Boston or Montreal?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Boston at least has the real coast. Revere Beach is a short Blue Line ride away, and the commuter rail reaches the dunes at Crane Beach and Singing Beach on the North Shore. The catch is a cold Atlantic that only warms enough for a hot-day dip in high summer.

Montreal swims in fresh water instead. There is the supervised lake beach at Parc Jean-Drapeau, a small river beach in Verdun, and sandier shores at Oka about an hour out, all for a short season from late June to August.

Montreal is the stronger eating city and has more that belongs only to it. Wood-fired bagels, hand-cut smoked meat, poutine and spring sugar-shack meals sit alongside a French-rooted bistro culture of game, offal and Quebec cheeses. The Jean-Talon and Atwater markets and the bring-your-own-wine restaurants of the Plateau make eating well feel easy and sociable.

Boston's strength is narrower: oysters, clams, chowder and lobster rolls, plus cannoli and red-sauce dining rooms in the North End. Chef-led cooking in Cambridge and the South End is good, but outside seafood the city has less of its own, and every meal costs more.

Boston has the richer set of sights. The Freedom Trail ties together the Old State House, Faneuil Hall, the Old North Church and the USS Constitution, and Beacon Hill and Back Bay are some of the best-kept nineteenth-century streets in North America. The Museum of Fine Arts, the Gardner and the Harvard museums can fill several more days.

Montreal's heritage is concentrated in Old Montreal, with its grey-stone warehouses, the gilded blue interior of Notre-Dame Basilica and the founding-site museum at Pointe-à-Callière. Saint Joseph's Oratory and the Museum of Fine Arts round it out. It is atmospheric, but two or three days cover it.

Montreal is one of the best cities in North America for a night out, and Boston is not close. Bars here serve an hour longer, students fill them every night, and Boulevard Saint-Laurent mixes cocktail bars, dives and proper clubs. Add the large clubs of the Village, after-hours electronic parties and summer terraces on pedestrianised streets.

Boston's evenings are built around the bar: Irish pubs near Faneuil Hall, sports bars by Fenway and student haunts in Allston and Cambridge. It is a fine city for a long pub night, but with the subway stopping around midnight and only a few modest clubs, the night ends early.

Montreal has a slight edge, mainly because a wooded mountain rises right beside downtown and the Laurentians, with lakes, forest trails and ski slopes around Mont-Tremblant, are within easy reach. Cycling along the Lachine Canal and even river surfing on the St Lawrence add variety, and winter brings snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.

Boston's outdoors is gentler and more maritime. Olmsted's Emerald Necklace, sailing on the Charles and ferries to the Harbor Islands set the tone, and whale-watching trips to Stellwagen Bank for humpbacks are something Montreal cannot match. For real hills you have to drive north into New Hampshire.

Boston is the better base for days out, with old New England towns in every direction. Salem and Concord are easy by commuter rail, Lexington and Plymouth bring the Revolution and the Pilgrims to life, and Newport's cliff-top mansions and the fishing towns of Cape Ann make longer outings worthwhile.

From Montreal the choice is shorter. Ottawa, two hours away by train, has the Parliament buildings and national museums, and the Eastern Townships and Mont-Tremblant make pleasant country days. Quebec City is the trip everyone wants, but it is far enough away to need an overnight stay.

Both cities are easy and safe with children, and the difference is in what they offer. Boston leans on big institutions and history made playful: the New England Aquarium, the Museum of Science, the Children's Museum, the swan boats and a whale-watching trip, with Fenway for older children.

Montreal's draws are grouped around the Olympic Park, where the Biodome, Insectarium and Botanical Garden share one visit, and there is an old amusement park on Île Sainte-Hélène. Its winters are harder on small children than Boston's, so summer and early autumn suit families best.

Both have compact, walkable centres and a car is a nuisance in either. In Boston, Downtown, the North End, Beacon Hill and Back Bay run into one another on foot, and the T reaches Cambridge and the airport, though it is old and slow in places, especially the Green Line.

Montreal's rubber-tyred metro is cleaner and simpler to learn, and in summer the bike-share and separated lanes are the nicest way to get about. In winter the underground pedestrian network keeps you out of the cold downtown.

Boston puts its best shopping on one handsome street, while Montreal spreads a slightly wider range across several neighbourhoods. In Boston that street is Newbury Street, eight blocks of brownstones lined with flagships and boutiques. Charles Street on Beacon Hill adds antiques, and the SoWa market brings out local makers on summer weekends.

Montreal has the long chain-store run of Rue Sainte-Catherine, much of it linked underground, plus independent designers, vintage and record shops in Mile End and Saint-Henri. It also has better things to take home: maple products, ice cider and Inuit art.

Boston is expensive at every turn, with some of the dearest hotel rooms in the country and restaurant bills well above the national average. The free Freedom Trail, the parks and a walkable centre help. Beyond that, staying out along a subway line is the main way to save.

Montreal is clearly the cheaper trip, though it is not a bargain city. It saves you money on casual eating: bagels, smoked meat and market food. Bring-your-own-wine restaurants cut the bar bill, summer festivals put on free concerts, and winter outside Christmas and New Year is the cheapest time to stay.

Both cities are strong here, with different specialities. Boston is the place for classical music. The Boston Symphony plays in the acoustically celebrated Symphony Hall, the Handel and Haydn Society specialises in early music, and the American Repertory Theater sends serious drama on to New York, though opera is thin.

Montreal is broader and more festive. Place des Arts houses the symphony, the opera and Les Grands Ballets, and French-language theatre runs all year. The city is also a world centre of contemporary circus, and every summer the Jazz Festival fills the Quartier des Spectacles with free outdoor concerts.

Montreal has a real bathing culture and Boston does not. The Nordic circuit of hot pools, saunas, cold plunges and rest by the fire is a year-round local habit. You can do it on Nuns' Island, aboard a converted ferry in the Old Port or at the forest spas of the Laurentians, and summer terraces and Parc La Fontaine set an unhurried pace.

In brisk, purposeful Boston, relaxing means a hotel or day spa in Back Bay and slow walks in the Public Garden or the Arboretum. Most visitors who want real rest leave town for an inn on Cape Ann or Cape Cod.