Atlantic City or Detroit?

This is Atlantic City's home ground. Its broad, pale sand runs the full length of Absecon Island beneath the Boardwalk, free to use and staffed by lifeguards all summer, and it carries on into the quieter stretches of Ventnor, Margate and Longport. The open Atlantic brings surf and rip currents, so swim between the flags.

Detroit has the river and the lakes but no real beach culture. The small sandy beach on Belle Isle and the calm, shallow water at Lake St. Clair Metropark make a pleasant summer afternoon, not the focus of a trip.

Detroit eats with far more character. Coney Island hot dogs at diner counters, square Detroit-style pizza, Saturdays at Eastern Market and the Lebanese and Yemeni bakeries and grills of Dearborn give it a food identity worth travelling for, with Mexicantown and Hamtramck's Polish bakeries adding more.

Atlantic City's best eating sits outside the casinos: Ducktown's Italian-American restaurants, big subs on local rolls and crab shacks in Gardner's Basin. The resort dining rooms are polished but generic, and saltwater taffy is the one thing truly its own.

Detroit is in another league here. The Detroit Institute of Arts and its Rivera murals would anchor any city, and the Charles H. Wright Museum, the Motown Museum and the Henry Ford with Greenfield Village add days more. Downtown's early skyscrapers, from the Guardian Building's banking hall to the gilded Fisher Building, add architecture worth seeing.

Atlantic City's heritage is the seaside resort itself: the original Boardwalk, the Monopoly street names, Boardwalk Hall's giant organ, the Absecon Lighthouse and Lucy the Elephant in Margate. It is charming, but a single day covers it.

There is little to choose between them on liveliness, but the nights could hardly be more different. Atlantic City's after-dark life is the casino resort: gaming floors, lounges and bars that never close, plus nightclubs and pool parties on summer weekends and beach bars on the sand. It all sits in a line along the Boardwalk, so moving between resorts is a short stroll or a jitney ride. The side streets are best avoided after dark, and the energy fades sharply midweek and in winter.

Detroit's nights are rooted in techno, with warehouse parties, small serious clubs and after-hours events where the music comes first. Around them are dive bars, cocktail bars and brewery taprooms in Corktown, Midtown and downtown. These are spread across separate neighbourhoods, so a night out here usually means taxis or ride-hailing between them.

Neither city has scenery to speak of, and both are flat and shaped by water. Atlantic City's outdoors are coastal: the salt marshes of the Forsythe wildlife refuge with their herons and shorebirds, kayaking and crabbing in the back bays, and canoeing in the Pine Barrens about an hour inland.

Detroit's outdoors are parks and river. Olmsted's Belle Isle, the RiverWalk, sailing on Lake St. Clair and the ring of metroparks with good autumn colour are its strengths, although its long winters cut the outdoor season shorter.

Atlantic City has the stronger day trips. Philadelphia, with Independence Hall and its big museums, is about an hour and a half away by train, and Victorian Cape May lies an hour south. Ocean City, Wildwood, Smithville and Batsto fill quieter days.

Detroit's outings are agreeable rather than memorable: university-town Ann Arbor, Bavarian-themed Frankenmuth, the Toledo art museum and a passport hop to Windsor. Nearly all of them need a car.

Detroit has much more to keep children busy. The large Detroit Zoo with its polar bear tunnel, the hands-on Michigan Science Center, Belle Isle's aquarium and nature centre, and Greenfield Village's steam trains and horse-drawn rides fill several days, as long as you are happy to drive between them.

In Atlantic City the lifeguarded beach does most of the work, helped by the Steel Pier rides and Lucy the Elephant. Beyond that the city is aimed at adults, and many families prefer to base themselves in Ocean City down the shore.

Atlantic City is the easier of the two for a car-free visit. Its main sights line up along the Boardwalk, which is easy to walk, and jitneys run up and down Pacific Avenue around the clock. Trains reach Philadelphia, though the refuge, the Pine Barrens and Cape May still call for a car.

Detroit's People Mover and the QLine streetcar handle downtown and Midtown well, but Dearborn, the zoo and almost everything beyond Woodward Avenue mean hiring a car or using ride-hailing.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Detroit has more to browse. Midtown and Corktown hold independent boutiques, vintage shops and makers of Detroit-made watches and leather goods, and Eastern Market adds local crafts on market days.

Atlantic City offers an outlet district of familiar brands, casino shopping arcades and Boardwalk souvenir stalls. Its most memorable purchase is a box of saltwater taffy.

Detroit is a little easier on the budget overall. Its hotels cost less than in most large American cities, and Coney dogs, pizza and Middle Eastern food are cheap, though a hire car and parking add up.

Atlantic City depends heavily on timing. Midweek and off-season casino rooms can be a bargain, while summer weekends are expensive. The beach and Boardwalk are free, but resort fees and parking eat into the savings.

Detroit is the real music city. It has a symphony in the admired Orchestra Hall, an opera company, touring Broadway at the Fisher Theatre and concerts in the lavish Fox Theatre. Long-established jazz clubs, the free Labor Day jazz festival and live soul, rock and gospel in small venues fill most nights.

Atlantic City's stages belong to touring headliners, comedians and tribute acts in the casino arenas, plus big concerts at Boardwalk Hall and free beach shows in summer. It is good for one particular show but has little resident culture.

Atlantic City offers a little more for unwinding. Several casino hotels have sizeable spas with saunas and indoor pools, and an off-season walk beside the empty winter sea can be truly calm, even if the gaming floors themselves are anything but restful.

Detroit has hotel and suburban day spas but no real tradition of rest. A slow afternoon on Belle Isle or along the RiverWalk is as close as it gets.