Baltimore or Chattanooga?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Baltimore has a slight edge. Sandy Point State Park gives it an actual stretch of sand on the Chesapeake, though the water is brackish and sea nettles drift in during high summer.

Chattanooga is far inland. Swimming there means roped-off areas on the reservoirs or cool creek pools on the plateau, which are good for an hour on a hot day and not much more.

Baltimore has the stronger food identity, built on blue crab. In the warmer months you crack steamed crabs at paper-covered tables, and you can eat crab cakes all year. Historic market halls such as Lexington Market and neighbourhoods like Little Italy and Hampden add more variety.

Chattanooga cooks plain Southern food: meat-and-three plates, barbecue, catfish and grits, plus craft beer on the Southside. You'll eat well there for a few days, but there's no market hall and little cooking from beyond the region.

Baltimore gives sightseers much more to do. Its two major art museums are both free, one with a famous Matisse collection and the other running from Egyptian antiquities to Fabergé. On top of that there's Fort McHenry, the railway museum and the historic ships in the harbour. The rowhouse streets of Fells Point and Mount Vernon are worth a walk in their own right.

Chattanooga's history is narrower: mostly Civil War battlefields on Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, plus railway heritage. The Hunter Museum and the Walnut Street Bridge are the highlights in town.

Both are bar towns rather than club towns, but Baltimore has more depth. It has old taverns on the cobbles of Fells Point, sports bars and rooftops on Federal Hill after game days, and dive bars with an arty crowd in Station North. That's enough to spend several evenings in different districts.

In Chattanooga, a night out usually means brewery patios and cocktail bars on the Southside, with Station Street as the busiest block, and the town is mostly quiet well before 2am.

Chattanooga is the clear winner outdoors. The Tennessee River cuts through the Cumberland Plateau right at its edge, and the ridges above town offer some of the best rock climbing in the East, hang gliding off Lookout Mountain and trails along the river gorge. Within about an hour you can raft the Olympic whitewater of the Ocoee or walk the canyon rim at Cloudland Canyon.

Baltimore's outdoors is gentler: wooded river valleys at Patapsco and Gunpowder Falls, kayaking on the harbour and sailing from Annapolis. The real hills are about an hour and a half away.

Baltimore is the far better base for day trips. Washington and Philadelphia are each about an hour away by train, so you can see the Smithsonian or Independence Hall without a car. Annapolis, Gettysburg and the Eastern Shore villages add plenty more by road.

From Chattanooga, Nashville and Atlanta are a two-hour drive each way, which makes for long days, though Huntsville's rocket centre and the Chickamauga battlefield are closer. Every outing needs a car, and the list of good options runs out sooner.

Both cities have a big aquarium as the main attraction, but Chattanooga is a bit easier with children. Its relaxed scale helps, and Lookout Mountain's Incline Railway, Ruby Falls and Rock City are designed with children in mind. Coolidge Park's carousel and splash fountains and an old amusement park add to that.

Baltimore puts its aquarium, science centre and children's museum together around the Inner Harbor, which makes the first couple of days very easy. Beyond the harbour the city is uneven, though, and families usually take taxis.

There isn't much between them here. Both have a walkable centre, and both need a car or ride-hailing beyond it. In Baltimore, the useful links are water taxis between the harbour piers and fast trains to Washington and Philadelphia.

Chattanooga has a free electric shuttle downtown and the Walnut Street Bridge over to the North Shore. Its trails and mountain attractions, though, all mean hiring a car.

Shopping is a minor part of a visit to either city, and what you'll find is different. In Baltimore, the best browsing is on Hampden's Avenue, with vintage and kitsch shops, plus antique and record shops in Fells Point.

Chattanooga's speciality is outdoor gear, found on Frazier Avenue and in the converted Warehouse Row. That makes it the better stop for climbing or hiking equipment.

Costs are much the same in both, moderate by American standards, with restaurant tax and tipping adding up either way. They save you money in different places. Baltimore's main art museums are free, and its hotels are cheaper than Washington's.

In Chattanooga, the trails, parks and downtown shuttle cost nothing, but the family attractions charge full admission and most visitors also pay for a hire car.

Baltimore has more to offer here. A symphony plays a full season at the Meyerhoff, the Peabody conservatory holds frequent concerts in Mount Vernon (many of them free), and touring Broadway shows come to the Hippodrome. There's also an indie and punk club circuit around Station North.

Chattanooga's gilded Tivoli Theatre hosts a small symphony and opera company and touring shows. The bar stages around Main Street mostly book country, bluegrass and Americana bands, which is enough for an evening or two.

Neither city is somewhere to go for rest, but Chattanooga is more restful. It's a small, quiet place, and an afternoon by the river or on a Bluff View porch feels unhurried.

Baltimore feels grittier. Its calmest spots are the harbour promenade early in the morning and the trees of Druid Hill Park, and people who really want to unwind tend to head out to the Eastern Shore.