Atlantic City or Pittsburgh?

This is Atlantic City's strongest card. A broad, pale beach runs the length of Absecon Island, with lifeguards all summer, and quieter stretches carry on through Ventnor, Margate and Brigantine. In July and August the open Atlantic is warm enough for proper swimming, as long as you stay between the flags.

Pittsburgh has nothing like it. Nobody swims in its rivers, so a beach day means driving to the small reservoir beaches at Lake Arthur or two hours to Presque Isle on Lake Erie.

Pittsburgh is the better place to eat. The Strip District alone, with its Italian grocers, fishmongers and coffee roasters, beats anything on the Boardwalk for browsing. On top of that come the pierogies and haluski of its Eastern European past and chef-led kitchens in the old industrial buildings of Lawrenceville and East Liberty.

Atlantic City eats well enough in its own way, with Ducktown's Italian-American dining rooms, oversized subs, crab shacks around Gardner's Basin and saltwater taffy. But the casino restaurants could be in any gambling town.

The gap is wide. Pittsburgh's steel-era fortunes left the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History, the Andy Warhol Museum, the Mattress Factory, the Frick estate and the Gothic Cathedral of Learning. Then there is the setting itself, with bridges over three rivers seen from the top of the inclines.

Atlantic City's heritage is the story of the American seaside resort. There is the original Boardwalk, the Monopoly street names, Boardwalk Hall's giant organ and Lucy the Elephant down in Margate. It is charming but quickly seen.

Atlantic City has more going on after dark, at least in summer. The casinos never close, and the big resorts run nightclubs and pool parties on summer weekends, with beach bars on the sand. The catch is that it all happens indoors at the resorts. The streets between them feel empty at night, and midweek or in winter the energy drains away.

Pittsburgh is a bar city rather than a club city. Butler Street in Lawrenceville has cocktail bars and breweries, and East Carson Street is the loud student strip. Game nights fill both, and last orders come at 2am.

Pittsburgh has the better outdoors, starting right in the city. Wooded ravines run through Frick and Schenley parks, riverside bike loops follow the water, and you can paddle a kayak under the downtown bridges. Further out, the Laurel Highlands offer whitewater rafting at Ohiopyle and the Great Allegheny Passage cycle trail.

Atlantic City's landscape is flat barrier island and salt marsh. The birdlife at the Forsythe refuge and canoeing in the Pine Barrens are pleasant extras, not reasons to come.

Atlantic City has the stronger choice of days out. Philadelphia, with Independence Hall and its museums, is within easy reach by train. Cape May's Victorian streets lie an hour south, and Ocean City, Wildwood, Smithville and Batsto fill shorter outings.

From Pittsburgh, Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob make one excellent day in the Laurel Highlands, and the Flight 93 memorial and Ligonier sit on the same side of the city. After that the list thins into farmland, and almost everything needs a car.

Pittsburgh is far easier with children. The North Side has the Carnegie Science Center, the Children's Museum and the National Aviary, and the zoo, the aquarium and Phipps Conservatory cover wet days. Kennywood's wooden roller coasters are a summer treat, and riding the inclines is a treat at any time of year.

Atlantic City has the beach, the rides on the Steel Pier and Lucy the Elephant. Beyond those, the city is built for adults, and many families end up staying in Ocean City instead.

Neither is easy beyond its centre, but the shapes differ. Atlantic City is a straight line: you walk the Boardwalk past beach and casinos, and jitneys run along Pacific Avenue day and night. Pittsburgh's compact downtown links to the North Side by bridge and the T. Its livelier neighbourhoods sit across hills and rivers, though, so evenings out mean buses or ride-hailing.

Both need a car for the countryside, whether that is the Pine Barrens or the Laurel Highlands. Atlantic City has the edge for rail trips to Philadelphia.

Neither is a shopping destination, and they disappoint in different ways. Atlantic City offers brand outlets, casino arcades and Boardwalk souvenirs, with taffy and fudge the one local thing to take home. Pittsburgh's shopping is more personal: food and kitchenware stalls in the Strip District, vintage and design shops on Butler Street, and small boutiques along Walnut Street in Shadyside.

Overall costs come out much the same, but they behave differently. Atlantic City swings sharply with the calendar. Casino hotels are cheap midweek and out of season, then expensive on summer weekends, and resort fees and parking add up. Pittsburgh's hotels stay steadier and moderate for an American city, rising mainly on big football and concert weekends. In both cities, tips and getting around add to the bill.

For an evening at the theatre or concert hall, Pittsburgh is clearly better. The symphony plays in Heinz Hall, the Benedum Center hosts opera, ballet and touring musicals, and year-round theatre and Lawrenceville's indie clubs add to that. The Hill District also has the jazz heritage August Wilson wrote about.

Atlantic City's entertainment is headliners in casino arenas and Boardwalk Hall, plus free beach concerts in summer. It is good if a particular show tempts you, but there is no resident company to build an evening around.

Atlantic City's idea of calm is the resort spa. Several casino hotels have sizeable ones with saunas and indoor pools, fine for a pampering afternoon, though the sleepless gaming floors next door undo much of the effect. Its most peaceful hours come out of season, on an empty Boardwalk beside the winter sea.

Pittsburgh's quiet is greener. You slow down in Phipps Conservatory's warm glasshouses and on the shaded paths of Frick and Schenley parks, and neighbourhood day spas handle massages. For a proper spa stay, people drive out to the resort hotels of the Laurel Highlands. There is no bathing tradition in either city.