Myrtle Beach or Pigeon Forge?

This is the starkest difference between the two. Myrtle Beach sits on the Grand Strand, about 100km of flat sand with shallow, easy surf. You can choose the towers and piers of the central blocks or the quieter dune-backed shore at Surfside, Garden City and the state parks.

Pigeon Forge lies deep in the Tennessee foothills, far from any coast. Swimming there means Douglas Lake, the boulder pools of mountain streams, the Dollywood water park or the hotel pool. Anyone who wants sea and sand should not consider it.

Both towns serve hearty food in big portions, with buffets and pancake houses lining the main road, but Myrtle Beach has more worth seeking out. Shrimp, oysters and flounder come straight off the boats in Murrells Inlet, Calabash-style fried seafood is just over the state line, and Lowcountry dishes such as shrimp and grits and she-crab soup add some regional character.

Pigeon Forge's local touches are moonshine tastings and fudge and cornmeal treats around the Old Mill, along with fried chicken, biscuits and barbecue. For a properly ambitious meal you would drive to Knoxville or Asheville.

Neither is a place to go for history, and either can be covered in a day. Myrtle Beach's best sights lie south of town: Brookgreen Gardens, a sculpture garden on a former rice plantation that also tells the story of the people enslaved there, and the Moorish-style Atalaya house next door.

Pigeon Forge's sights are mostly built for fun, such as the half-scale Titanic and the illusion museums. Its real history is the 1830 Old Mill, Dollywood's craft workshops and the log cabins and churches of the national park.

Myrtle Beach has a proper night out in summer. The blocks around the boardwalk fill with beach bars and rooftop decks, the entertainment complexes have dance clubs open late, and North Myrtle Beach keeps its shag dancing alive in old clubs on Main Street. It is loud rather than polished, and it quietens down in the off-season.

Pigeon Forge has hardly any nightlife. After the go-karts and dinner shows there are a few sports bars, brewpubs and moonshine rooms, and adults who want more drive to Gatlinburg.

Myrtle Beach's outdoors are gentle and flat. You can watch herons, ospreys and alligators from the marsh boardwalks at Huntington Beach State Park, kayak through the cypress swamps of the Waccamaw River, take a dolphin cruise from the inlets or play some of the many golf courses. It is pleasant, but there is nothing to climb, and the summer humidity pushes most of it into the early morning.

Pigeon Forge has far more to offer, because the Great Smoky Mountains begin about half an hour up the road. Forested ridges rise above 2,000m, the Alum Cave trail climbs to Mount LeConte, Newfound Gap Road crosses the crest, and black bears and wild turkey are easy to spot in Cades Cove. Spring wildflowers and October colour give it two strong seasons.

Both offer a handful of worthwhile drives. Myrtle Beach has the single best one, Charleston, about two hours south, with its antebellum streets and harbour forts. Georgetown, Pawleys Island and Wilmington's riverfront are other options.

Pigeon Forge's choices are closer and more varied: Knoxville is forty minutes away, Cherokee and the Oconaluftee village lie across the mountains, and Asheville's Biltmore Estate and art deco downtown make a full day. From either base you will need a car.

The real choice here is sea or theme park, since the two are about equally good with children. Myrtle Beach builds the day around gentle surf and wide sand. It adds an aquarium, a seaside amusement park with an old wooden roller coaster, water parks, themed mini-golf and resort hotels with lazy rivers and kiddie pools.

Pigeon Forge builds it around Dollywood, with its rides, craft demonstrations and seasonal festivals, plus mountain coasters, large group cabins and easy waterfall walks in the park. Expect summer heat and slow traffic in either place, and at Myrtle Beach it is best to avoid the spring break weeks.

You will need a car in both towns, with attractions spread along busy multi-lane roads and slow traffic in peak weeks. The small differences are local. In Myrtle Beach the beach itself makes a long, flat walk, and bikes or golf carts work within a resort area. In Pigeon Forge a slow trolley runs the Parkway to Gatlinburg, but it does not reach the hillside cabins or the park trailheads.

Outlet malls dominate in both places, and neither has luxury or fashion streets. Myrtle Beach adds giant beachwear stores, waterfront shopping complexes and the town-centre feel of The Market Common, with sweetgrass baskets sold on the coast road south of town.

Pigeon Forge is better for handmade goods. Quilts, pottery and stone-ground cornmeal are sold by the Old Mill, and the craft studios in the hills above Gatlinburg make brooms, baskets and leatherwork.

Myrtle Beach is the cheaper of the two. Its huge supply of condos and motels means low off-season rates for oceanfront rooms, kitchens help keep food costs down, and the main attraction, the beach, costs nothing. July is the time to avoid if money is tight.

Pigeon Forge's large shared cabins work out well per person, but Dollywood tickets, dinner shows and paid activities soon add up for a family. Walking in the national park is the one big saving.

Pigeon Forge treats the evening show as a main event. Dozens of Parkway theatres stage country and gospel revues, comedy, magic and dinner shows every night, and Dollywood has bluegrass and Appalachian music on its stages through the day.

Myrtle Beach has a similar but smaller line-up of variety theatres, Christmas shows and knight or pirate dinner shows, plus touring country and rock acts and cover bands in beach bars. Neither has opera or serious drama, though Knoxville's historic theatres are within reach of Pigeon Forge.

Neither town has a bathing tradition, and both have only resort and hotel spas, so rest comes from where you stay. In Myrtle Beach that means the slower pace around Pawleys Island and the calmer spring and autumn months. In Pigeon Forge it means a hillside cabin with a porch, a fireplace and a hot tub overlooking the ridges, well away from the neon of the Parkway.