main road.

Louisville is good for two or three solid days of sightseeing. It has Churchill Downs and the Derby Museum, the Muhammad Ali Center, the Slugger and Frazier museums among the cast-iron fronts of Main Street, the Speed Art Museum, and the Victorian mansions of Old Louisville.

Orange Beach has little more than a small local museum. The coast's forts, museums and old towns are all elsewhere, so seeing any history means driving out of town.

Neither has much of a club scene, but Louisville has more to choose from. There is the long bar strip of Bardstown Road and the bourbon and cocktail bars of NuLu and Butchertown, and late licences let a night run on all year. Derby week in spring is the wildest time.

In Orange Beach, going out depends on the season and means driving between spots. The Flora-Bama roadhouse on the state line and a few decks around the marina fill up in summer and over spring break. The rest of the year, most evenings end after dinner.

Orange Beach has the better outdoors for a visitor, and most of it is on the water. You can kayak the back bays, take a dolphin cruise from Perdido Pass, go charter fishing or dive the offshore reefs, or cycle the paved trail through pine woods and marsh into Gulf State Park. Bon Secour is good for birding during the migrations.

Louisville's strengths are its Olmsted parks, the river walk across the Big Four Bridge and the fossil beds at the Falls of the Ohio. Bernheim Forest has woodland hiking, and Mammoth Cave is within reach. The country around the city rolls gently and is pleasant rather than striking.

Louisville has the stronger day trips, because bourbon country is worth the trip in itself. Bardstown and the distilleries towards Frankfort and Lawrenceburg are the main draw. Beyond them are the thoroughbred farms and Keeneland around Lexington, and the preserved Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill.

From Orange Beach, Pensacola's old quarter and forts and Mobile's antebellum streets make good days out, and Fort Morgan and the Dauphin Island ferry are close by. They fill the gaps in a beach stay rather than shape the trip. Both lists need a car.

Orange Beach is the easier family base, because the whole town is set up for children. Rentals come with kitchens and pools, the water is shallow, and there are dolphin boats, a Ferris wheel and mini golf for days off the sand. The rip currents and the midsummer sun need close watching.

Louisville comes a fair second. It has a well-regarded zoo, the hands-on Science Center, Kentucky Kingdom's roller coasters and water park, and the underground tram rides of the Mega Cavern. These are spread across a city, though, rather than a short walk from where you stay.

You need a car in both, but Louisville is the less awkward of the two. Downtown, the waterfront and NuLu can be done on foot, traffic is light and drives are short, even though Churchill Downs and the big parks are a drive away.

Orange Beach stretches for miles along one coastal highway that slows to a crawl in summer. On foot you rarely get beyond your own block, and a bicycle on the trails is the only real alternative.

Neither is a place to come for shopping, but Louisville has more character. Bardstown Road has vintage clothing, records and antiques, NuLu has a few design shops, and the city sells bourbon bottles that are hard to find elsewhere. Orange Beach sticks to beachwear, souvenirs and fishing gear, with the outlet mall in Foley for brand names.

The two cost about the same overall, but their expensive weeks fall at different times. Louisville's reasonably priced hotel rooms become very expensive during Derby week in spring. The rest of the year, food, tips and getting around add up day by day.

In Orange Beach, summer and long weekends are the costly times, and rates fall sharply from late autumn to early spring. Groups sharing a rental with a kitchen get the best value there.

Louisville has a full set of performing arts. The Kentucky Center hosts the orchestra, opera and ballet, Actors Theatre stages contemporary American plays, there is Shakespeare in the park in summer, and the bars play bluegrass and Americana.

In Orange Beach, live entertainment means touring country and rock acts at the marina amphitheatre and cover bands at the beach bars. Its one distinctive event is the songwriters' festival held each November.

Neither town has a bathing tradition, and both offer little beyond hotel and day spas. The difference is distance. Louisville is calmer than a big city, but real rest usually means leaving it, either for a quiet drive into the countryside or for the grand mineral-spring hotels of French Lick and West Baden Springs, about an hour and a half away in southern Indiana.

Orange Beach has the edge because the calm starts at your own door. You step out of the rental onto the sand, and very little competes for your time. What matters is when you go. Out of season the town is quiet and slow, but spring break and busy summer weekends bring crowds and noise, so for a restful stay, pick your dates carefully.