Nashville or St. Petersburg, Florida?

This is the widest gap between the two. Nashville is far inland, and the best it can manage is a swim or a pontoon afternoon on Percy Priest or Old Hickory Lake in summer.

St. Petersburg has a whole chain of Gulf barrier islands, from the broad sand of St. Pete Beach and Pass-a-Grille to the wilder shore at Fort De Soto and ferry-only Caladesi Island. The water is calm and warm for much of the year, so the beach can easily be the point of the whole trip.

Nashville has the more distinctive table. Hot chicken is a dish people seek out, meat-and-three cafeterias and smoked barbecue give a real taste of the South, and the immigrant restaurants along Nolensville Pike add range beyond the chef-led kitchens of East Nashville and the Gulch.

St. Petersburg eats more casually, with grouper sandwiches, smoked fish spread and stone crab at waterfront shacks. Its real strength is craft beer rather than cooking, though Tampa's Cuban food in Ybor City is close by.

The two are about level, but the culture is of a different kind. Nashville's sights are mostly about music, led by the Country Music Hall of Fame and a daytime tour of the Ryman, with the Parthenon replica, the Frist in its Art Deco post office and plantation houses such as the Hermitage covering art and Southern history.

St. Petersburg is the stronger choice for art. The Dalí Museum is a genuine draw, and the Museum of Fine Arts, the Chihuly glass and the Arts and Crafts museum sit within a short walk on the waterfront, but there is little history beyond the 1920s boom-era buildings.

Nashville goes out much harder. Lower Broadway's multi-storey honky-tonks have a band on every floor and a crowd until the small hours, and East Nashville and Midtown offer dive bars and cocktail lounges for a quieter night. It is drinking with live music rather than clubbing.

St. Petersburg's evenings are gentler: a walk between taprooms and rooftop bars on Central Avenue, or sunset at a beach tiki bar. For a rowdier night people cross the bay to Ybor City.

St. Petersburg has the better outdoors for most visitors, and it is all about water. Paddling through the mangroves at Weedon Island or Shell Key brings dolphins, rays and, in winter, manatees, and the flat Pinellas Trail makes for easy cycling.

Nashville offers wooded hills instead, with forest walks in Radnor Lake and the Warner Parks, canoeing on the Harpeth and drives along the Natchez Trace. It suits walkers who want some shade and gentle hills, which the Florida coast cannot offer.

Both have a modest list of outings, so the choice comes down to taste. From Nashville they are small towns and history: Franklin's Main Street and Civil War battlefields, the village of Leiper's Fork, and whiskey distilleries around Lynchburg.

St. Petersburg's trips are more varied in character, with Ybor City's cigar-factory streets in Tampa, the Ringling in Sarasota and the Greek sponge docks of Tarpon Springs. Orlando's theme parks are possible but make for a very long day.

St. Petersburg works better with children. Gentle Gulf surf and family-ready beach condos make the days easy, and the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Busch Gardens and the Florida Aquarium are all within a drive.

Nashville is fine if you plan around the zoo, the Adventure Science Center and the Lane Motor Museum, and the Parthenon tends to impress children. The catch is that its best-known street is built for adult drinking, and getting between sights means a lot of driving.

Getting around is much the same in both: a walkable downtown and then a car. Nashville's core of Broadway, the Ryman and the Gulch is easy on foot, but the Opry, the Hermitage and neighbourhoods like 12 South are each a drive, with only buses and heavy rush-hour traffic.

St. Petersburg has a slight edge for a car-free stay, because a trolley loop covers downtown and a rapid bus runs to St. Pete Beach. Other beaches and every day trip still need a hire car or ride-hailing.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Nashville has the clearer theme. Boot and hat shops on Broadway, guitar stores and Hatch Show Print posters make for souvenirs you would not find elsewhere.

St. Petersburg's shopping is small and local, with vintage shops, galleries selling glass and prints in the Grand Central District, and the winter Saturday Morning Market. In both cities, big brands mean a trip to a suburban mall.

Both are priced like large American destinations, and neither is cheap once tax, tips and ride-hailing or car hire are added. Nashville's downtown hotels are dearest at weekends, but the free live music on Broadway saves a lot on entertainment.

In St. Petersburg the beaches, parks and waterfront cost nothing, and beachfront rates ease in the hot summer months. Staying a little away from the sand, or away from downtown Nashville, helps in either city.

This is Nashville's great strength. The Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman's famous acoustics and the intimate songwriter nights where hit writers play their own songs make it a place to plan a trip around, with bluegrass, Americana, the symphony at the Schermerhorn and ballet and opera besides.

St. Petersburg has a reliable but small programme centred on the Mahaffey Theater and the Florida Orchestra, plus a regional theatre and a courtyard venue for bands. For opera or large touring shows you cross to Tampa.

St. Petersburg is the easier place to slow down. Neither has a bathing tradition, but here the historic beach hotels have resort spas, Pass-a-Grille stays sleepy and watching the sun set over the Gulf is a nightly habit.

Nashville's centre runs on noise and late nights, so rest means a hotel spa or a base in leafy Belmont or Hillsboro, away from Broadway.