Memphis or Savannah?

Memphis has nothing to offer here. The Mississippi is not for swimming, and cooling off in summer means a pool, a splash pad or a drive to a country lake.

Savannah has a real beach day within easy reach at Tybee Island, about half an hour away. Its wide, flat sand and warm summer sea suit children and long walks, although the water is marsh-tinted rather than clear and the town is low-key. Even so, Tybee is an outing within a Savannah stay rather than the reason for one.

The two eat equally well but very differently. Memphis is about pork: dry-rubbed ribs, pulled-shoulder sandwiches, barbecue spaghetti, and soul-food staples such as catfish, greens and Delta tamales, served in places from neighbourhood pits to big downtown rooms.

Savannah looks to the coast, with shrimp and grits, she-crab soup, Lowcountry boil and fire-roasted oysters, often served family-style at long tables. Its handful of chef-led restaurants in restored townhouses gives it a slightly more polished top end. In both cities the cooking beyond the regional kitchen is limited.

Savannah has the edge, because the city itself is the attraction. Oglethorpe's grid of garden squares, the live oaks, the Federal and Greek Revival houses and Factors Walk reward simply wandering, and the Telfair Museums and Owens-Thomas House add depth.

Memphis works the other way round. Its historic townscape is patchy, but a handful of museums carry real weight: the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, Sun Studio, Stax and Graceland. Plan to spend your time inside those rather than strolling between them.

Both are easy, sociable nights out rather than deep scenes, and both let you carry a drink from bar to bar. Memphis centres on Beale Street, a loud party strip closed to traffic at weekends, while the locals' bars in Overton Square and Cooper-Young are a car or ride-hail away.

Savannah's evenings spread more gently between River Street's cobbled bars, the taverns of City Market and cocktail rooms in old townhouses, all within walking distance of each other. Weekends bring bachelorette crowds, and St Patrick's Day turns the whole city into a street party.

Savannah gets you closer to wild landscape. Salt marsh, tidal creeks and barrier islands are best seen by kayak or on a dolphin-spotting boat, and Wormsloe's oak avenue and Skidaway Island add easy walks.

Memphis offers river views and big parks rather than wild country. You can cross the Mississippi on foot over the Big River Crossing, see bison at Shelby Farms and walk the old-growth woods of Overton Park. In both cities the land is flat and the summers too sticky for long outings.

Savannah has more variety within a drive: Charleston's historic peninsula, the Sea Island town of Beaufort, Hilton Head, Fort Pulaski and Jekyll Island's old millionaires' district.

From Memphis the best trips follow one theme, heading south down Highway 61 into the Delta for Clarksdale's juke joints and the Blues Trail, or east to Oxford, Tupelo and Shiloh. That suits music and history pilgrims well, though the towns are small. Both cities need a car for these trips.

Savannah is the easier city with children, mainly because the squares and Forsyth Park give shady room to run close to the hotels. Trolley tours, the free ferry and Tybee's gentle beach are simple treats.

Memphis has the bigger attractions, especially the large Memphis Zoo, along with the Pink Palace planetarium and Shelby Farms. But every outing means driving, and its headline museums suit teenagers more than small children.

Getting around is easier in Savannah. Its historic district is a flat, compact grid where hotels, restaurants and sights are all a short walk apart, and a free shuttle and a river ferry cover the rest. You need a car only for Bonaventure, Wormsloe or Tybee.

In Memphis, only downtown can be walked, with heritage trolleys along Main Street. Graceland, Midtown and Shelby Farms are spread far apart, buses are of little use, and most visitors end up hiring a car or using ride-hailing for most journeys.

Neither city is a shopping destination, but Savannah has an actual street to browse. Broughton Street's restored storefronts, the shops selling art by students and graduates of the city's art school, and the antique dealers around the southern squares make for a pleasant afternoon. Memphis's best finds are vintage vinyl and music memorabilia, with a few boutiques in Cooper-Young and on Broad Avenue. Mainstream shopping there means the suburban malls.

Memphis is noticeably cheaper day to day. Rooms away from the busiest downtown weekends and the city's everyday cooking both cost less than in Savannah, though the need for a car or ride-hails and full admission at the music attractions eat into the saving.

Savannah's historic-district inns are priced for the city's popularity, and spring weekends push them higher. What narrows the gap is that Savannah's main attraction is the old town itself, which costs nothing to explore on foot, whereas the best sights in Memphis are museums that charge admission.

Memphis is far ahead for live music, and you can hear it on any night of the year. Beale Street house bands play blues and soul from the afternoon on, Midtown venues add rock and hip-hop, and the Levitt Shell puts on free summer concerts. The Orpheum, the ballet and the opera round it out.

Savannah's music is concentrated in its spring festival, with chamber music, jazz and Americana in historic theatres and churches, plus an autumn jazz festival in Forsyth Park. Arrive outside those dates and there is little more than a few bar bands and buskers.

Neither city has a spa tradition. Savannah is far more restful, though: bench-sitting under the oaks, quiet inn courtyards and an unhurried pace in the southern squares make doing very little easy, especially midweek in spring. A Memphis trip leans towards late nights and heavy meals, and its calm moments are limited to early walks in Overton Park and evenings on the bluffs above the river.