Naples, Florida or Pigeon Forge?

There is no real contest here. Naples has a long run of fine, pale sand along the Gulf, with shallow, calm water, the pier in Old Naples and wilder stretches at Clam Pass and Barefoot Beach. The main drawbacks are summer storms and the occasional algae bloom.

Pigeon Forge sits in the Tennessee foothills, far from any coast. Swimming there means Douglas Lake, the boulder pools in mountain streams or the water park beside Dollywood.

Neither is a place to travel for food, but you will eat noticeably better in Naples. The white-tablecloth dining rooms on Fifth Avenue South and the dockside fish houses around Tin City serve grouper, stone crab and oysters, though none of it is cheap.

Pigeon Forge means pancake houses, Southern buffets, barbecue and national chains along the Parkway. Moonshine tastings and fudge from around the Old Mill are its local touches. The portions are big and cheap, but for ambitious cooking you drive to Knoxville or Asheville.

Both are young resort towns with little to see, though Naples has a little more substance. The Baker Museum's modern and American art and the Revs Institute's historic racing cars are serious collections, and Palm Cottage gives a glimpse of early Naples.

Most of Pigeon Forge's sights are built for fun, such as the half-scale Titanic and the illusion museums. The Old Mill of 1830 is its one genuinely historic building, and for real history you go to the log cabins and churches in the national park.

Both towns are quiet after dark, and Naples only just comes out ahead for adults. Its evenings mean wine bars and piano lounges on Fifth Avenue South and tiki bars at sunset, with an older crowd and little open past midnight.

Pigeon Forge keeps families out until about ten with go-karts and lit-up attractions, but drinking is limited to sports bars, brewpubs and moonshine tasting rooms. For a proper night out, people in Naples drive to Fort Myers Beach or Miami, and people in Pigeon Forge to Gatlinburg.

The Smokies give an active traveller more to do, though Naples has a wilderness of its own close by. Big Cypress, the western Everglades and the boardwalk at Corkscrew Swamp are all within an hour, with alligators and wading birds, and the best day out is paddling a kayak through the mangrove channels of the Ten Thousand Islands or Rookery Bay. This is flat water and swamp rather than walking country, and summer heat and mosquitoes push the best of it into the dry winter months.

Pigeon Forge offers real height instead. Half an hour away the Great Smoky Mountains rise above 2,000m, with trails ranging from the short walk to Laurel Falls to the steep ascent of Mount LeConte, and black bears and deer are easy to see in Cades Cove. Spring wildflowers and the October colour give it two strong seasons, but you have to drive out of town to reach any of it, because there is no scenery along the strip.

For day trips the two are broadly level, and both need a car. Trips from Naples follow the coast: the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, the shelling islands of Sanibel and Captiva, and the Ringling museums in Sarasota, about two hours north.

From Pigeon Forge the trips lean towards mountain towns and Appalachian heritage: the crafts loop above Gatlinburg, Knoxville's Market Square and the Cherokee museum over Newfound Gap. The best full day out is the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, just under two hours away.

Pigeon Forge is the stronger choice for families because the town exists for them. Dollywood, with its rides, crafts and seasonal festivals, is at the centre, backed by a water park, go-karts, mountain coasters and big cabins for groups. The catch is that the attractions are spread along a long strip, which means driving between them and summer traffic.

Naples is calmer and easier with small children, thanks to warm, shallow Gulf water, shelling, Naples Zoo and a children's museum. What it lacks is a theme park, and Orlando is well over three hours away.

You will want a car in both places. Naples has the advantage of a small walkable centre: stay in the Old Naples grid and the beach, restaurants and shops are within walking distance, on flat streets that are easy by bicycle. The Everglades and the northern beaches still need a car.

Pigeon Forge has no such centre, only a long multi-lane strip where you can walk only inside each attraction complex. The trolley along the Parkway to Gatlinburg helps on busy days, but it is slow and does not reach the cabins or the trailheads.

Naples is the better place to shop, and the more polished. Fifth Avenue South and Third Street South mix galleries, jewellers and resort-wear boutiques, an open-air mall gathers the international designer labels, and there are outlets half an hour north.

Pigeon Forge offers outlets, souvenirs and fudge along the Parkway, and no fashion or luxury shopping at all. Its strength is handmade goods: pottery and quilts around the Old Mill, and studios above Gatlinburg making brooms, baskets and woodwork, which Naples cannot match.

Pigeon Forge is much easier on the wallet. Thousands of motel rooms and cabins keep lodging reasonable outside the peak weeks, a shared cabin works out cheap per person, and breakfasts and buffets cost little, though theme park days and dinner shows soon add up.

Naples is expensive, with high resort rates from January to April, restaurants aimed at a wealthy clientele and a rental car on top. The beaches are free, and coming in summer or staying in Fort Myers brings costs down.

Each town has a similar amount of live entertainment, but the styles could hardly be more different. Naples has a winter season of classical and pops concerts from the Naples Philharmonic, along with touring Broadway shows, chamber music and professional theatre, though it largely goes quiet in summer.

Pigeon Forge puts on family shows every night: country and gospel revues, comedy and magic acts, dinner shows with horses or pirate ships, and bluegrass at Dollywood. Anyone who wants orchestral music or serious drama will be happier in Naples.

Resort spas by the Gulf or a hot tub on a cabin porch: of the two, Naples is the more restful place. Its large beachfront resorts run well-equipped spas with pools and fitness classes that non-guests can use, and quiet streets, golf and long sunset walks along the shore keep the whole town at a slow pace.\n\nPigeon Forge has a few day spas and resort spas, but its real rest comes from the wooded hillside cabins, with rocking chairs on the porch, a fireplace and a private hot tub looking out over the ridges. That calm stops at the Parkway, where neon and traffic set the opposite mood, so book high up.