Boston or Cape May?

This is the one category where Cape May clearly leads. Sand runs the whole length of its oceanfront, with lifeguards and usually gentle surf, and in high summer the sea is warm enough for proper swimming. Cape May Point has quieter stretches, and Sunset Beach on the bay side is good for beachcombing for its quartz pebbles.

In Boston, going to the beach is an outing rather than something you can do from your door. Revere Beach is a subway ride away, and Crane Beach and Singing Beach are further up the North Shore. Even at its warmest the water is several degrees colder than at Cape May, so most visitors swim only briefly.

Both are seafood places, but Boston has much more besides the seafood. Oysters, clams and lobster rolls are only the start. The North End's Italian dining rooms and pastry shops, Chinatown's dim sum and the chef-led kitchens of Cambridge and the South End give you a week of varied meals.

Cape May's fishing port puts scallops and flounder on every menu, and its porch breakfasts are a real pleasure. Away from the seafood, though, it is mostly fudge, taffy and ice cream, and many kitchens cut back out of season.

Boston has by far the deeper list. The Freedom Trail, the brick streets of Beacon Hill, Copley Square and two outstanding art museums, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner, can fill most of a week, with Harvard and MIT across the river.

In Cape May the main sight is the town itself: a whole landmark district of painted Victorian cottages and hotels with long porches, best seen on a walking or trolley tour, plus the Physick Estate and the lighthouse. It is charming, and you will have seen it in a day or two.

Neither is a late-night destination, but Boston at least has a real bar culture. It has Irish pubs near Faneuil Hall and in South Boston, game-night crowds around Fenway, cocktail lounges in the Seaport and student bars in Allston and Cambridge, and the students keep weeknights busier than you might expect.

Cape May has a handful of pubs and hotel bars around the pedestrian mall and the beachfront, often with a cover band in summer, and it is mostly asleep by midnight. Visitors who want a louder night drive up to the Wildwoods.

The two are roughly even outdoors but offer different things. Boston's nature is parkland and coast: Olmsted's Emerald Necklace, sailing and paddling on the Charles, ferries to the Harbor Islands, whale-watching at Stellwagen Bank, and autumn foliage in the woods within an hour.

Cape May is about wildlife. Its position between the ocean and Delaware Bay makes it one of the continent's great migration points for hawks, songbirds and monarch butterflies in autumn, dolphins are almost certain from summer boats, and the back-bay marshes are made for kayaking. Neither has mountains nearby.

Boston is surrounded by places worth a day, and history runs through most of them: Salem and Concord by train, the Lexington battlefields, Plymouth, the fishing towns of Cape Ann, and, further out, Newport's mansions and Providence.

From Cape May the choice is narrower. The ferry to Lewes in Delaware makes a pleasant outing, the Wildwoods and Atlantic City have their boardwalks, and Philadelphia is a long, tiring day by car. Almost everything needs a car.

Both are good with children, in different ways. Boston has big institutions built for children: the New England Aquarium, the Museum of Science and the Children's Museum, along with the swan boats in the Public Garden and the decks of the USS Constitution. That makes it a good choice when the weather does not suit the beach.

Cape May is a classic seaside week for families, with lifeguarded beaches, bikes and surreys on the promenade, crabbing on the bay and a free county zoo nearby. The Wildwoods' rides and water parks are close for a louder day. Some B&Bs in the historic district do not take small children.

Boston is easier to get around. Its central neighbourhoods are close enough to walk between, and the T and the harbour ferries reach Cambridge, Fenway, the airport and Charlestown. A car is more nuisance than help, even though some lines are slow and the subway stops around midnight.

Inside Cape May you can do everything on foot or by bike, but there is no passenger rail and little bus service. Most visitors drive in, and they need the car again for the Point, the zoo and anything further away.

Boston has a proper shopping street in Newbury Street, with flagships and boutiques in Back Bay brownstones. Copley Place and the Prudential Center cover department stores and luxury labels, and Charles Street adds antiques.

Cape May's Washington Street Mall is three pedestrian blocks of boutiques, bookshops and taffy, good for a rainy hour or two. Neither is worth the journey for shopping alone, but only Boston can handle a serious shopping list.

Both are expensive, but in different ways. Boston's hotel rooms are among the costliest in the country and peak in foliage season, while the free Freedom Trail, the parks and the subway help keep daily spending down.

In Cape May the cost depends on the season. Summer brings premium B&B rates with minimum stays, beach tags and paid parking, while spring, autumn and winter are noticeably cheaper. Staying in the Wildwoods and coming in for the day is the usual way to save.

Boston is a serious music city. The Boston Symphony Orchestra in Symphony Hall, the Pops on the Esplanade, the Handel and Haydn Society and Boston Ballet sit alongside drama at the Huntington and the American Repertory Theater. Students from Berklee and the Conservatory fill small jazz rooms.

Cape May's scene is smaller but has its own character: plays in a converted church, historic American drama, a long-established chamber music festival in late spring and early summer, and bands in Convention Hall. It makes a pleasant evening out, mostly in season.

Neither has a bathing tradition, so rest comes from the setting. Boston offers hotel and day spas in Back Bay and quiet hours in the Public Garden or the Arnold Arboretum, but the city around them moves briskly.

Cape May is gentler by nature, with rocking chairs on the porches, afternoon tea and sunsets over the bay. On summer weekends it gets busy, so spring and autumn are the restful times to go.