Palm Beach or Pigeon Forge?

This is no contest. Palm Beach lies on an Atlantic shore warmed by the Gulf Stream, with clear blue-green water for swimming all year. Its public beaches are the Municipal Beach and Phipps Ocean Park, and wider sand at Singer Island, Jupiter and Delray is a short drive away.

Pigeon Forge is in the Tennessee foothills, many hours from the sea. Swimming there means Douglas Lake, boulder pools in mountain streams, hotel pools or the water park beside Dollywood. These are fine for cooling off on a hot day but no substitute for a sea.

Neither town is a food destination, but you eat better in Palm Beach. On the island that means formal French and Italian dining rooms and Florida seafood, including stone crab in season. Across the bridge, West Palm Beach adds Cuban bakeries, Caribbean takeaways and a weekend green market on the waterfront.

Pigeon Forge runs on big portions of comfort food: all-morning pancake breakfasts, Southern buffets, barbecue and chain restaurants along the Parkway. Moonshine tastings and fudge from the Old Mill are the local touches. For serious Appalachian cooking, people drive to Knoxville or Asheville.

Palm Beach's sights are few but real, and they come from Gilded Age wealth. The main ones are Flagler's marble Whitehall mansion, Mizner's Mediterranean Revival courtyards off Worth Avenue and the Norton Museum of Art across the lagoon. Together they fill two or three unhurried days.

Pigeon Forge's sights are mostly built for entertainment, such as the half-scale Titanic and the illusion museums. Its one historic building is the Old Mill of 1830. For more mountain heritage, go to the log cabins and churches inside the national park or watch the craft demonstrations at Dollywood.

Neither is a late-night town, but Palm Beach gives adults the better evening out, as long as they cross the lagoon. The island itself falls silent soon after dinner, and much of its social life happens behind the doors of members-only clubs. Over the bridge in West Palm Beach, Clematis Street and the open-air blocks around Rosemary Square offer a real choice of drinks, rooftop views and somewhere to dance on a Friday or Saturday. That is enough for a couple of evenings before it starts to feel repetitive.

Pigeon Forge's evenings are built for children rather than drinkers. The neon attraction complexes and go-kart tracks along the Parkway empty out by ten. Grown-ups get little more than a beer at a brewpub or a moonshine sampling, so many drive up the valley to Gatlinburg or spend a quiet night on the cabin porch. If a cocktail and some music after dark matter to you, Palm Beach is the clear choice.

Pigeon Forge is the better base for the outdoors because the Great Smoky Mountains rise just past Gatlinburg. There are forested ridges over 2,000m, the climb to Mount LeConte, the Appalachian Trail along the crest and black bears in Cades Cove. Spring wildflowers and October colour give it two strong seasons.

Palm Beach is flat, and its best nature is underwater: reefs close to shore and the famous shallow dive site under the Blue Heron Bridge. On land you can cycle the Lake Trail, walk the Everglades boardwalks at Loxahatchee and watch manatees in winter. It is gentler than the mountains, but a treat for divers and snorkellers.

Palm Beach has the bigger outing. Miami is about an hour away by fast train, with Art Deco South Beach, Little Havana and Wynwood, and Fort Lauderdale, Delray and Jupiter's lighthouse are along the same coast. The drawback is that most nearby towns are resorts much like the one you're staying in.

From Pigeon Forge every trip is by car. Knoxville's Market Square is about forty minutes away, Cherokee's museum lies over Newfound Gap, and the Biltmore Estate in Asheville makes a long but worthwhile day. These places differ more in character, but the drives are longer and the list runs out sooner.

Pigeon Forge is built for children in a way Palm Beach is not. Dollywood's coasters, crafts and seasonal festivals, the summer water park, mountain coasters, mini-golf and easy waterfall walks can fill a week. Cabins and indoor water-park hotels are designed for groups. The catch is the slow Parkway traffic in peak weeks.

Palm Beach works best for families with young swimmers, thanks to Peanut Island's shallow lagoon and the gentle public beaches, plus the zoo, the science centre and the winter manatees. The island itself is formal and adult, though, and most of the fun is across the bridge.

Both towns are easier with a car, but Palm Beach depends on one less. The island is flat, so the Lake Trail and the Worth Avenue area are pleasant on foot or by bike. Downtown West Palm Beach has a free trolley, and the fast train reaches Miami without any driving.

Pigeon Forge is a multi-lane strip where you can only walk inside the attraction complexes. The Parkway trolley is slow and doesn't reach the hillside cabins, the trailheads need a car, and traffic crawls in summer, October and over Christmas.

For shopping, Palm Beach is in a different league. Worth Avenue has the luxury houses and jewellers set among Mizner's courtyards. The island's consignment shops resell designer clothes from local wardrobes, and Antique Row in West Palm Beach is good for furniture and decorative arts.

Pigeon Forge offers outlet malls of mid-market American brands and plenty of souvenirs. Its better buys are crafts: pottery, quilts and stone-ground cornmeal near the Old Mill, and the brooms, baskets and woodwork made in the studios above Gatlinburg.

Pigeon Forge is far easier on the wallet. Motel rooms and cabins are plentiful, a large cabin shared between families works out cheaply per person and the buffets are inexpensive. Dollywood tickets, dinner shows and paid activities are where the costs mount.

Palm Beach is among the most expensive resort towns in America, with winter hotel rates and restaurant bills to match. Staying in West Palm Beach, coming in summer and sticking to the beaches and window-shopping all help, but it never becomes cheap.

Both towns put on plenty of shows, but of very different kinds. Palm Beach's season is in winter and centres on the Kravis Center, with touring Broadway musicals, orchestras, ballet and Palm Beach Opera. Palm Beach Dramaworks stages serious plays and the Society of the Four Arts holds chamber concerts. In summer there is little on.

Pigeon Forge entertains families every night, with country and gospel revues, Southern comedy, magic and dinner shows along the Parkway, and bluegrass on the Dollywood stages. Choose it for broad, cheerful entertainment and Palm Beach for classical music and theatre.

Palm Beach is the more restful place. The island is quiet and manicured, with large oceanfront resort spas, salt-water pools, beach yoga and early sea swims, though nothing communal or cheap.

Pigeon Forge has only a few day spas, and the Parkway is all neon and traffic. Its calm is in the hillside cabins, with porches, fireplaces and private hot tubs looking over the ridges. These suit couples who book high above the strip.