Baltimore or Philadelphia?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Philadelphia gets you to real surf more easily. Atlantic City, Ocean City and Wildwood are a drive of about an hour and a quarter, with wide sand and proper Atlantic swimming in high summer.

From Baltimore the open ocean is about three hours away. The nearby option is Sandy Point on the Chesapeake, a sandy strip on brackish bay water where sea nettles drift in during summer. It is fine for a family afternoon, but it isn't a seaside day.

Both cities eat well, and both are known for one local speciality. In Baltimore it is the summer crab feast: steamed blue crabs dusted with Old Bay and cracked with mallets, plus crab cakes all year and snacks at Lexington Market.

Philadelphia's local food is the cheesesteak, the roast pork sandwich and the hoagie, with Reading Terminal Market and the Italian Market as its two classic halls. It also has more range beyond the classics, with bring-your-own-wine dining rooms and Mexican and Vietnamese cooking in East Passyunk and Fishtown.

Philadelphia has the deeper set of sights. Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell sit among the Georgian streets of Old City and Society Hill, and the Barnes, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Penn Museum and Eastern State Penitentiary easily fill four or five days.

Baltimore has less, but it is better than many expect. Free admission at the Baltimore Museum of Art, with its Matisse collection, and at the Walters is a real plus. Fort McHenry and the cobbled streets of Fells Point bring in history, and two or three days cover the city well.

Both are bar towns with a 2am last call and few clubs. Philadelphia spreads its evenings across more distinct districts: warehouse bars and craft-beer halls in Fishtown, cocktails around Rittenhouse Square, and the long-established Gayborhood.

Baltimore's nights centre on the old taverns of Fells Point and the sports bars and rooftops of Federal Hill, which get loudest after an Orioles or Ravens game. It works for a few evenings, but some quiet streets in between are best crossed by taxi.

The countryside around both cities is gentle and green, but each gets you outdoors in its own way. Baltimore's strength is the water: kayaks on the harbour, sailing out of Annapolis on the Chesapeake, and ospreys and bald eagles in the marshes, with Patapsco's wooded gorges at the city edge.

Philadelphia keeps its best walking inside the city, in the Wissahickon gorge. The Schuylkill River Trail lets you cycle from Boathouse Row out towards Valley Forge, and the Pine Barrens and Poconos lie further afield.

Both sit on the same rail corridor and are about an hour apart, so each makes an easy day trip from the other. From Baltimore, Washington is the obvious outing, roughly an hour by train. Annapolis, Gettysburg and the Eastern Shore villages are close by car.

From Philadelphia, New York is the big pull, about an hour and a quarter by fast train. Lancaster County's Amish country is also reachable by rail, and Longwood Gardens, Princeton and Cape May fill out the list.

Baltimore keeps its family day in one place. The National Aquarium, the Maryland Science Center and Port Discovery all sit around the Inner Harbor, which makes the first days simple, but the zoo and most other places mean a drive or a taxi.

Philadelphia offers more over a longer stay. Children get the Franklin Institute's giant heart, the Please Touch Museum for under-eights, dinosaurs at the Academy of Natural Sciences and the country's oldest zoo. The costumed guides of Old City bring history to life for older children, and the flat centre is easy to cover with a pushchair.

Philadelphia is much easier to get around. William Penn's flat grid puts Old City, Rittenhouse Square and the Parkway museums within walking distance of each other. Two subway lines, trolleys and a direct airport train cover the rest, even if the stations are plain.

Baltimore's walkable core follows the waterfront, from the Inner Harbor to Fells Point and Federal Hill, and water taxis are a pleasant way to cross it. Past that, one metro line and one light rail line leave Hampden, the art museum and the zoo to buses, taxis or a car.

Philadelphia gives a shopper far more. It has brands and boutiques along Walnut Street, the jewellers of Jewelers' Row, independent shops in Old City and Fishtown, and King of Prussia's huge mall half an hour out. Pennsylvania charges no sales tax on clothing.

Baltimore is better for an afternoon of browsing than for serious shopping. Hampden's Avenue has vintage clothing and kitsch, Fells Point has antique and record shops, and Old Bay souvenirs are easy to find.

Overall costs are about the same, and in both you pay normal American prices with tax and tip. In Baltimore the savings are hotels cheaper than Washington's and free entry to its two main art museums, while the frequent taxis add to the daily cost.

Philadelphia saves you money in other ways. The founding sights are free, a cheesesteak makes a cheap lunch, bringing your own wine cuts the dinner bill and walking replaces cabs. The big art museums do charge admission.

Philadelphia has the stronger programme. The Philadelphia Orchestra plays on the Avenue of the Arts, the 1857 Academy of Music houses the opera and the ballet, Curtis students give recitals and the Walnut Street Theatre is the country's oldest working theatre.

Baltimore holds its own on a smaller scale. The Symphony plays at the Meyerhoff, and the Peabody Institute gives frequent concerts, many of them free. Station North has an indie and experimental club scene, but there is no resident opera to speak of.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, and both move at a brisk, slightly rough urban pace, so neither is a natural choice for a restful trip. In Baltimore, unwinding rarely goes beyond a hotel spa or an early walk by the water, and travellers who want a properly slow day tend to cross the Bay Bridge to the Eastern Shore.

Philadelphia offers a little more. The Korean-style bathhouses in its suburbs are the nearest thing to a proper soak in either city, and an afternoon there is a real break from sightseeing. Without leaving town, the wooded creek path through the Wissahickon gorge gives you an hour or two of quiet, and Penn's leafy squares make easy places to stop between sights.