Atlantic City or Salem, Massachusetts?

Atlantic City was built for its beach, and the gap shows. A broad, pale strip of sand runs the whole length of Absecon Island, free to use and staffed by lifeguards. By late summer the open Atlantic is warm enough for proper swimming, though rip currents mean staying between the flags.

Salem's own shores at Salem Willows and Winter Island are for a picnic and a paddle. The good sand, such as Crane Beach, is a drive away, and the Gulf of Maine stays several degrees cooler even in August.

Neither is a place to travel for food, and they come out roughly level. Atlantic City has two sides: polished casino steakhouses and buffets on one, and Ducktown's Italian-American cooking, big subs, boardwalk pizza and saltwater taffy on the other.

Salem's food is New England seafood: chowder, fried clams, lobster rolls and North Shore oysters. It comes with independent bistros and brewpubs, all within a short walk of each other. Its range is narrow, and serious meals usually mean a trip into Boston.

Salem has much more to see. It tells two stories: the witch trials of 1692, at the Memorial, the Witch House and the Charter Street burying ground, and the seafaring wealth that followed, at the maritime park, the House of the Seven Gables and Chestnut Street. The Peabody Essex Museum alone, with its rebuilt Chinese merchant's house, is worth a long morning.

Atlantic City's heritage is the American seaside resort itself: the original Boardwalk, the Monopoly street names, Boardwalk Hall's huge pipe organ and Lucy the Elephant down in Margate. These are good curiosities, but one day covers them.

Atlantic City has a real night out, though almost all of it happens inside the casino resorts. Gaming floors and bars stay open all night, and summer weekends bring nightclubs and pool parties. The streets between the resorts are empty and uneasy after dark, and midweek or in winter things go flat.

Salem's evenings are a pint in a taproom or a cocktail in an old building, then bed. October's Halloween crowds keep the bars busy, but it never becomes a late scene.

Salem has the more varied coast. You can walk the granite shore at Halibut Point and the Marblehead headlands, kayak among the harbour islands, see birds at Plum Island and take whale-watching boats from Gloucester out to Stellwagen Bank. Autumn colour adds a season worth coming for.

Atlantic City's landscape is flat barrier island and salt marsh. The Forsythe refuge's wildlife loop, kayaking in the back bays and canoeing in the Pine Barrens make pleasant extras, but there is no dramatic scenery.

Both have one big city in reach, but Salem's is closer and easier: Boston is half an hour by commuter train. The same line runs to Gloucester and Rockport. Lexington, Concord, Marblehead and Newburyport give you a varied list, much of it doable without a car.

From Atlantic City, Philadelphia is about an hour and a half away and Victorian Cape May about an hour. Wildwood, Ocean City, Smithville and Batsto fill in the rest, mostly by car.

Salem is the slightly easier place with children. Its small, flat, safe centre, the replica tall ship and the arcade at Salem Willows suit older children well. Watch out for the darker witch material with little ones, and for the October crowds.

Atlantic City has the better beach and the Steel Pier's rides, but the city itself is built for adults. Casino floors are closed to under-21s and some blocks are rundown. Many families stay in Ocean City instead.

Salem is the easier town to get around without a car. Nearly every sight is within a twenty-minute walk, and the station is close to the centre, with direct trains to Boston and up the coast. Only the outlying beaches and forests really need a car.

In Atlantic City, getting around means going up and down the island: along the Boardwalk on foot or by rolling chair, or on the all-night jitneys on Pacific Avenue. Off that line the streets are unpleasant to walk, and the shore towns and refuge are really car trips.

Neither is a shopping destination, but they differ in what they sell. Atlantic City has an outlet district of chain brands and casino arcades, and its one local speciality is boxed saltwater taffy. Salem's Essex Street is full of shops selling tarot cards, crystals and spell books, with antique dealers and the Peabody Essex Museum shop adding a bit more quality.

Atlantic City is the cheaper stay, as long as you pick your dates. Casino hotels cut room rates sharply midweek and out of season, and the beach and Boardwalk are free. Summer weekends, resort fees and parking can erase those savings.

Salem's few hotels and inns charge Boston-area rates for most of the year, and October beds are especially hard to find at a fair price. Walking and the cheap train do save money once you are there.

Atlantic City has the bigger stage. Casino arenas and showrooms book touring headliners and comedians, Boardwalk Hall holds major concerts and boxing, and summer brings free beach concerts. What it lacks is an orchestra, a theatre district or small jazz rooms.

Salem has a modest theatre company, talks at the museum and October street performers. For serious music or theatre, people take the train to Boston.

Neither town is built for rest, but Atlantic City gives a little more to someone who wants to be looked after. The larger casino hotels have proper spas, with heat rooms, pools under a roof and a full menu of treatments, so a wet day can become a long, lazy one without leaving the building. The setting is still a casino rather than a retreat, and the calmest moment on the island is an early walk along the deserted seafront out of season.

In Salem, rest comes from the pace of the town rather than from anything you book. Outside October it is small and quiet, and an unhurried afternoon among the old harbour houses does more good than its handful of modest spas. Its interest in the spiritual also brings readings and guided meditation for the curious. In the Halloween season, though, the quiet disappears.