Chicago or Niagara Falls?

Chicago has the better beach life because its beaches are part of the city. You can walk from the Gold Coast towers onto the sand at Oak Street, or join the volleyball crowd at North Avenue, all without leaving town.

At Niagara Falls, nobody swims in the river. The nearest bathing is on Lake Erie, about half an hour's drive away, where Crystal Beach has soft sand and shallow, slightly warmer water that suits small children. In both places the season lasts only from early summer to early September.

For food, there is no real contest. Chicago has its own street classics, from tavern-cut pizza to the dressed hot dog, a serious fine-dining strip on Randolph Street, and immigrant cooking from Devon Avenue to Argyle Street.

In Niagara Falls the town's meals are practical, mostly chains and steakhouses on Clifton Hill, and the gorge-view dining rooms charge you for the view. The rewarding eating is out in the wine country, with winery restaurants, summer fruit stands, icewine and cool-climate Riesling.

Chicago is a major destination for architecture and museums. The skyscraper took shape in the Loop after the 1871 fire, Wright's Prairie houses are in Hyde Park and Oak Park, and the Art Institute and the Field Museum alone can fill several days.

Niagara Falls has little to see beyond the water itself. Its history lies in the early hydroelectric stations and the War of 1812 sites at Queenston Heights and Lundy's Lane. The wax museums and neon of Clifton Hill are entertainment rather than heritage.

Chicago's nights are long and varied: cocktail and dive bars in Wicker Park and Logan Square, clubs in River North with a house-music lineage, Northalsted's gay bars, and late licences that keep them going past midnight.

An evening at Niagara starts with the falls lit up in colour and, in summer, fireworks over the gorge. After that come the casino lounges and the pubs and sports bars of Clifton Hill. It is a resort strip with a mixed crowd that includes families, and it goes quiet in winter.

Here Niagara Falls is clearly ahead. Standing beside the Horseshoe Falls, in the roar and the spray, is a landscape experience Chicago cannot match. Below the falls, the gorge has the scrambling trails of the Niagara Glen, the Whirlpool and a riverside path that is lovely to cycle.

Chicago's nature is the lake. A shoreline path of about 29km is excellent on foot or by bike, and the city's parks attract migrating birds. The dunes and canyons beyond the city are an hour or more away across flat country.

Niagara Falls has the stronger list of day trips, and the best is close by: Niagara-on-the-Lake, with its clapboard streets, Fort George and the surrounding wineries, is twenty minutes along the parkway. Toronto makes a full day out, and Buffalo's early skyscrapers are half an hour across the border if you bring a passport.

From Chicago the easy outings are Milwaukee by train and the Wright houses of Oak Park. Lake Geneva and the Michigan harbour towns need a car and a long day.

Chicago gives children more to do, and for longer. The Museum of Science and Industry can fill a whole day on its own, the Field Museum's dinosaurs and the Shedd's belugas are next to each other on the lakefront, and Lincoln Park Zoo is free. The summer beaches have lifeguards, but the bitter winter limits time outdoors.

Niagara Falls is a classic family destination on a smaller scale. Children love the boat into the spray and the tunnels behind the water, and Clifton Hill adds mini golf, arcades and an observation wheel. The tourist area is compact and easy with a pushchair. It has no major zoo, aquarium or theme park, though, so a few days covers it.

Chicago is easier to get around without a car. The L runs from both airports into the Loop, and the main museums and parks are a flat walk apart, though crossing between neighbourhoods often means a bus.

At Niagara Falls the falls promenade, the hotels and Clifton Hill are close together, linked by the Incline Railway funicular, and buses run along the parkway. Once you head for the wineries or out of season, though, a car or a tour becomes the practical option.

For shopping, Chicago has the range: flagship stores on the Magnificent Mile, luxury labels on Oak Street, the old Marshall Field's building under its Tiffany ceiling, and independent fashion, records and vintage in Wicker Park and Andersonville.

Niagara Falls offers souvenirs on Clifton Hill and discount brands at the outlet centres outside town. Icewine is the local thing worth bringing home, and the few boutiques are mostly in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Niagara Falls is the cheaper trip, especially in winter or if you stay in a motel on the outer strips. Watching the falls from the promenade costs nothing, though the boats and Clifton Hill attractions add up quickly for a family.

Chicago's downtown hotels, taxes and tipping make it the more expensive stay. You can save by eating at taquerias and pizza places, using the L and spending time on the free lakefront and at the zoo.

Chicago is one of the reasons people travel for live performance. It has the Symphony on Michigan Avenue, the Lyric Opera, Steppenwolf, the Goodman, many storefront theatres, nightly improv at Second City, and electric blues and late jazz sets in its clubs.

In Niagara Falls itself the shows are casino tribute acts, comedians and magic. The exception is twenty minutes away: the Shaw Festival's repertory season in Niagara-on-the-Lake, which serious theatregoers plan a stay around.

Neither is a place to come just to unwind, but Chicago has a little more for anyone who likes bathing. There is a century-old Russian-and-Turkish bathhouse in Wicker Park with fierce steam and cold plunges, a Korean-style jjimjilbang in the suburbs, and warm conservatories for winter mornings.

Niagara has no bathing tradition. What it offers is hotel spas above the falls and wine-country inns where a massage follows a day of tastings, with the slower pace of Niagara-on-the-Lake as the calm escape.