Boston or Wilmington?

Boston's beaches are a summer side trip. There is Revere Beach by subway, a few small harbour beaches, and the dunes of Crane Beach further north, all in water that barely reaches 19°C to 21°C even in August. You go for a cool dip on a hot day, not for a beach vacation.

Wilmington is made for that kind of vacation. Wrightsville, Carolina and Kure beaches each have their own character, from polished to casual boardwalk to quiet, and the sea is warm enough to swim from late May into October. The catch is that the city sits on the river, so every beach day starts with a drive, and rip currents call for care.

Both cities eat from the Atlantic, but Boston has far more range. There are Duxbury and Wellfleet oysters, chowder and lobster rolls, the cannoli and red-sauce dining rooms of the North End, dim sum in Chinatown, and chef-led New England cooking in Cambridge and the South End.

Wilmington's table means shrimp and grits, fried flounder platters and eastern North Carolina whole-hog barbecue with its vinegar sauce. Add a few modern Southern kitchens downtown and a good brewery scene. Fine dining and international food are thin, so expect a few days of good eating rather than a food trip.

Boston has far more to see. The Freedom Trail links the landmarks of the Revolution, and Beacon Hill and Back Bay keep whole nineteenth-century neighbourhoods intact. The Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum are worth the journey on their own, and Harvard and MIT are just across the river.

Wilmington's appeal lies in atmosphere more than in a long list of sights. It has live oaks and antebellum houses across a large historic district, the Bellamy Mansion's frank account of the enslaved labour behind the port's wealth, and the Battleship North Carolina across the river. Two or three days is enough.

Neither is a late-night city. Bars close at 2am in both, and real clubs are scarce. Boston has more choice, from Irish pubs around Faneuil Hall to Fenway sports bars on game nights and cocktail lounges in the Seaport, and its students keep weeknights going.

In Wilmington, evenings mean bars and rooftop terraces on Front Street at weekends, plus beach bars at Wrightsville and Carolina Beach in summer. Out of season, weeknights go quiet.

Neither has mountains, and the outdoors is about as rewarding in one as in the other, but the settings differ. Boston offers parkland and rocky coast: Olmsted's Emerald Necklace, sailing on the Charles, ferries to the Harbor Islands, humpbacks at Stellwagen Bank and the autumn foliage.

Wilmington is flat, warm and watery, with salt marsh, tidal creeks and longleaf pine. You can kayak out to undeveloped Masonboro Island, surf off Wrightsville and see wild Venus flytraps in Carolina Beach State Park. Expect humidity and biting insects in summer.

Boston is the better base for excursions. Salem and Concord are easy train rides away, and Lexington, Plymouth and the old North Shore fishing towns are close by. Newport's clifftop mansions and Providence make a longer day out to the south.

From Wilmington, the best day heads to Southport and the ferry to car-free Bald Head Island, passing Fort Fisher and Brunswick Town on the way. Beyond that, New Bern and Beaufort are about two hours away, and every trip needs a car.

Both work with children, but Boston has more for them all year. The New England Aquarium, the Museum of Science and the Children's Museum are major institutions, the swan boats and bronze ducklings in the Public Garden bring a storybook to life, and the flat, safe centre is easy with a pushchair. Winter is the weak season.

Wilmington is mainly a summer choice for families. It has the beaches, the boardwalk rides at Carolina Beach, the aquarium at Fort Fisher, the decks of the battleship and plenty of rental houses near the sand. The trade-offs are heat, rip currents and constant driving.

Boston is easy without a car. The historic core from the North End to Back Bay is walkable, and the T, though old and slow in places, reaches Cambridge, the airport and Revere Beach. In town, a car is more trouble than it is worth.

In Wilmington it is the other way round. The downtown and riverwalk are pleasant on foot, but the beaches lie 15km or more away and the buses are of little use, so a hire car comes with the trip.

Boston has a proper shopping street in Newbury Street, with boutiques in its brownstones. Copley Place and the Prudential Center cover the big labels, Charles Street has antiques and Harvard Square has bookshops.

Wilmington offers less. There are independent shops and antique dealers along Front Street and in the Cotton Exchange, surf wear in the beach towns and suburban shopping centres for everything else. Neither is worth the trip for shopping, but only Boston is worth setting aside an afternoon for it.

Boston is one of the costliest American cities to visit. Hotel rates peak in the foliage season and meals cost well above the national average. Free sights such as the Freedom Trail and a fairly priced subway help only a little.

Wilmington costs noticeably less, though it is no bargain. Off-season rooms are reasonable and casual seafood and barbecue are fair value, but summer beach rentals and the hire car you can hardly avoid push the bill up.

Boston is far stronger for performing arts. The Boston Symphony Orchestra in Symphony Hall, the Pops on the Esplanade, the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Ballet, and serious drama at the Huntington and the A.R.T. make up a full season. Students from Berklee and the New England Conservatory fill the jazz rooms.

Wilmington is active for its size. Its centrepiece is Thalian Hall, a restored 19th-century opera house, and the calendar adds summer concerts by Greenfield Lake and the riverfront and long-running jazz and blues festivals. It is something to fit around a beach trip rather than a reason to come.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, so relaxing in either comes down to day spas and an easy pace. In Boston, calm comes in pockets of a brisk working city: the Public Garden, the Esplanade, or Beacon Hill in the evening.

Wilmington is slow by nature, with quiet evenings on the waterfront and resort spas near the beaches. Outside summer weekends, the whole town is an easy place to switch off.