Pigeon Forge or Pittsburgh?

Neither is a place for a swimming vacation, and the water you get is different in each. Around Pigeon Forge it means wading pools in the national park's boulder-strewn streams, the shores of Douglas Lake and, most of all, the Dollywood water park and hotel pools.

Pittsburgh offers real sand, but at a distance. There are small beaches on Lake Arthur about 45 minutes north and a long Lake Erie shore at Presque Isle about two hours away. In town people go out on the rivers in kayaks rather than swimming in them.

Pittsburgh eats far better. It has a food culture with roots in Central and Eastern European immigration, so pierogies and haluski turn up in diners and at church sales. The Strip District is a proper market street to graze along, and Lawrenceville and East Liberty have serious modern kitchens set in old industrial buildings.

Pigeon Forge feeds people well enough but simply: pancake breakfasts, fried chicken buffets, barbecue and chain steakhouses along the Parkway. Its most local touches are moonshine tastings and stone-ground treats by the Old Mill. For an ambitious dinner you have to drive to Knoxville.

The gap here is wide. Pittsburgh has steel-fortune institutions to fill several days: the Carnegie's dinosaur halls and art collection, the Nationality Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning, the Warhol Museum and the Mattress Factory on the North Side, and the Frick estate. The best view of all is the panorama of bridges and rivers from the top of the inclines.

Pigeon Forge was built for entertainment rather than history. Its sights are the Titanic replica and novelty museums. The water-powered Old Mill of 1830 is the one genuine landmark, and the old log cabins and churches inside the national park tell more of the region's story.

Pittsburgh is the place for a night out, though bars matter more there than clubs. Butler Street in Lawrenceville has cocktail bars and breweries, East Carson Street is the noisy student strip, and on game nights the bars fill with fans in black and gold.

In Pigeon Forge the evening belongs to the family: dinner shows, go-karts and lit-up attractions that quieten down around ten. Adults wanting a drink find a few brewpubs and moonshine rooms, then usually head to Gatlinburg or back to the cabin.

Pigeon Forge has the stronger outdoors, because the Great Smoky Mountains are only half an hour away. Forested ridges climb above 2,000m. You can take an easy walk to Laurel Falls or the hard climb to Mount LeConte, spot black bears in Cades Cove and drive over Newfound Gap to Clingmans Dome. The town itself, though, sits on a flat valley strip.

Pittsburgh's landscape is gentler but closer to hand. Wooded ravines run through Frick and Schenley parks, there are riverside bike loops, and you can paddle a kayak under the downtown bridges. For whitewater rafting and gorge hikes at Ohiopyle you drive about an hour and a half into the Laurel Highlands.

Both have a few good outings before the list runs thin, and almost all of them need a car. From Pigeon Forge the trips are to towns and over the mountains: Knoxville's Market Square, the Cherokee museum and Oconaluftee village beyond Newfound Gap, and a long day at Asheville's Biltmore Estate.

Pittsburgh's outings lean towards architecture and remembrance. Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob make a full Frank Lloyd Wright day, and Ligonier's colonial fort and the Flight 93 memorial lie further east.

Pigeon Forge is the easier family base, because the whole town exists for it. Dollywood's rides, crafts and seasonal festivals, the water park, mountain coasters and large cabins for several families fill a week without effort. The catches are summer heat on the strip and slow traffic between stops.

Pittsburgh suits children with a more educational slant. The Science Center's submarine, the National Aviary, the dinosaur halls, the zoo and Phipps Conservatory work well on rainy days, and old-fashioned Kennywood covers the thrill rides in summer.

Pittsburgh is clearly easier without a car, at least in its core. Downtown is walkable, the bridges lead on foot to the North Side and the Strip, and the T and the two inclines save some climbing. Outer neighbourhoods such as Oakland and Lawrenceville rely on buses or ride-hailing.

Pigeon Forge is effectively car-only. The Parkway is a long multi-lane strip, the trolley is slow and skips the hillside cabins, and the park trailheads can only be reached by car.

Outlet malls and mountain crafts in Pigeon Forge meet independent browsing in Pittsburgh. Along the Parkway and towards Sevierville the outlets carry big American brands, while the real local finds are the pottery and quilts by the Old Mill and the broom, basket and leather studios in the hills above Gatlinburg.

Pittsburgh is better for a slow afternoon of small shops, with vintage and design stores on Butler Street, boutiques on Walnut Street and the food stalls and weekend vendors of the Strip.

Both are reasonable by American standards, and the money goes on different things. In Pigeon Forge a shared cabin and buffet meals cost little per head, but theme park tickets, dinner shows and the car quickly add up for a family.

In Pittsburgh even downtown hotels are moderate on most nights, and food and beer are fairly priced. Rides between neighbourhoods are the steady extra cost, and rooms get dearer on big football and concert weekends.

Pittsburgh has the broader and more serious stage. The symphony plays in Heinz Hall, the Benedum Center hosts opera, ballet and touring musicals, and August Wilson's Hill District and the clubs of Lawrenceville keep up jazz, rock and indie.

Pigeon Forge offers shows every night, but all in one register: country and gospel revues, comedy, magic and dinner spectacles with horses, plus bluegrass on Dollywood's stages. It is warm, sentimental entertainment for families, with nothing classical.

In Pigeon Forge the way to unwind is a hillside cabin with a porch, a fireplace and a private hot tub looking over the ridges, booked well above the neon and traffic of the Parkway. Spas there are few and add little.

Pittsburgh's calm moments are the warm glasshouses of Phipps Conservatory and the shaded paths of Frick Park. For a proper spa resort you drive out to the Laurel Highlands.