Detroit or Savannah?

Savannah is the better choice if swimming matters. Tybee Island, half an hour away, has broad flat sand and Atlantic water that's warm from late spring to autumn. The marshes make the water greenish rather than clear, but it's a real beach town to spend a day in.

Detroit can offer a dip on Belle Isle or the calm shallows of Lake St. Clair. The season lasts barely two months, and nobody plans a trip to Detroit around the shore.

The two are evenly matched for food, but in very different ways. Detroit's strength is its range. Alongside its own Coney dogs and crisp-edged pizza you have Lebanese and Yemeni cooking in Dearborn, Mexicantown and Hamtramck's Polish bakeries, though the best meals often mean a drive.

Savannah sticks to one cuisine and does it well. Expect shrimp and grits, she-crab soup, Lowcountry boil and family-style Southern tables, plus a small group of chef-led dining rooms near Forsyth Park, all within walking distance. Detroit is the better choice for variety, Savannah for a strong sense of place.

Detroit's strength is its collections. The Detroit Institute of Arts, with Rivera's Detroit Industry murals filling a whole courtyard, is worth a long visit, and the Henry Ford Museum with Greenfield Village takes a full day in Dearborn. The Guardian Building's Art Deco banking hall and the gilded Fisher Building are shorter stops. The stretches between these sights are long and uneven, so you travel from one highlight to the next rather than wandering.

Savannah comes out ahead because the town itself is the sight. On foot, Oglethorpe's grid of garden squares takes you past Federal and Greek Revival houses to Factors Walk, the Telfair Museums and the Owens-Thomas House, with Bonaventure Cemetery a short ride beyond. The collections are smaller, but the whole setting holds together in a way Detroit's doesn't.

There's little between the two for a night out, but the nights themselves are very different. In Detroit, the music sets the plan. This is where techno began, and the best nights are dance events in old industrial spaces and late, after-hours sets in small clubs, with the Memorial Day weekend electronic festival as the peak. The bars in Corktown, Midtown and downtown are some distance apart, so expect a cab between stops, and weeknights are quiet. It suits clubbers who will cross town for a particular DJ.

Savannah's night is a walk, not a journey. You can carry a drink through the streets of the historic district, so an evening moves easily between riverfront bars, City Market taverns and cocktail rooms in old townhouses without a taxi. It suits groups of friends who want a relaxed, sociable night more than a big one. Weekends get rowdy by the river, and there's little to keep you out as late as Detroit's after-hours crowd.

Savannah has more of the outdoors on its doorstep. You can kayak through salt marsh at high tide, take a boat out to spot dolphins, look for wood storks, or walk under the oak avenue at Wormsloe. Just avoid the steamy months of June to September.

Detroit's outdoors are mostly parks. You can walk or cycle the RiverWalk, spend a day on Olmsted's Belle Isle, or try the metropark trails, which have good autumn colour. Both cities are flat, but Savannah's marsh landscape is the more distinctive of the two.

Savannah has the stronger choice of day trips. Charleston is two hours north, and the antebellum streets of Beaufort, Fort Pulaski, Jekyll Island and St Simons are all along the same coast. Several of these are worth a trip on their own.

From Detroit the options are pleasant rather than memorable. You could visit Ann Arbor's university streets, the Bavarian-themed town of Frankenmuth, Toledo's fine art museum or Windsor across the border. From either city you'll need a car.

A polar bear tunnel at the Detroit Zoo and steam trains at Greenfield Village give Detroit the bigger days out for children, and the Michigan Science Center in Midtown is good for a hands-on morning. All of this is spread across the metro area, so expect plenty of time in the car, and winter cuts the outdoor options sharply.

Savannah has no zoo, aquarium or theme park, but its treats are close together: the free river ferry, trolley tours, room to run in Forsyth Park and the squares, and Tybee's sea-turtle centre by the beach. The summer heat is what wears small children out.

Savannah is much easier to get around without a car. The historic district is flat and compact, with hotels, restaurants and sights a few shaded squares apart, and a free shuttle and ferry fill the gaps.

In Detroit, the People Mover and the QLine streetcar cover downtown and the Midtown museums. Beyond them the avenues are wide and the buses infrequent, so Dearborn, the zoo and almost everything else mean hiring a car or using ride-hailing.

Neither city is a shopping destination, but they shop differently. Savannah has a proper main street in Broughton Street, with antique dealers and art-school work in the squares nearby, which makes for an easy afternoon browse.

Detroit's shopping is spread across Midtown and Corktown, where makers sell locally made watches and leather goods. Big brands mean driving to a suburban mall.

Detroit is clearly the cheaper place to stay. Hotel rooms cost well below what most large American cities charge, and its everyday food is very good value. The main extra cost is a hire car.

Savannah's historic-district inns are priced for a popular weekend escape, and spring makes them dearer still. On the other hand, its best pleasures cost nothing: walking the squares, Forsyth Park and the cemeteries.

Detroit is far ahead for performance. Its symphony plays in the admired Orchestra Hall, the opera and the Fox Theatre stage full seasons, and touring Broadway comes to the Fisher. Jazz clubs and bands rooted in Motown and soul play most nights.

Savannah has the spring music festival in its historic theatres and churches, plus the Lucas and Trustees stages. If you arrive outside the festival seasons, expect little beyond buskers and bar bands.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, but Savannah is the far easier place to unwind. A bench under the oaks, a quiet inn on a southern square or a porch at midweek give it a slow rhythm that suits rest.

Detroit runs on work, sport and music. Rest there comes down to a hotel spa or a slow afternoon on Belle Isle.