Marco Island or Pigeon Forge?

This is where the two differ most. Marco Island's western shore is a long curve of fine pale sand on the Gulf of Mexico, with gentle water and no surf. Tigertail's lagoon and sandbar are good for wading, and the undeveloped beach on Keewaydin Island is a short boat ride away.

Pigeon Forge is in the Tennessee foothills, many hours from the sea. Swimming there means the shores of Douglas Lake, rock pools in mountain streams, or the water park next to Dollywood. These are pleasant on a summer afternoon, but nobody goes there for a beach.

Marco Island eats better, though neither place is somewhere you would travel for the food. Its strength is Gulf seafood eaten by the water: grouper, shrimp, oysters and stone crab in the cooler months, plus fish platters by the docks in Goodland.

Pigeon Forge offers comfort food in big portions along the Parkway: pancake breakfasts, Southern buffets and barbecue, with moonshine tastings as its one local habit. Both send ambitious diners elsewhere, to Naples from Marco, and to Knoxville or Asheville from Pigeon Forge.

Neither place has much in the way of history or sightseeing. On Marco Island it comes down to one thoughtful museum on the Calusa people, the carved wooden figures found on the island and its clam-cannery past.

Pigeon Forge's sights are mostly built for entertainment, such as the half-scale Titanic and the illusion museums. The 1830 Old Mill, the crafts at Dollywood and the old log cabins and churches in the national park give it more of a link to Appalachian mountain life.

Both go quiet early, but the evenings feel different. On Marco Island an evening means sunset drinks on a waterfront deck and a mellow resort lounge, and adults who want more drive half an hour to Naples, which is itself fairly restrained.

In Pigeon Forge the evenings belong to families, with go-karts and lit-up attraction complexes until about ten, plus a few brewpubs and moonshine tasting rooms. Adults after a livelier night head up the valley to the bars in Gatlinburg.

Pigeon Forge has the edge for anyone who wants to be on foot. Half an hour away, the Great Smoky Mountains rise above 2,000m, with waterfall walks, the climb up to Mount LeConte, the Appalachian Trail along the ridge, and black bears in Cades Cove. Spring wildflowers and October colour are the highlights of the year.

Marco Island's outdoors is flat and watery. You can kayak through the mangroves of the Ten Thousand Islands, take a boat out to see dolphins, look for manatees and fish for snook and tarpon, and the Everglades and Big Cypress are within an hour's drive. It is wonderful for paddlers and anglers, but there is no hiking in the hill-walking sense.

The two are about level, but the outings are of different kinds. From Marco, most of the best trips lead into nature or to small places: Everglades City and Chokoloskee, the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, and the shell islands of Sanibel and Captiva, with Naples as the easy town trip.

From Pigeon Forge the trips lean towards towns and history: Knoxville's Market Square, the Cherokee museum and Oconaluftee village across Newfound Gap, and best of all a full day at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville.

Pigeon Forge is built around children. Dollywood's rides, shows and seasonal festivals, the summer water park, mini-golf, zip lines and an observation wheel fill a week, and the cabins and indoor water-park hotels are made for big groups. The catch is the traffic between stops in busy weeks.

Marco Island works in a simpler way. Shallow, calm water, wading at Tigertail and dolphin spotting suit small children, and the resorts have pools and kids' clubs. For anything more you drive to the zoo in Naples or take an airboat into the Everglades.

You will want a car in both places, and in both it is essential beyond the town itself. Marco Island is small and flat, with cycle paths that make cycling to the beach and shops easy in the cooler months. In Pigeon Forge you are on one long, busy multi-lane strip. The trolley helps on peak days, but it is slow, and the trailheads in the park can only be reached by car.

There is little shopping in either town itself, but the styles differ. Marco's few plazas sell resort wear, shells and coastal décor, and the serious shopping is half an hour away in Naples, with upmarket boutiques on Fifth Avenue South and Third Street South. Pigeon Forge has outlet malls with mid-market brands, plus real mountain crafts: pottery and quilts around the Old Mill, and brooms, baskets and leatherwork in the studios above Gatlinburg.

Pigeon Forge is the much cheaper stay. Its thousands of motel rooms and cabins keep lodging reasonable outside the peak weeks, and both buffets and walks in the national park cost little. What adds up is theme park days and dinner shows.

Marco Island is expensive almost everywhere, above all from January to April, when beachfront rooms and restaurants are priced for a well-off winter crowd. Summer rates fall and a weekly condo with a kitchen helps, but it is still not a budget choice.

Pigeon Forge puts on far more shows. Dozens of theatres along the Parkway stage country and gospel revues, comedy, magic and big dinner shows every night, and Dollywood has bluegrass and Appalachian music through the day. The style is broad and sentimental, so for serious theatre you go to Knoxville.

Marco Island offers a community theatre and a guitarist in a resort bar in winter. For an orchestra you drive to the Naples philharmonic, and outside the winter months there is little to attend.

Marco Island is the better place to slow down. The whole island moves at an unhurried pace, and the beachfront resorts have full spas and pools looking out over the Gulf, with yoga and day spas in the plazas too.

Pigeon Forge has only a few spas, and its calm is in the hillside cabins, with porches, fireplaces and private hot tubs looking out over the ridges. Down on the Parkway it is all neon and traffic, so you need to stay high up and well away from the strip.