Detroit or Newport, Rhode Island?

Newport has the proper beaches. Easton's Beach sits below the Cliff Walk, Second and Third Beaches are longer and wilder, and Gooseberry Beach is a calm cove, all within minutes of town, with Narragansett's beaches further along the coast.

Detroit only offers fresh water: a small sandy beach on Belle Isle and the lawn-backed shore at Lake St. Clair Metropark, about forty minutes away. The lake does get slightly warmer than the Atlantic in August, but it makes a summer afternoon out rather than a reason to go.

Detroit has more range and depth. Beyond its own Coney dogs and square, crisp-edged pizza, it has the Saturday crowds at Eastern Market, Lebanese and Yemeni cooking in Dearborn, Mexicantown and the Polish bakeries of Hamtramck. The catch is that many of the best meals mean a drive.

Newport is good at one thing: New England seafood on the wharves, from raw oysters and stuffed quahogs to Rhode Island's clear-broth chowder and clam cakes. After a few days the choice starts to feel narrow, and in winter some kitchens cut their hours or close.

These two are about level, but they offer very different things. Detroit's strength is its great collections: the Detroit Institute of Arts with Diego Rivera's industry murals, the Motown Museum, the Charles H. Wright Museum and a full day at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. Add the Art Deco towers downtown, though long, empty stretches of city lie between the highlights.

In Newport the town itself is the exhibit. You can tour the Vanderbilt-era mansions on Bellevue Avenue, then walk the colonial streets of the Point and Historic Hill to Touro Synagogue and the Redwood Library. It fits into two or three walkable days, but its museums are small next to Detroit's.

Detroit has the more serious nights out, and its roots are in techno. Warehouse parties and small clubs where the music matters most give it an edge that Newport has no match for, along with dive bars, taprooms and cocktail bars in Corktown and Midtown. Bars are spread out, though, so a night means taxis, and weeknights are quiet.

Newport's evenings happen on Thames Street and the wharves, with sailing crowds and wedding parties moving between pubs and waterfront decks. It is lively on a summer Saturday but has almost no clubs, ends early and goes quiet out of season.

Newport has the better outdoors, built around the rocky Atlantic edge. The Cliff Walk, Ocean Drive and the kite-flying ledges of Brenton Point make fine coastal walks, Sachuest Point is good for seabirds, and the harbour is one of the great sailing waters of North America, with surfing at Second Beach when autumn swells arrive.

Detroit's outdoors are gentler and flatter. The best of them are Olmsted's Belle Isle, cycling along the RiverWalk, kayaking on the river, and the woods and wetlands of the outer metroparks, which are at their best in autumn colour.

Newport has the stronger list of day trips. Providence and its RISD Museum are under an hour away, Boston is within reach, and a ferry runs out to the bluffs of Block Island. New Bedford's whaling museum and Mystic's seaport museum each make a satisfying day.

From Detroit, the options are pleasant rather than memorable: leafy Ann Arbor, Bavarian-themed Frankenmuth, Toledo's fine art museum, and Windsor across the river if you bring a passport. From both cities, nearly every trip needs a car.

Detroit gives children more to do. The large zoo in Royal Oak has its polar bear tunnel, the Michigan Science Center is hands-on, and Greenfield Village has steam trains and horse-drawn rides. Most of it is a drive apart, and winter cuts the outdoor choices short.

Newport works best for a family in summer: calm water at Third Beach and Gooseberry, the carousel at Easton's Beach, the ramparts of Fort Adams and touch tanks at the small Save The Bay aquarium. The long mansion tours tend to bore children, and the town has no zoo or theme park.

Newport is far easier for a visitor. The harbour, Thames Street and the colonial quarters are close together on foot, and buses and a summer trolley run up to the mansions and out to the beaches. Its weak points are summer traffic on the island bridges and scarce parking.

Detroit's People Mover and QLine streetcar cover downtown, Midtown and New Center well. Past that line the city turns into wide avenues built for cars, so Dearborn, the zoo and almost everything else means driving or ride-hailing.

Neither city makes a shopping trip, and both have small shops rather than a main shopping street. In Detroit that means makers and vintage: Detroit-made watches, leather and print in Midtown and Corktown, and Middle Eastern sweets in Dearborn, with big brands out at a suburban mall.

Newport is nautical and preppy, with sailing clothes and galleries on the wharves and antiques along Spring and Franklin Streets, but many shops keep shorter hours in winter.

Detroit is much easier on the wallet. Its hotels cost noticeably less than in most big American cities, and its Coney dogs and Middle Eastern meals are good value. The usual extras are tips, sales tax and the hire car you will probably need.

Newport is costly from top to bottom in summer and early autumn, from rooms to seafood dinners and mansion tickets. To save money, stay further up the island in Middletown, come midweek, or come after the season, when prices drop sharply.

Detroit is the far stronger music city all year round. The symphony plays in Orchestra Hall, the opera has a restored downtown house, and the Fox Theatre stages big shows. Jazz clubs, Motown, soul and gospel mean live bands on most nights, and the free jazz festival fills the streets over Labor Day weekend.

Newport's fame comes from a few summer weeks: the Jazz and Folk Festivals at Fort Adams, with the harbour behind the stage, and chamber music in the mansion ballrooms in July. Outside those weeks there are only a few bar bands, and concertgoers head to Providence or Boston.

Newport is the better place to slow down, though neither town has a bathing tradition. In Newport the spas are in the waterfront resort hotels, and the real restorative is a quiet walk on the Cliff Walk in May, June, September or October, away from the summer wedding parties.

Detroit's rhythm comes from work, sport and music. Rest there means a hotel spa or a slow afternoon on Belle Isle, not a reason to make the trip.