Atlanta or Philadelphia?

Neither city has a beach of its own, but only Philadelphia can reach one in a day. The Jersey Shore is little more than an hour's drive away, with wide sand and Atlantic water warm enough for swimming from late June to early September. Cape May adds a Victorian town to the beach.

From Atlanta, both coasts are four to five hours away. Swimming means the warm reservoir water and sandy patches of Lake Lanier or Lake Allatoona, or a hotel pool.

Atlanta has the wider range. Southern cooking in meat-and-threes and the soul food kitchens of the west side is at its heart. Buford Highway adds a long run of Korean, Vietnamese, Mexican and Ethiopian kitchens cooking for their own communities, though you need a car to reach most of it.

Philadelphia's food leans on sandwiches and markets: cheesesteaks, roast pork with broccoli rabe and hoagies, with Reading Terminal Market and the Italian Market as easy places to start on foot. Its bring-your-own-wine dining rooms in East Passyunk and Fishtown are a pleasure, but the range is narrower than Atlanta's.

Philadelphia has far more to see. Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and the Georgian streets of Society Hill give it an 18th-century townscape you can walk through. The Barnes Foundation and the Philadelphia Museum of Art are collections of international standing, and four or five days pass easily.

Most of Atlanta burned in 1864, so its weight lies in more recent history: the King birth home and Ebenezer Baptist Church on Auburn Avenue, and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. Add the High Museum and the Atlanta History Center and you have two or three days.

Atlanta is the bigger night out, and the one with real clubs. As a home of Southern hip-hop and trap it has large dance rooms, along with the dive bars of Edgewood Avenue, a large LGBTQ scene in Midtown and dressier lounges in Buckhead. Each area is a separate pocket, so plan on rides between them.

Philadelphia is a city of pubs and neighbourhood bars, with craft-beer halls in Fishtown, cocktails around Rittenhouse Square and the long-established Gayborhood. A 2am last call and a small dance-club scene keep nights casual.

Atlanta has more to reach, and higher ground to reach it on. Stone Mountain's granite dome and the wooded bluffs of the Chattahoochee are within half an hour. Two hours north are the Blue Ridge foothills, Amicalola Falls and the southern end of the Appalachian Trail.

Philadelphia's best green space is inside the city: the Wissahickon gorge in Fairmount Park and the Schuylkill River Trail out towards Valley Forge, both easy to reach without a car. Further out, the Pine Barrens and the Brandywine country are gentle rather than dramatic.

Philadelphia is one of the best bases on the East Coast for days out. Fast trains put New York, Baltimore and Washington within about two hours, and Amish Lancaster County is an hour away by rail. Gettysburg, Longwood Gardens and Cape May are within reach by car.

Atlanta's outings are pleasant but smaller, and all need a car: the college town of Athens, the gold-rush square at Dahlonega, the pre-Civil War houses of Madison, and Chattanooga two hours north. Savannah is too far for a day.

Both cities work well with children, in different ways. Atlanta leans towards big attractions: whale sharks at the Georgia Aquarium, Zoo Atlanta's gorillas, the Center for Puppetry Arts and the roller coasters of Six Flags, with plenty of driving in between.

Philadelphia's strength is hands-on museums in a compact centre, from the Franklin Institute's walk-through heart to the Please Touch Museum for under-eights and the country's oldest zoo. The Liberty Bell and the costumed guides of Old City bring history to life for older children.

Philadelphia is far easier without a car. William Penn's flat grid puts Old City, Society Hill, Rittenhouse Square and the Parkway museums within walking distance. SEPTA is rough in places, but it adds subway lines, trolleys and a direct train to the airport.

In Atlanta, the MARTA line from the airport through downtown and Midtown to Buckhead reaches the main sights, and the BeltLine's Eastside Trail links a few walkable districts. Almost everything else, from Buford Highway to Stone Mountain, means driving in heavy traffic.

Philadelphia's shopping has a little more local character. Jewelers' Row, the independent shops of Old City and Fishtown, and food gifts from Reading Terminal give you variety at street level. There is no sales tax on clothing, and King of Prussia is half an hour away if you want a big mall.

Atlanta is a mall city at heart. The luxury labels are along Peachtree Road in Buckhead, and Little Five Points has vintage clothing and records, but there is no market quarter or local craft.

Costs are much the same in both: cheaper than the bigger coastal cities, with American tax and tips on every meal. The difference is where you save.

In Atlanta, the casual Southern and Buford Highway restaurants are fair value and the King civil rights sites are free, but car hire, parking and tickets for the family attractions add up. In Philadelphia, walking replaces the car, the Independence park sights are free and bringing your own wine cuts the cost of dinner.

Philadelphia has the stronger stage, built on classical music. The Philadelphia Orchestra plays on the Avenue of the Arts, and opera and ballet fill the 1857 Academy of Music. Add Curtis Institute recitals and the oldest working theatre in the country on Walnut Street, and the season is full.

Atlanta has a good symphony, the Alliance Theatre and the ornate Fox, but its real strength is popular music. Hip-hop, R&B and gospel bring major tours to its arenas, and the Tabernacle and the small rooms of Little Five Points cover the smaller shows.

Atlanta has the edge for a day of doing nothing, thanks to its large Korean community. About half an hour out along the northeastern motorways, its big bathhouses let you spend a whole day moving between hot soaks, cold plunges and saunas before stretching out in the lounge, and some never close. Back in town, the spas of Buckhead and Midtown cover massages.

Philadelphia has Korean-style bathhouses in its suburbs as well, but they are a drive out and not much of a reason to come. The city is better at short pauses that cost nothing: a bench in one of Penn's squares, the walled gardens of Society Hill, or an hour on the creek path in the Wissahickon. Neither city is restful, but Philadelphia's quick, gruff pace leaves you fewer ways to escape it.