Baltimore or Rehoboth Beach?

For a beach there is no contest. Baltimore's harbour is a working port for looking at, not swimming in. Its nearest sand is Sandy Point on the Bay, forty minutes' drive away, where the water is brackish and sea nettles drift in during summer. The Atlantic beaches are about three hours away.

Rehoboth sits on that Atlantic coast. A wide pale beach runs in front of the boardwalk, with lifeguards and moderate surf, and there are emptier dunes at Cape Henlopen. The swimming season is short, but while it lasts the beach fills the whole day.

Both places eat steamed blue crabs and crab cakes, but Baltimore has more depth and it lasts all year. You get brown-paper crab houses, the old market halls at Lexington, Cross Street and Broadway, red-sauce Italian food in Little Italy, pit beef, and chef-led kitchens in Hampden and Harbor East.

Rehoboth has more serious restaurants than most beach towns, along Rehoboth Avenue, and its craft beer is a genuine draw. Much of it scales down out of season, though, and the cheap end means boardwalk fries, pizza and taffy.

Baltimore is far stronger for sightseeing, with enough for two or three full days. The Baltimore Museum of Art, with its Matisses, and the Walters are both free. There is also Fort McHenry, the B&O roundhouse, the historic ships of the Inner Harbor and the rowhouse streets of Fells Point and Mount Vernon.

Rehoboth's culture is its Methodist camp-meeting past, the garden galleries of the Rehoboth Art League and a few small galleries, which take an hour or two. Visitors interested in history drive to Lewes.

Neither is a clubbing destination, so in both a night out means bars. Baltimore has more of them and keeps going all year. There are the old taverns around the cobbled square in Fells Point, Federal Hill's rooftops after Orioles games and the dive bars of Station North, with last call at 2am.

Rehoboth's evenings belong to summer. Piano lounges and drag nights come from its long LGBTQ history, and the loud deck bars of Dewey Beach are nearby. Nights end earlier than in the city, and out of season they mostly stop.

The outdoors is gentle in both places, but different in kind. Baltimore has wooded river gorges in Patapsco Valley, trout streams along Gunpowder Falls and sailing on the Chesapeake from Annapolis, with the Appalachian hills about an hour and a half to the west. Rehoboth's outdoors is flat and coastal: dunes and pine woods at Cape Henlopen, paddling on the inland bays, the bike trail to Lewes and dolphins offshore in summer.

Baltimore is much the better base for excursions, mostly thanks to the train. Washington's Smithsonian and Philadelphia's Independence Hall are each about an hour away, and Annapolis, Gettysburg and Harpers Ferry are short drives.

From Rehoboth the outings are smaller, and every one needs a car. Colonial Lewes is ten minutes away, the ferry crosses to Victorian Cape May, and further south are Ocean City's brash boardwalk and the island village of Chincoteague.

Rehoboth is the easier family choice in summer. Lifeguarded sand is steps from the rental houses, Funland has gentle rides on the boardwalk, and Cape Henlopen has calm bay water and a nature centre, all in a small, safe town. Out of season there is little laid on for children.

Baltimore's strengths are attractions rather than open air. The National Aquarium, the Science Center and Port Discovery sit together around the Inner Harbor, and the zoo and the train museum are further out. Away from the harbour, though, families end up in cars and taxis through humid days.

Rehoboth is simpler once you are there. Downtown, the boardwalk and the beach are a short, flat walk apart, bikes cover the rest, and a seasonal trolley runs to Dewey Beach. Getting there is the catch: there is no train, and the highway clogs on summer weekends.

Baltimore is the other way round. Its trains to Washington and Philadelphia are excellent, and water taxis link the walkable waterfront, but transit beyond the harbour is thin. Hampden, the art museum and the zoo all need a bus or a taxi.

Delaware charges no sales tax, and that alone tips shopping towards Rehoboth. Baltimore's best is an afternoon on the Avenue in Hampden, with its vintage clothes, kitsch and local art, followed by the antique and record shops of Fells Point. For chain fashion, people drive out to the suburban malls.

Rehoboth's large outlet centres on the highway draw bargain hunters from several states, and Rehoboth Avenue mixes independent boutiques, galleries and bookshops with the beachwear and souvenir stalls of the boardwalk. Neither town has a luxury street or a department store.

Neither is cheap, but Baltimore is easier on the budget. Its hotels cost noticeably less than Washington's and its two main art museums are free, although taxis and restaurant tips add up. Rehoboth in summer charges resort premiums for rooms, rental houses, meals and parking, especially at weekends. Its prices fall sharply in spring and autumn, and the tax-free shopping helps.

Baltimore has a proper season, at its fullest from autumn through spring. The Symphony plays at the Meyerhoff, and the Peabody puts on frequent concerts in Mount Vernon, many of them free. Touring Broadway shows come to the Hippodrome, Center Stage and Everyman do repertory theatre, and Station North has small indie and punk clubs.

Rehoboth's offer is pleasant but small and mostly summer. There are free bandstand concerts on summer evenings, a local company staging musicals and cabaret, piano bars and an autumn film festival.

For rest, the difference is pace, and Rehoboth is the slower of the two once high summer is over. Baltimore stays gritty and urban. Wellness there means a harbour hotel spa or a yoga studio in Harbor East, and the calm moments are a morning on the promenade, the trees of Druid Hill Park or a quiet hour in the Walters. Visitors who want to unwind properly tend to leave town for the Eastern Shore.

Rehoboth has few spas of its own, but in June, September and on autumn weekends the boardwalk empties and the days slow to long walks, bike rides under the pines and quiet evenings. In July and August it is as crowded and noisy as any resort.