Nashville or Panama City Beach?

Nashville is far inland. Its only swimming is at reservoir lakes such as Percy Priest and Old Hickory, which are good for a pontoon afternoon in summer and little more.

Panama City Beach is the opposite: some 43km of powder-white quartz sand along the Gulf, a calm lagoon inside St. Andrews State Park and boat trips out to the empty sands of Shell Island. Rip currents are the one real hazard, so swim by the flags.

Nashville eats much better. Hot chicken, meat-and-three cafeterias, barbecue and Tennessee whiskey give it a real regional cuisine. East Nashville, Germantown and the Gulch add chef-led cooking, and there are Kurdish and Vietnamese kitchens along Nolensville Pike.

Panama City Beach does one thing well, and simply: Gulf grouper, shrimp baskets and bay oysters at dockside shacks. Beyond that, Front Beach Road is mostly chains and themed restaurants.

Nashville has far more to see, nearly all of it about music. There is the Country Music Hall of Fame, the National Museum of African American Music and a daytime tour of the Ryman, and also the Parthenon replica, the Frist in its Art Deco post office and the Hermitage. Panama City Beach has little beyond the small Man in the Sea Museum and the older streets of St. Andrews across the bay.

Nashville goes out on a scale the coast cannot match. Lower Broadway's honky-tonks have a live band on every floor until the small hours, and East Nashville's dive bars and cocktail lounges are a calmer alternative.

In Panama City Beach, a night out means a frozen drink at a tiki hut or a deck over the sand, with cover bands and some dancing on summer weekends. March brings rowdy spring break crowds, and outside summer most places are quiet by mid-evening. Neither town has much of a dance club scene.

The two differ more in kind than in quality, with the coast slightly ahead. Nashville has gentle wooded country: quiet trails at Radnor Lake, forest walks in the Warner Parks, an easy canoe on the Harpeth and cycling on the Natchez Trace Parkway, all best in spring and autumn.

Panama City Beach is flat, and most of its outdoor life is on the water. There are tall dunes and snorkelling in St. Andrews State Park, a rare coastal dune lake at Camp Helen, kayaking on St. Andrew Bay, dolphin trips and diving on offshore wrecks.

Nashville has more to choose from. Franklin's Main Street and Civil War battlefields are half an hour away, Leiper's Fork is close by, and the Jack Daniel's distillery in Lynchburg makes an easy whiskey outing, with Chattanooga at the limit of a day.

From Panama City Beach, the best trips follow the coast: west along 30A to the pastel planned towns of Seaside and Rosemary Beach, or east to the old oyster port of Apalachicola. From either base, every trip needs a car.

Nashville can work with children if you plan around the zoo at Grassmere, the Adventure Science Center and the Lane Motor Museum. Lower Broadway, though, is adult territory, and much of the day is spent in the car.

Panama City Beach is built for families. It has shallow summer water, condos with kitchens and pools, a water park, a marine park with dolphin shows and mini-golf all along Front Beach Road. The sheltered lagoon at St. Andrews is a good place for a first snorkel. Just avoid spring break in March.

Neither town is easy without a car, but Nashville at least has a compact downtown. Broadway, the Ryman, the Hall of Fame and the Gulch are a short walk apart, and a pedestrian bridge crosses to the east bank. Beyond that there are only buses, so reaching the Opry or the Hermitage means ride-hailing or a car.

Panama City Beach is a 43km strip with a slow trolley-bus and patchy pavements. A car is close to essential there, and most pleasant walking is along the sand.

Nashville's shopping has a character the coast lacks. Lower Broadway has boot and hat shops, there are vintage guitars and Hatch Show Print posters, and 12 South and East Nashville have independent boutiques and record shops. Panama City Beach offers chain stores at Pier Park and huge souvenir warehouses with shark-mouth entrances. For anything more individual, drive to the 30A towns.

Neither is a bargain, but Panama City Beach is easier on the wallet. A condo with a kitchen cuts the cost of eating, and outside summer and spring break rates drop sharply, especially for long winter stays.

Nashville's downtown hotels are expensive, above all at weekends, and ride-hailing fares add up. The saving is the music, since the Broadway honky-tonks charge no cover.

This is Nashville's great strength. The Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman with its pews and famous acoustics, songwriter nights in small rooms, bluegrass near the Gulch and the symphony at the Schermerhorn are reason enough to make the trip.

Panama City Beach offers cover bands on restaurant decks and summer concerts at the shopping centre. Across the bay, the historic theatre in Panama City has a modest season.

Neither town has a bathing or spa tradition. Nashville's centre runs on noise and late nights, so rest means a hotel spa or a stay in leafy Belmont or Hillsboro.

Panama City Beach is the more restful of the two from autumn to spring, when the beach empties and long sunset walks set the pace. In summer and during spring break, though, it is just as loud.