Asheville or Portland?

Neither city is a place for a beach vacation, though Portland has a little more to offer. In Asheville, swimming means cold mountain water: plunge pools under waterfalls in Pisgah, the natural rock slide at Sliding Rock, tubing on the French Broad and a small sandy beach at Lake Lure. The sea is several hours away.

Portland has sandy river beaches on the Willamette and on Sauvie Island, which are good for a summer swim. The Oregon coast at Cannon Beach is a day trip away, and it has wide sand and sea stacks to walk among, even if the cold Pacific keeps most people out of the water.

Both cities eat and drink well, and both are serious about brewing, but the food itself is different. Asheville cooks from Appalachian farms: trout, heirloom corn, foraged ramps, barbecue and biscuits. There is little choice beyond Southern and modern American cooking.

Portland has more range, much of it from the food-cart pods, where owners cook Thai, Georgian, Mexican and more. Its restaurants rely on Pacific Northwest salmon, crab and hazelnuts, and the city adds a strong coffee culture and Willamette Valley pinot noir to the beer.

Asheville has more to see. The Biltmore Estate is a full day on its own, with the Vanderbilt château and Olmsted's gardens, and the downtown, with the domed City Hall, the Grove Arcade and the Basilica of St Lawrence, makes a fine architectural walk.

Portland's best sights are its gardens: the walled Lan Su Chinese Garden and the Japanese Garden in Washington Park. The Pittock Mansion has a view to Mount Hood, and the art museum is solid. Nothing in Portland has the pull of Biltmore, and the city is more pleasant to live in than to tour.

Portland makes the longer and more varied night out. Each east-side neighbourhood, from Alberta to Division and Belmont, has its own strip of dive bars, cocktail rooms and wine bars, and they serve until about 2.30am.

Asheville's evenings are shorter and more compact. They revolve around taprooms and cocktail bars on foot downtown and on the South Slope, with the summer drum circle in Pritchard Park, and most places quieten around midnight. Neither city has much of a club scene.

Both are first-rate outdoor bases, but the landscapes differ. Asheville sits among old, wooded mountains: the Blue Ridge Parkway, Mount Mitchell, the Great Smokies, ridge walks over grassy balds, mountain biking in Pisgah and rafting on the Nantahala. The October colour is its high point.

Portland has a large forest at the edge of its streets in Forest Park, and volcanic snow peaks on the horizon. The Columbia Gorge has waterfall hikes within half an hour, and the skiing on Mount Hood is far more serious than Asheville's small slopes. Its best months are summer and early autumn.

Portland has the better range of outings. The Willamette Valley wine towns are under an hour away, Astoria has a Victorian river port and a maritime museum, and the coast and the orchards of Hood River each make a full day.

Asheville's outings are mostly into the mountains, plus small towns such as Brevard, Black Mountain and Hendersonville. Its strongest heritage trip is Cherokee, where the Museum of the Cherokee Indian tells the story of the region's original people.

Both work well for families, in different ways. Asheville suits active children: black bears and red wolves at the nature centre, river tubing, Sliding Rock and zip lines. There is no zoo or theme park nearby, and days involve plenty of driving.

Portland has more of the classic city attractions for children: the hands-on science museum with its submarine, the Oregon Zoo, the old Oaks Amusement Park and summer fountains. Light rail makes it easy with a pushchair, though wet winters move everything indoors.

Getting around is far easier in Portland. Light rail runs from the airport into the centre, a streetcar crosses the river, the blocks are short, and it is one of the country's better cycling cities. You need a car only for trips out of town.

In Asheville, only the hilly downtown and the nearby South Slope are easy on foot. Biltmore, the Parkway and the trailheads all need a car, and buses are limited, so almost every visitor drives.

Both are cities of independent shops rather than luxury brands, but they sell different things. Asheville is the place for Appalachian craft: pottery, weaving, glass and woodwork from the working studios of the River Arts District and the Folk Art Center.

Portland's shopping is spread across its neighbourhoods. Powell's fills a city block with books, and Mississippi and Hawthorne have vintage clothes and records. There is plenty of outdoor gear, and Oregon has no sales tax.

Neither city is cheap, and both cost about the same overall. Asheville's hotel rates rise steeply on autumn weekends, and Biltmore admission and a hire car add to the bill. Midweek and winter stays are kinder.

In Portland you can save money in town: food carts are some of the best eating, transit is cheap, and you need a car only for days out. In both cities, the trails and waterfalls cost nothing.

Both cities have plenty of live music, but of different kinds. Asheville's is rooted in Appalachian tradition: bluegrass jams, street buskers, the free fiddling and clogging of Shindig on the Green, and the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, held since 1928.

Portland has a fuller set of formal institutions, with a symphony in a restored movie palace, an opera, a ballet and resident theatre companies. It also has an indie and folk club circuit, with the Crystal Ballroom as its best-known room.

Asheville is the better place to slow down. It began as a mountain health resort, and it still has a strong culture of retreats, yoga and massage, large spas at the hillside resort hotels, and riverside mineral tubs at Hot Springs, about forty minutes away.

Portland offers a few neighbourhood soaking houses with saunas and cold plunges. Its natural hot springs are about two hours into the Cascades, so its gardens and forest trails do more of the work of relaxing.