Philadelphia or Pigeon Forge?

Neither city has a beach, but Philadelphia at least has the Atlantic within reach. The wide sand of Ocean City, Wildwood and Cape May is a drive of under two hours, and between late June and early September it makes a proper summer day out, traffic permitting.

Pigeon Forge is deep in the Tennessee foothills. Swimming there means the water park beside Dollywood, hotel pools, Douglas Lake or wading among the boulders of mountain streams. That is pleasant on a hot afternoon but no substitute for the sea.

Philadelphia is the clear choice for anyone who plans their days around eating. Its own sandwiches, like the cheesesteak, the roast pork with broccoli rabe and the hoagie, are everyday food. Reading Terminal Market and the Italian Market are worth a visit in themselves, and the bring-your-own-wine dining rooms of East Passyunk and Fishtown add depth.

Pigeon Forge feeds people generously, with pancake houses, Southern buffets and barbecue along the Parkway, but little of it is ambitious. Moonshine tastings and fudge are its local flavour. For serious Appalachian cooking you drive to Knoxville or Asheville.

This is the widest gap between the two. Philadelphia has Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, the Georgian streets of Society Hill, and museums of real weight in the Barnes Foundation and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. That is enough for several days.

Pigeon Forge's sights are built for entertainment, such as a half-scale Titanic and illusion museums. The 1830 Old Mill is its one genuine historic building, and the history worth seeing lies outside town, in the log cabins and churches of the national park.

Philadelphia is a good bar city rather than a club city. It has warehouse bars and craft-beer halls in Fishtown, cocktails around Rittenhouse Square and the long-established Gayborhood, and student crowds keep weekends lively.

In Pigeon Forge, evenings revolve around dinner shows and go-karts that wind down around ten, with a few brewpubs and moonshine rooms for adults. Grown-ups who want a proper drink usually head to Gatlinburg or back to the cabin.

Here Pigeon Forge pulls well ahead. The Great Smoky Mountains begin about half an hour away, with forested ridges above 2,000m, waterfall walks such as Laurel Falls, the climb to Mount LeConte and black bears in Cades Cove. Spring wildflowers and October colour add to the appeal.

Philadelphia's green side is gentler but closer at hand. The wooded Wissahickon gorge lies inside the city limits, and the Schuylkill River Trail runs out past Boathouse Row for cycling. Beyond that, the Pine Barrens and the Brandywine country are pleasant rather than dramatic.

Philadelphia is far better placed for days out. Fast trains reach New York in about an hour and a quarter and Washington in around two, and Amish Lancaster County, Valley Forge and Longwood Gardens are all within easy range.

From Pigeon Forge the options are mostly by car: Gatlinburg next door, Knoxville in about forty minutes and Cherokee over Newfound Gap. Asheville, with the Biltmore Estate, is the one big outing, and after that the list runs thin.

Both work with children, but Pigeon Forge is built around them. Dollywood and its water park, mountain coasters, go-karts and big cabins with room for several families make a week of fun easy to arrange. Expect to spend time in traffic on the Parkway between stops.

Philadelphia suits families who enjoy museums. It has the Franklin Institute's walk-through heart, the Please Touch Museum for under-eights, the dinosaurs at the Academy of Natural Sciences and the country's oldest zoo. Older children get more out of the Liberty Bell than toddlers do.

Philadelphia is far easier without a car. Center City's flat grid puts Old City, Rittenhouse Square and the Parkway museums within walking distance, and SEPTA's subway, trolleys and airport train cover the rest, if plainly.

Pigeon Forge is a long multi-lane strip where a car is close to essential. The Parkway trolley helps on busy days, but it is slow and does not reach the hillside cabins, and you can only get to the national park trailheads by road.

Philadelphia has more range. It offers Walnut Street around Rittenhouse Square, independent shops in Old City and Fishtown, and the historic Jewelers' Row. The huge King of Prussia mall is half an hour away, and Pennsylvania charges no sales tax on clothing.

Pigeon Forge is mostly outlet malls and souvenirs. Its mountain crafts are the exception and something Philadelphia cannot match: quilts and pottery by the Old Mill, and the studio workshops above Gatlinburg.

Neither is a bargain, and overall costs come out about even, but they hit in different places. In Philadelphia the hotel bill is the big expense. Free entry to the Independence sights, cheap sandwich lunches and bring-your-own-wine dinners help to offset it.

In Pigeon Forge lodging is the easy part, especially a large cabin shared between families. Theme park tickets, dinner shows and the car you cannot do without push the total up.

Philadelphia offers the serious stage. The Philadelphia Orchestra plays on the Avenue of the Arts, there is opera and ballet in the 1857 Academy of Music, and you can add Curtis Institute recitals, the Walnut Street Theatre, jazz clubs and indie venues.

Pigeon Forge has plenty of live entertainment of its own kind: country and gospel revues, comedy and dinner shows, and bluegrass on Dollywood's stages. It is broad and aimed at families, and the nearest classical music or serious theatre is in Knoxville.

Neither suits a spa break, and neither has a bathing tradition, so the difference lies in where you find calm. In Philadelphia that means a day spa near Rittenhouse Square, a suburban Korean-style bathhouse or a quiet bench in one of Penn's squares. In Pigeon Forge it means a hillside cabin with a porch and a private hot tub over the ridges, which is the more restful choice if you book well away from the Parkway.