Ocean City, Maryland or Pigeon Forge?

Ocean City is built around its beach: an unbroken strip of soft Atlantic sand with lifeguards along its whole length and moderate surf for bodyboarding. The wild, dune-backed shore of Assateague is close by. The limit is the calendar, because the water is only warm from late June to September.

Pigeon Forge has no coast at all. Swimming there means Douglas Lake, the pools among the boulders in mountain streams or the water park beside Dollywood. These are pleasant on a hot afternoon but never a reason to go.

Neither town is a place for serious eating. Ocean City still has a real local tradition in its blue crab feasts, crab cakes and oysters, and in the boardwalk fries and custard sold by long-standing family stands. Pigeon Forge serves pancake houses, Southern buffets and barbecue, which are generous but have little regional character beyond moonshine tastings, so for proper Appalachian cooking you drive to Knoxville or Asheville.

Both are resort towns with little heritage, and what they do have differs in flavour. Ocean City's history is the seaside itself: the old boardwalk, the Life-Saving Station Museum and an early twentieth-century carousel.

Pigeon Forge has the Old Mill of 1830, which still grinds flour, and mountain crafts at Dollywood, but most of its sights are novelty attractions such as the Titanic replica. The log cabins and churches of the national park teach more history than anything in town.

Ocean City is a genuine summer party town. There are sand-floored open-air bars on the bayside at sunset and a long run of dance bars and sports bars along the Coastal Highway that stay full until closing. The crowd is young and loud, especially in early June, and the scene largely shuts down out of season.

In Pigeon Forge the evenings belong to families, and the strip goes quiet by about ten. Adults get a few brewpubs and moonshine tasting rooms, and anyone wanting a proper night out drives to Gatlinburg.

Pigeon Forge is far ahead outdoors because it sits at the door of the Great Smoky Mountains. There are forested ridges above 2,000m, the Appalachian Trail, waterfall walks and black bears in Cades Cove. Spring wildflowers and October colour make the park worth a trip on their own.

Ocean City's nature is low and open: salt marsh, shallow bays and the wild ponies of Assateague. It is good for kayaking, birding, crabbing and offshore sport fishing, but nowhere nearby has a walk with any climb in it.

The day trips are about as good from either town but very different in kind. From Ocean City they are small and quiet: the historic main street of Berlin, the pony village of Chincoteague, the restaurants of Rehoboth and the ferry from Lewes to Victorian Cape May.

Pigeon Forge has real cities within reach. Knoxville is about forty minutes away, Asheville and the Biltmore Estate are close enough for a full day, and Cherokee lies across the mountains. Beyond those, the choice runs out quickly.

Both are classic American family resorts and do the job equally well, but one is about the beach and the other about the theme park. Ocean City gives children lifeguarded sand, two old boardwalk amusement parks, water parks and mini-golf, all close together near the sea.

Pigeon Forge revolves around Dollywood, its water park and the go-karts and mountain coasters of the Parkway, with bear spotting in the national park as a bonus. Its attractions are spread along one long road, so expect more time in the car. Ocean City's own drawback is the graduating teenagers who arrive in early June.

You need a car to reach either town, but Ocean City is easier once you are there. The beach is a few minutes from almost any street, the boardwalk and inlet district are pleasant to walk and cycle, and in summer a bus and a boardwalk tram cover the strip.

Pigeon Forge is one long multi-lane road where you can walk only inside individual complexes. The trolley is slow and does not reach the hillside cabins, the park trailheads need a car, and in peak season Parkway traffic can turn a short hop into a long wait.

Pigeon Forge has more to buy, mainly in its large outlet centres along the Parkway and towards Sevierville. It also has real mountain crafts: quilts and pottery by the Old Mill, and brooms, baskets and woodwork from the studios above Gatlinburg. Ocean City offers beachwear, surf shops, taffy and one outlet centre over the bridge, with little that is made locally.

Both carry American resort prices and cost about the same, but the savings come in different places. In Ocean City the free public beach and boardwalk food keep the days cheap, while oceanfront rooms in summer are the big expense. Late May and September are the times to save.

In Pigeon Forge, lodging is easier on the budget because big cabins can be shared between families, but theme park tickets and dinner shows add up quickly. Hiking in the national park costs very little.

Pigeon Forge is the clear choice for a show. Dozens of Parkway theatres stage country and gospel revues, comedy, magic and dinner shows every night, and Dollywood adds bluegrass and Appalachian music through the day. The style is broad and sentimental, never highbrow.

In Ocean City, live performance amounts to a theatre in the convention centre for touring comedians and tribute bands, free summer concerts at the boardwalk bandstand and cover bands in the bars.

Neither town has a spa tradition, so rest depends on where you stay. Pigeon Forge has the edge thanks to its wooded hillside cabins, with porches, fireplaces and private hot tubs looking out over the ridges, well away from the neon of the Parkway.

Ocean City in high summer is noisy day and night. Its calm comes mostly out of season or at the quieter northern end, where an empty beach at dawn is the nearest thing to a retreat.