Baltimore or St. Augustine?

This is where the two part company most. Baltimore's waterfront is a working harbour, and the nearest sand is Sandy Point on the Chesapeake. It is fine for a family afternoon, but the water is brackish, there are sea nettles in summer and swimming sometimes closes after rain. The real Atlantic beaches are a three-hour trip.

St. Augustine has a proper ocean shoreline on its doorstep. Anastasia Island runs from the state park dunes through St. Augustine Beach to quieter Crescent Beach, all within a short drive of the fort. The surf is easy and swimming is comfortable from late spring to autumn, so a morning in the old town and an afternoon on the sand fit into the same day.

Baltimore eats with more range and more local character. The blue crab is the centrepiece, either steamed with Old Bay on paper-covered tables or as crab cakes made mostly of lump meat. Lexington Market and the other old market halls add oysters and coddies, and there are Italian kitchens in Little Italy and chef-led restaurants in Hampden and Harbor East.

St. Augustine's table is smaller and mostly seafood: local shrimp, fried fish and oysters by the marsh. Its one real signature is the Minorcan datil pepper, which goes into the chowder and the pilau. Beyond a handful of good restaurants, the old-town strip caters to passing visitors.

The two are evenly matched for sightseeing, and both fill two or three days, but they offer different things. Baltimore's strength is its art museums. The Cone Collection of Matisse at the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walters, from Egyptian antiquities to Fabergé, are both free. Around them are Fort McHenry, the railroad roundhouse and long streets of marble-stooped rowhouses.

St. Augustine is older and more concentrated. It has the coquina Castillo de San Marcos, Spanish lanes dating back to 1565, and a Gilded Age layer in Flagler's extravagant hotel, now a college, and the Lightner Museum. You walk through the history itself rather than looking at it in galleries.

Baltimore gives you more evenings out. Fells Point has a dense cluster of taverns around its cobbled square, Federal Hill fills its sports bars and rooftops after Orioles and Ravens games, and Station North draws an arty dive-bar crowd. Bars stay open until 2am, though clubs are few.

St. Augustine's evenings are a drink on a courtyard patio off St. George Street or at a beach bar on the island. It is lively on weekends, but most places wind down well before the small hours.

Both offer gentle, green outdoors rather than drama, but the landscapes differ. Around Baltimore you find wooded river gorges in Patapsco Valley, trout streams along the Gunpowder Falls rail trail and sailing on the Chesapeake, with the Blue Ridge hills within reach for a longer day.

St. Augustine is completely flat and shaped by water: salt marsh, dunes and the Matanzas River. Kayak trips there often meet dolphins, and the Guana reserve is good for birding. Spring and autumn suit Baltimore best, while St. Augustine is most comfortable from late autumn through spring.

Baltimore wins easily here. Washington and Philadelphia are each about an hour away by train, so a day at the Smithsonian or Independence Hall needs no car at all. With a car you can add Annapolis, Gettysburg, Harpers Ferry and the Eastern Shore villages.

From St. Augustine almost every outing means driving. Jacksonville and Daytona are within an hour, and Amelia Island is a pleasant longer run. The big names, Kennedy Space Center and the Orlando parks, each take about two hours each way.

Children are well served in both, in quite different ways. Baltimore packs its attractions around the Inner Harbor: the National Aquarium's rainforest and shark ring, the science centre and Port Discovery, with the zoo and the train museum further out. Away from the water, most families get around by car or taxi.

St. Augustine pairs the Alligator Farm and cannon firings at the Castillo with lighthouse climbs and gentle summer surf. Its compact old centre is easy to manage with small children, though weekend crowds and summer heat can wear them out.

Neither is easy without a car beyond its core, and the cores work differently. Baltimore's walkable stretch follows the waterfront from the Inner Harbor to Fells Point, with water taxis between the piers. A single metro line and a light rail line do little for visitors beyond the airport and stations.

St. Augustine's historic district is smaller and flatter, with sightseeing trolleys looping past the sights. The beaches and the lighthouse, though, need a car, a bike or a taxi.

Baltimore's best browsing is vintage clothes, kitsch and local art on the Avenue in Hampden, a street that plays up its working-class roots. Fells Point adds antique and record shops on its old streets. There is no luxury street, though, and locals go to the suburban malls for chain fashion.

St. George Street in St. Augustine runs more to fudge, T-shirts and pirate souvenirs. The galleries and antique dealers on Aviles Street are more rewarding, and a bottle of datil-pepper sauce makes a good souvenir. For mainstream brands you drive out to the outlet mall by the interstate.

Costs are similar, and both carry normal American prices with tips added to every meal. Baltimore has a slight edge because its hotels are cheaper than Washington's and its two main art museums are free, though taxis add up.

In St. Augustine, the walkable inns and B&Bs get expensive on weekends and in peak season. Staying midweek or in a highway motel helps, and the old streets and public beaches cost nothing.

Baltimore has a real cultural calendar. The symphony plays a full season at the Meyerhoff, the Peabody Institute holds frequent concerts, many of them free, and touring Broadway shows come to the Hippodrome. Station North's small clubs handle indie and experimental music.

St. Augustine's main stage is the open-air amphitheatre in the woods on Anastasia Island, which hosts touring rock, country and folk acts. Beyond that it is mostly cover bands on bar patios, and serious theatre or orchestral music means driving to Jacksonville.

Neither is built for a restful retreat, but St. Augustine is the easier place to slow down. Quiet B&B verandas, courtyard gardens and an evening stroll along the bayfront seawall set a gentle pace, especially midweek.

Baltimore feels gritty and urban. Beyond hotel spas, the calm moments are a morning on the harbour promenade or a walk under the trees of Druid Hill, and locals who want to unwind head to the Eastern Shore.