Detroit or Wilmington?

This is where Wilmington pulls furthest ahead. It has real ocean beaches: polished Wrightsville with its fishing pier, Carolina Beach with its boardwalk and quieter Kure, all with warm Atlantic water for five months of the year. Watch for rip currents and the summer parking hunt.

Detroit's swimming is a modest summer extra. There is the small beach on Belle Isle and the calm, shallow lake at Lake St. Clair Metropark, usable for a few weeks in high summer.

Detroit eats with more variety and more character. Its own institutions, the chilli-smothered Coney dog and square Detroit-style pizza, sit alongside Eastern Market, the restaurants of Corktown and Midtown, and the outstanding Arab American bakeries and grills of Dearborn, plus Mexicantown and Hamtramck.

Wilmington's strength is narrower and coastal: local shrimp, flounder and oysters, shrimp and grits, and vinegar-sauced whole-hog barbecue, with craft breweries downtown. It is enjoyable for a few days, but international cooking is thin.

Detroit has the weightier sights. The Detroit Institute of Arts, with Rivera's Detroit Industry murals, would anchor any city, and around it are the Charles H. Wright Museum, the Motown Museum, the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, plus the Art Deco Guardian and Fisher buildings.

Wilmington offers atmosphere more than collections. Its large historic district of antebellum houses and live oaks, the Bellamy Mansion and the Battleship North Carolina reward a gentle couple of days, where Detroit can fill a week.

Detroit's nights have an identity: it is the birthplace of techno, with warehouse parties and serious small clubs alongside cocktail bars, taprooms and casino bars. The catch is that these are scattered across neighbourhoods and linked by taxi.

Wilmington is simpler and more casual. Most of it happens in the bars and rooftop terraces of Front Street on weekends, with beach bars in summer and little club culture. It is easier to walk between bars, but there is less to go out for.

Wilmington has the richer outdoors. Paddlers and birdwatchers can explore the salt marsh, tidal creeks and the undeveloped Masonboro Island, there is surfing and sailing off Wrightsville, and the wild Venus flytraps of Carolina Beach State Park grow almost nowhere else.

Detroit's outdoors are parks and water: Olmsted's Belle Isle, cycling on the RiverWalk, and metropark trails that look good in autumn colour. Neither has hills, but Wilmington's mild winters keep its outdoors open far longer.

The two are about even, and both need a car. Detroit's outings are towns and big attractions: leafy Ann Arbor, Bavarian-themed Frankenmuth, Toledo's art museum, Windsor across the border and Cedar Point's roller coasters at the far edge.

Wilmington's are coastal and historical. You can visit porch-lined Southport and take the ferry to car-free Bald Head Island, see the earthworks of Fort Fisher, or drive further to colonial New Bern and Beaufort.

Wilmington is the easier family trip, at least in summer. The beaches, Carolina Beach's boardwalk rides and arcades, the aquarium at Fort Fisher and the battleship's walk-through decks make a simple run of days out, and rental houses near the sand suit a family. Every outing still means the car, and heat, humidity and rip currents are the cautions.

Detroit has strong individual draws: the large Detroit Zoo with its polar bear tunnel, the hands-on Michigan Science Center and the steam trains of Greenfield Village. They are spread across the metro area and need driving as well. Winter cuts back the outdoor options, which leaves the indoor museums to carry the trip.

Both are car cities beyond a walkable core, and neither is easy without one. Detroit at least has rail in the centre: the People Mover loops downtown and the QLine runs up Woodward to the Midtown museums. Wilmington's compact historic district has only its riverwalk, and the beaches lie 15km or more out along suburban roads.

Neither city suits a shopping trip, but Detroit has slightly more to browse. Corktown and Midtown sell Detroit-made watches, leather goods and print, and Eastern Market and Dearborn's specialist grocers add more.

Wilmington's shopping is antiques, galleries and bookshops along Front Street and in the Cotton Exchange, plus surf wear at the beaches. In both cities, mainstream brands mean driving out to a suburban mall.

Detroit is the cheaper trip. Hotel rooms undercut most large American cities, and Coney dogs, pizza and Middle Eastern food are good value. Prices only spike on game and concert nights.

Wilmington is fair off-season, but summer beachfront hotels and rental houses push costs up just when most people want to visit. In both, a hire car, tips and sales tax add to the bill.

Detroit is one of the stronger music cities in the country. The symphony plays in the admired Orchestra Hall, there is opera in a restored downtown house, shows at the gilded Fox and Fisher theatres, and the free jazz festival takes over downtown at Labor Day. Small venues have live soul, rock and gospel most nights.

Wilmington's scene is lively for its size, centred on the 19th-century Thalian Hall, outdoor summer stages by Greenfield Lake and jazz and blues festivals. You would fit it around beach days rather than plan a trip around it.

Neither has a spa or bathing tradition, but Wilmington is the more restful place. The town moves slowly, waterfront evenings are calm, and resort spas near the beaches add some pampering.

Detroit runs on work, sport and music, and rest there means a hotel spa or a quiet afternoon on Belle Isle.