Detroit or Ocean City, Maryland?

This is the widest gap between the two. Ocean City is built around about 16km of soft Atlantic sand with lifeguards along its whole length and moderate surf for bodyboarding. Assateague's wild, dune-backed shore is a short drive south.

Detroit offers a summer swim rather than a beach trip. There is a small sandy strip on Belle Isle and calm, shallow lake water at Lake St. Clair Metropark, and it is only warm enough for a few weeks in July and August.

Detroit eats more widely. Coney dogs and square, crisp-edged pizza are only the start. The real draw is Dearborn's Lebanese and Yemeni bakeries and grills, along with Mexicantown, Hamtramck's Polish bakeries and Saturdays at Eastern Market.

Ocean City does one thing well: steamed blue crabs dusted with Old Bay on brown paper, crab cakes and boardwalk fries with vinegar. Beyond that it is mostly diners, chains and bar food, and many kitchens cut back once summer ends.

There is no contest here. Detroit has the Detroit Institute of Arts with Rivera's Detroit Industry murals, the Motown Museum and the Charles H. Wright Museum. The Henry Ford museum and Greenfield Village fill a whole day, and downtown has Art Deco interiors such as the Guardian Building's banking hall.

In Ocean City the heritage is the boardwalk itself, along with its early twentieth-century carousel and the small Life-Saving Station Museum. That is worth an hour on a rainy day.

Detroit has the deeper scene, and it is rooted in techno. Small serious clubs, warehouse parties and after-hours nights sit alongside cocktail bars and taprooms in Corktown and Midtown. It is spread out, so a night usually means taxis, but it runs all year.

Ocean City's nights are louder and simpler. Open-air bayside bars with sand floors and dance bars along the Coastal Highway are young and busy in summer, then largely shut from October.

For time outdoors Ocean City has the edge, though the land is flat in both places. Detroit's green space is parkland: Belle Isle's Olmsted-designed woods and lagoon, the RiverWalk for an easy cycle along the water, and a ring of metroparks with wetland trails, birdwatching and good autumn colour. It adds up to pleasant afternoons rather than a reason to come.

Ocean City has wilder country on its doorstep. On Assateague, wild ponies graze among dunes, pine woods and marsh, and kayak routes thread the back bays. The town is also a serious base for offshore fishing, with a long tradition of marlin tournaments.

Neither is strong on outings, and the difference is in kind. From Detroit you go from town to town: the university town of Ann Arbor, Bavarian-themed Frankenmuth, Toledo's art museum, and Windsor across the border if you have a passport.

Around Ocean City the trips are small and coastal: historic Berlin, the pony village of Chincoteague, Rehoboth Beach and the ferry from Lewes to Cape May. Both need a car.

Ocean City is made for children. It has a beach with lifeguards, two old boardwalk amusement parks, water parks, go-karts and mini-golf every few blocks, and condo kitchens make a week easy. It is best to avoid early June, when graduating teenagers take over parts of town.

Detroit has good single outings, such as the zoo's polar bear tunnel, the Michigan Science Center and the steam trains at Greenfield Village. Each one is a drive, though, and the days take more planning.

Both are places for driving, but they are laid out differently. In Detroit, the People Mover loops the centre and the QLine runs up Woodward to Midtown's museums. Dearborn, the zoo and everything further out mean driving or ride-hailing.

Ocean City is one long strip along the Coastal Highway, with a summer bus and the boardwalk tram. If you stay near the sea you can walk to the beach, but the highway is unpleasant on foot and Assateague needs a car.

Detroit gives a shopper more to find. Midtown and Corktown have independent boutiques and vintage shops, along with makers of Detroit-made watches, leather goods and print. For big-name and luxury brands you drive to a large mall in the northern suburbs, because there is no central shopping street to fill an afternoon.

In Ocean City, shopping is something to do between beach days: T-shirts, surf shops, saltwater taffy and fudge along the boardwalk, and an outlet centre over the bridge for mainstream brands. There is nothing in the way of luxury and little local craft.

Detroit is easier on the budget. Its hotels cost less than in most large American cities, and Coney dogs, pizza and Middle Eastern meals are good value, though a hire car and parking add up.

Ocean City charges resort rates for oceanfront rooms in summer, and a crab feast soon gets expensive. Sharing a condo, staying a few blocks back from the sea, or coming in late May or September brings the cost down.

Detroit is a real music city. It has the Detroit Symphony at Orchestra Hall, the Detroit Opera, touring Broadway shows at the Fisher Theatre, long-established jazz clubs and the free Detroit Jazz Festival over Labor Day weekend. Soul, rock and gospel play in small venues most nights.

Ocean City has cover bands, tribute acts at the convention centre and free summer concerts at the boardwalk bandstand. They are fine for an evening but nothing to plan a trip around.

Neither is a place to unwind, and neither has a spa culture beyond hotel and day spas. The quiet moments come from different things. In Detroit it is a slow walk on the RiverWalk or an afternoon on Belle Isle. In Ocean City it is an early walk on an empty northern beach, best in the shoulder months after the summer noise has gone.