Baltimore or Williamsburg, Virginia?

Neither is a beach destination, but Williamsburg brings the sand closer. The calm strip at Yorktown is about twenty minutes away, and the long Atlantic beaches at Virginia Beach are about an hour's drive, so a proper ocean day fits easily into a week.

From Baltimore, the nearest sand is Sandy Point, a bay beach about forty minutes away under the Bay Bridge. The Atlantic surf is about three hours off, which makes it a separate trip. Sea nettles drift into the bay near both in high summer.

Baltimore eats with far more character. The crab feast on brown paper, lump crab cakes, oysters at Lexington Market and the Cross Street and Broadway halls, pit beef and the old Italian kitchens of Little Italy give it a food identity worth planning around. Hampden and Harbor East add chef-led cooking.

Williamsburg's best meals are the simple Virginia ones: a country ham biscuit, peanut soup, oysters or soft-shell crab in season. The candlelit colonial taverns are about the setting more than the cooking, and Richmond Road is mostly pancake houses and family chains.

The two are about level for sightseeing, but the experience is very different. Baltimore spreads its culture across a real city: free entry to the Cone Collection's Matisse works and the Walters, the ramparts of Fort McHenry, the railroad roundhouse and the brick streets of Fells Point and Mount Vernon.

Williamsburg is one immersive place. You walk Duke of Gloucester Street from the Capitol to the Wren Building, past costumed blacksmiths and printers in a carefully rebuilt eighteenth-century capital, with folk and decorative art museums alongside. Each fills two or three good days.

Baltimore has a genuine bar scene. There are centuries-old taverns around the cobbled square in Fells Point, rooftops and sports bars on Federal Hill that get loud after Orioles games, and dive bars with an artistic crowd in Station North. Clubs are few, though, and it is best to take a taxi between areas late at night.

Williamsburg goes to bed early. There are student pubs near the college and a few taprooms, but for a proper night out people drive to Norfolk or Richmond.

Baltimore has more variety close at hand. The wooded gorges of Patapsco Valley begin at the city edge, Gunpowder Falls has trout streams and a rail trail, and you can sail the open Chesapeake out of Annapolis. The Appalachian hills are about an hour and a half west.

Williamsburg's Tidewater is flat and peaceful rather than varied. Its strengths are cycling the empty Colonial Parkway or the Virginia Capital Trail and paddling the Chickahominy among ospreys and herons, with no hills at all and plenty of mosquitoes in summer.

Baltimore's position is hard to beat. Washington's Smithsonian museums and monuments and Philadelphia's Independence Hall are each about an hour away by train, so two major cities can be added without a car. Annapolis, Gettysburg, Harpers Ferry and the Eastern Shore villages are within reach by road.

Williamsburg's best outings are so close they feel like part of the stay. Jamestown and Yorktown are each under twenty minutes away, and the James River plantations and Richmond are further out. These places matter more to American history than to foreign visitors, and nearly all of them need a car.

Williamsburg is built around family vacations. Busch Gardens has big coasters and gentle rides, Water Country USA is next door, and children can march with the fife and drum or question a blacksmith in the Historic Area. Family motels with pools and relaxed restaurants make the logistics easy.

Baltimore offers a strong day or two at the Inner Harbor, with the National Aquarium's shark ring and rainforest, the science centre and Port Discovery all within a short walk. Beyond the waterfront the city is patchier for children, and getting around it takes more planning.

Neither is easy without a car, but the limits fall in different places. Baltimore's harbour neighbourhoods link up along a waterfront promenade and by water taxi, and fast trains run to Washington and Philadelphia. That makes a car-free stay workable if you base yourself by the water.

Williamsburg's walkable part is the small, flat historic district, where Duke of Gloucester Street is closed to traffic by day. Everything else, from the theme parks to Jamestown, is spread along highways, so nearly every visitor rents a car.

Williamsburg has a little more to buy and a clearer theme. Colonial workshops sell pewter, pottery and hand-printed books, Merchants Square has Virginia gifts and kitchenware, and there is a large outlet centre on Richmond Road.

Baltimore's best browsing is quirkier: vintage and local art on the Avenue in Hampden, and antiques and records in Fells Point. Neither city has luxury shopping.

Overall costs are similar, but the money goes in different places. In Baltimore, hotels are cheaper than in Washington and the two great art museums are free. The bills that grow are restaurant meals and the taxis you end up taking.

In Williamsburg, motel rooms off-peak are the easy part. Admission tickets to the colonial town, Jamestown, Yorktown and the theme parks are the big expense, along with a rental car, so combination passes are worth checking.

Baltimore offers a proper season. The symphony plays at the Meyerhoff, the Peabody Institute holds frequent concerts in Mount Vernon, touring Broadway shows come to the Hippodrome and Center Stage produces its own theatre. Indie and punk fill the small clubs of Station North, and Pennsylvania Avenue has a long jazz history.

In Williamsburg, performance comes with the period setting: candlelit recitals, fife-and-drum corps and colonial theatre, plus college events in term time. These are charming, but for an orchestra or serious theatre you have to drive to Richmond or Norfolk.

Williamsburg makes the calmer stay. The historic inn and the golf resorts on the James River have full spas and pools, and the town slows right down early in the morning and once the theme-park crowds have gone.

Baltimore offers hotel spas and yoga studios in Harbor East and Hampden, but its pace is urban. Its restful moments are short ones, like a walk on the harbour promenade or an hour in Druid Hill Park.