Bar Harbor or Pittsburgh?

Neither is a place for a swimming vacation, but Bar Harbor at least has water close by. Sand Beach in Acadia is good for a quick, very cold dip in the Gulf of Maine, and Echo Lake, which warms to the low 20s°C by midsummer, is where people actually swim.

No one swims in Pittsburgh's rivers, which are used for kayaking and rowing. The nearest swim is at the small reservoir beaches of Lake Arthur, 45 minutes' drive away, or at Presque Isle on Lake Erie, two hours away.

Bar Harbor eats from the sea: whole lobster from outdoor pots, clams and chowder, wild blueberry pie, and popovers at Jordan Pond House inside the park. That makes for a few memorable meals, but the choice is narrow, summer brings queues and many kitchens close out of season.

Pittsburgh has more range and stays open all year. You can graze the Strip District's grocers and market stalls, eat pierogies and haluski from its Eastern European past, and book a table at the chef-led kitchens in old industrial buildings in Lawrenceville and East Liberty.

Bar Harbor's indoor culture fits into a morning: the Abbe Museum on the Wabanaki, the Tiffany windows at St Saviour's, and the Gilded Age cottages you pass on the Shore Path. Its finest heritage is outdoors, in the hand-cut granite bridges of the carriage roads.

Pittsburgh is much the richer stop. The steel fortunes left it the Carnegie Museums and the Cathedral of Learning in Oakland, the Warhol and the Mattress Factory on the North Side, and the Frick estate. Above all there is the view of three rivers and their bridges from the top of the inclines.

Bar Harbor goes quiet early. In summer a few taprooms and harbour-view bars around Main Street and Cottage Street stay busy, and many visitors are asleep early so they can catch sunrise on Cadillac Mountain.

Pittsburgh has no real club scene either, but it has proper bar districts, each with its own mood. Lawrenceville's Butler Street has cocktail bars and breweries, East Carson Street is the louder student strip, and on game nights the bars fill with fans in black and gold.

This is where Bar Harbor pulls well ahead. Acadia's pink-granite mountains rise straight from the sea right beside the town. You can climb iron rungs up the Precipice and the Beehive, follow Ocean Path past Thunder Hole, ride around 70km of car-free carriage roads or kayak among the islands, all without a long drive.

Pittsburgh's outdoors is pleasant rather than dramatic. The city has wooded ravines in Frick and Schenley Parks and bike paths along the rivers. For real adventure you go an hour and a half to Ohiopyle's whitewater gorge or ride the Great Allegheny Passage.

Bar Harbor's outings are a gentle string of coastal villages: the harbours around Mount Desert Island, a ferry to the Cranberry Isles, and a longer drive to Castine, Blue Hill, Stonington or Camden. They make pleasant afternoons, but none is a destination in its own right.

Pittsburgh has the stronger single trip in Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright's house over a waterfall. Add Kentuck Knob and Ligonier and you have a full day in the Laurel Highlands. From either city you need a car for almost everything.

Bar Harbor suits families who enjoy being outdoors together: tide pools, the walk across the sandbar to Bar Island, bikes on the flat carriage roads and junior ranger activities in Acadia. On a wet day, though, there is little to fall back on.

Pittsburgh has much more built for children. There are the Science Center, the Children's Museum and the National Aviary on the North Side, dinosaur halls in Oakland, a zoo and aquarium, and the old wooden roller coasters at Kennywood. Rain rarely spoils a day there, although the hills make a car useful with small children.

Both have a centre you can easily walk, and both get harder beyond it, but in different ways. In summer Bar Harbor's free Island Explorer buses reach Acadia's trailheads and many visitors never drive. Outside the season, though, a car is essential, and in the busy months the Park Loop Road gets jammed.

Pittsburgh's transport runs all year, with the T light rail and the two inclines serving the area around downtown. Its hills and rivers mean the outer neighbourhoods are a bus or ride-hail away rather than a walk.

In Bar Harbor you browse for souvenirs and crafts. The shops along Main Street and Cottage Street sell fudge, blueberry jam, balsam pillows and moose and lobster trinkets, plus fleece and outdoor gear for the trails. The things worth taking home are the Maine wooden bowls, pottery and knitwear sold in a few galleries.

Pittsburgh has neighbourhood streets to wander instead, and that gives it the edge. Butler Street in Lawrenceville has independent clothing, vintage and design shops, Walnut Street in Shadyside is the closest the city comes to a boutique row, and the Strip District mixes kitchenware and sports kit with weekend street vendors. The big brands are out in the suburban malls and there is no luxury quarter, so shopping fills a pleasant afternoon but is no reason to come.

Bar Harbor is expensive in its best months. There are few rooms for the number of visitors in summer and the leaf season, and lobster dinners, boat trips and park entry add up. Once you are there, the trails and the shuttle cost little, and camping is the main way to save.

Pittsburgh gives more for your money, with hotel rooms well below big-city rates and fairly priced casual food and beer. Tips, ride-hailing between neighbourhoods and big game weekends still raise the bill.

Bar Harbor's stage life is mainly summer chamber concerts in island churches, plus films and touring acts at the art deco Criterion Theatre from 1932. Out of season there is little to see.

Pittsburgh has a full Cultural District downtown. The Symphony plays in Heinz Hall, the Benedum hosts opera, ballet and Broadway tours, and theatre runs all year. The Hill District, the setting of most of August Wilson's plays, carries a jazz heritage that lives on in smaller clubs.

Neither has a spa tradition, but Bar Harbor is the more restful place. It offers a porch looking over Frenchman Bay and quiet streets in June or late autumn, although high summer brings cruise crowds.

In Pittsburgh, calm comes in pockets: the warm glasshouses of Phipps Conservatory and the paths of Frick Park. For a proper spa stay you drive to the Laurel Highlands.