Detroit or Memphis?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Detroit at least has somewhere to swim. Belle Isle has a small sandy beach, and the long, shallow shore of Lake St. Clair Metropark makes a calm summer afternoon out.

Memphis has nothing of the kind. The Mississippi is a working river of barges and fast current, so in summer cooling off means a hotel pool or a drive to a lake in the countryside.

Both cities eat well and eat local, but in different ways. Detroit's signatures are the chilli-laden Coney dog and square, crisp-edged pizza, and its real range comes from its communities: Lebanese and Yemeni cooking in Dearborn, Mexicantown, the Polish bakeries of Hamtramck, and Saturdays at Eastern Market.

Memphis goes narrower and deeper: pork barbecue as dry-rubbed ribs or pulled shoulder, barbecue spaghetti, then catfish, greens and Delta tamales. Go to Memphis for one great regional tradition and to Detroit for variety, though reaching the best of it takes a drive.

The two are evenly matched but tell different stories. Detroit's anchor is a great encyclopaedic art collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts, with Diego Rivera's industry murals. Add the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn and a downtown of Art Deco towers such as the Guardian Building.

Memphis puts its weight on music and civil rights: Graceland, Sun Studio and Stax on one side, and on the other the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, one of the most moving museums in the country. Detroit is better for painting and architecture, Memphis for American history told through a few powerful places.

The two are about level for a night out, but they work in opposite ways. Detroit, the birthplace of techno, saves its best nights for people who come for the music: small clubs and warehouse events running into the early hours, with the big electronic weekend at the end of May as the high point of the year. The cocktail bars of Corktown, the taprooms and the casino bars are spread across the city, so an evening means taking taxis between neighbourhoods, and weeknights are slow.

Memphis puts most of its going-out on Beale Street, a few blocks that close to cars at weekends and let you wander with a drink in hand. It needs no planning, but it is more a party for visitors than a real scene, and locals head to the calmer bars of Overton Square and Cooper-Young instead. Choose Detroit to dance to serious electronic music, and Memphis for a lively street you can simply walk into.

Both sit on flat ground by a great river, so the outdoors means parks and water rather than scenery. Detroit has the Olmsted-shaped woods and lagoon of Belle Isle, the RiverWalk, and sailing and kayaking on Lake St. Clair, with good autumn colour before winter shuts things down.

Memphis offers the walk or bike ride across the Mississippi on the Big River Crossing into Arkansas, the lakes and bison of the vast Shelby Farms Park, and old-growth forest in Overton Park. Here it is the summer heat, not the cold, that limits time outside.

Memphis has the better day trips because they hang together. Highway 61 runs south into the Delta, past Clarksdale's juke joints and the Blues Trail markers, while Faulkner's Oxford, Elvis's birthplace in Tupelo and the battlefield at Shiloh are all within a couple of hours.

Detroit's options are pleasant but scattered: leafy Ann Arbor, Bavarian-themed Frankenmuth, Toledo's fine art museum and Windsor across the border in Canada. Both need a car for almost everything.

Detroit is the easier place to bring children. The large Detroit Zoo with its polar bear tunnel, the hands-on Michigan Science Center, and the steam trains and horse-drawn rides of Greenfield Village keep school-age children busy, with Belle Isle's aquarium as a gentler outing.

Memphis has a fine zoo in Overton Park, a children's museum, the Pink Palace planetarium and the daily duck march at the Peabody. Beyond those, its headline sights on music and civil rights suit teenagers more than young children, and summer heat makes outings tiring.

Both cities are compact downtown and sprawling beyond, so most visitors end up driving or using ride-hailing. Detroit has a little more rail: the People Mover loops the centre and the QLine streetcar runs up Woodward Avenue to the museums of Midtown and New Center.

In Memphis, heritage trolleys on Main Street and short walks link Beale Street, the riverfront and the Civil Rights Museum. Graceland in Whitehaven, Midtown and Shelby Farms all need a car.

Detroit offers more, though neither city is a shopping destination. Its independent shops in Midtown and Corktown sell Detroit-made watches, leather goods and print, and Eastern Market adds local crafts on market days.

Memphis is best for vintage vinyl in its record shops and for Elvis and blues memorabilia, much of it souvenir stock, with small boutiques on Cooper-Young and Broad Avenue. In both cities, big-name brands mean a drive to a suburban mall.

Costs are much the same: both are cheaper than most large American cities, and in both the extras of tipping, sales tax and a hire car add up. Cheap meals are local specialities, Coney dogs and Middle Eastern plates in Detroit, barbecue and soul food in Memphis.

The pressure points differ. Detroit's downtown hotels jump on game and concert nights, while in Memphis prices climb during the big spring festivals and Graceland charges full admission.

Detroit is the city for the concert hall and the jazz club. Its symphony plays in the admired Orchestra Hall, opera has a restored house downtown and the lavish Fox Theatre hosts big shows. The jazz tradition runs deep, and every year it ends in the free Detroit Jazz Festival.

Memphis keeps its depth in roots music. House bands play blues and soul on Beale Street every night of the year, and in summer there are free concerts on the lawn of the Levitt Shell, where Elvis once played. There are also an orchestra, an opera and a respected ballet, but on a smaller scale.

Neither city is built for rest, and in both a spa means a hotel or a suburban day spa. The calm moments are outdoors: a slow walk on Detroit's RiverWalk or an afternoon on Belle Isle, and in Memphis an early stroll in Overton Park or an evening watching the river from the bluffs.