Boston or Stowe?

Neither place is for a beach trip, but Boston at least has the sea. Revere Beach is a few stops out on the Blue Line, and the dunes of Crane Beach and Singing Beach on the North Shore are a short trip away, though the Atlantic stays cold even in late summer.

In Stowe, swimming means rocky mountain-stream holes or the small, unguarded state-park beaches on Waterbury Reservoir and Lake Elmore, a drive away and only open from late June to early September. The lake water is a little warmer than Boston's sea, but most visitors treat a swim as a break from a day's hiking.

Boston has the deeper table. It has oysters and lobster rolls from harbourside shacks to Seaport raw bars, red-sauce dining rooms and cannoli in the North End, late dim sum in Chinatown, and chef-led cooking in Cambridge and the South End.

Stowe eats well for a small resort but has far less choice. Its strengths are Vermont produce: hazy IPAs from some of the country's most sought-after breweries, farm cheddar, maple syrup and cider doughnuts. The farm-to-table rooms and après-ski taverns along Mountain Road thin out in the quiet weeks.

There is a huge gap here. Boston has the whole Freedom Trail, the brick lanes of Beacon Hill and Back Bay's brownstones, plus the Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, with Harvard and MIT across the river for a few more days.

Stowe's cultural side is its postcard village, with a white steeple, clapboard houses and covered bridges. Add the ski and snowboard museum, a small arts centre and the von Trapp estate, and an afternoon covers it all.

Neither is a late-night town, but Boston gives you far more evening. Irish pubs around Faneuil Hall, sports bars near Fenway on game nights, South End cocktail lounges and student bars in Allston keep even weeknights lively until the 2am close.

Stowe's nightlife is après-ski: packed base-lodge bars when the lifts shut, brewery taprooms and the odd band on winter weekends. Outside the peak ski weeks it goes quiet, and anyone wanting a proper night out drives to Burlington.

Stowe is a mountain destination in a way Boston is not. Mount Mansfield rises right above the valley, with ski runs, glades and backcountry routes in winter, and the Long Trail, the boulder-filled pass of Smugglers' Notch, waterfalls and mountain-bike trails in summer.

Boston's outdoors is gentler and coastal: Olmsted's Emerald Necklace, kayaks on the Charles, and ferries to the Harbor Islands. Its one real advantage is the sea, with whale-watching trips to see humpbacks on Stellwagen Bank. Both places peak with the autumn foliage.

Boston is the far better base for exploring. Salem and Concord are easy train rides away, and Lexington's battlefields, Plymouth, the fishing towns of Gloucester and Rockport, and the Newport mansions fill a long list that covers a large part of early American history.

From Stowe every outing is by car, and the list is shorter. It includes lakeside Burlington, the excellent Shelburne Museum, gold-domed Montpelier and the cider mills and ice-cream tour in Waterbury. These make pleasant afternoons rather than a reason to stay.

Boston has more laid on for children. The New England Aquarium, the Museum of Science, the Children's Museum, the swan boats in the Public Garden and a whale-watching trip can fill several days in a flat, safe centre you can manage without a car.

Stowe suits families who would rather be outdoors. It has a big ski school with gentle terrain, the riverside path for bikes and pushchairs, and sugarhouses where children watch maple syrup being made. The child-focused resort over Smugglers' Notch is about an hour's drive round the mountain in winter, and there are no zoos or children's museums.

Boston is easy to manage without a car. Downtown, the North End, Beacon Hill and Back Bay sit close enough to walk, and the T and harbour ferries cover the rest, even if the Green Line crawls and service ends around midnight.

Stowe strings its inns and restaurants along about 11km of valley road. A free shuttle runs in ski season and the recreation path helps in summer, but you will need a car for trailheads, other towns and the drive from Burlington's airport, often on icy winter roads.

Boston has real shopping streets. Newbury Street's brownstones hold fashion flagships and boutiques, Copley Place and the Prudential Center have the department stores, and Charles Street is good for antiques.

Stowe's shops are ski and outdoor outfitters, craft galleries selling pottery and wool, and farm stands. The best things to take home are maple syrup and cheddar rather than clothes.

Both are expensive, but in different ways. In Boston, high hotel rates and restaurant bills last all year, peaking with the foliage and the graduation weeks, and the main savings are the free trail, the parks and the subway.

Stowe's costs come from ski lodging, lift tickets and resort dining, which are steepest over Christmas, the school vacations and October. Prices drop sharply in spring and November, and valley motels and brewery food make a careful budget possible in a way Boston rarely allows.

Boston is far ahead. The Boston Symphony plays in Symphony Hall, the Pops perform on the Esplanade, and the Handel and Haydn Society specialises in early music. There is Boston Ballet, drama at the Huntington and the A.R.T., and Berklee students playing in small jazz rooms.

Stowe's programme is real but seasonal: touring acts at the arts centre by Spruce Peak, summer community theatre and outdoor concerts on the hillside lawns linked to the von Trapp family. Between seasons there is little on.

Stowe is the place to unwind. Its resort spas have saunas, steam rooms and heated outdoor pools under the mountain, and quiet inns with wood fires make spa weekends a common reason for couples from northeastern cities to come.

Boston has no bathing culture beyond the day spas of Back Bay. Its quiet corners are the Public Garden, the Esplanade and the Arnold Arboretum, and Bostonians who want real rest tend to leave the city, sometimes for places much like Stowe.