Milwaukee or Pittsburgh?

Milwaukee at least has a real beach in town. Bradford Beach, below the East Side bluffs, has volleyball courts and cabanas, and the lake reaches about 20°C in a good August. Still, an offshore wind can chill the water overnight, so many people only paddle.

Pittsburgh has nothing like this. Nobody swims in its rivers, and the nearest sand is at Lake Arthur's small reservoir beaches, 45 minutes' drive away, or Presque Isle on Lake Erie, about two hours away. In Milwaukee a beach afternoon fits easily into a city day. In Pittsburgh it is an excursion.

The two are evenly matched, and their roots overlap: Polish and other Central European immigrants shaped the cooking in both. The difference is in how people eat. Milwaukee adds a strong German streak and a culture built around beer, the Friday fish fry in taverns and church halls, frozen custard stands and the old-fashioned supper club with its relish tray.

Pittsburgh eats more through its markets and newer kitchens. The Strip District is a long street of grocers, fishmongers and Asian markets with nothing quite like it in Milwaukee, and the sandwich with fries stacked inside is the city's own. For a chef-led dinner in a converted industrial building, Lawrenceville and East Liberty give it the edge.

Pittsburgh has more to see. The Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History, the Andy Warhol Museum, the Mattress Factory's room-sized installations and the Nationality Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning add up to several full days. Its greatest sight is the view of the bridges and three rivers from Mount Washington, reached by incline.

Milwaukee is mainly about two landmarks: Calatrava's winged art museum on the lakefront and the Harley-Davidson Museum. Around them are brewing-era buildings such as the Pabst Mansion and the Basilica of St Josaphat. That fills two or three good days rather than a longer stay.

Both cities are bar towns with little clubbing and the same 2am close, but Milwaukee has more character after dark. Its corner taverns, with brewery signs and regulars along the bar, are a distinctive night out of their own. In summer, beer gardens and festival evenings by the lake liven the city up.

Pittsburgh spreads its drinking between Butler Street in Lawrenceville and the student strip on East Carson Street, with game nights in black and gold. It is friendly and easygoing, but there is less here that you would not find in other American cities.

Pittsburgh's setting is the more varied. Wooded hills rise behind the neighbourhoods, and Frick and Schenley parks have ravine trails. About an hour and a half away, Ohiopyle offers whitewater rafting through a gorge, while the Great Allegheny Passage cycle trail leaves straight from the city. Autumn colour on the ridges is a real draw.

Milwaukee's outdoors are flat and centred on the lake. There are Olmsted's bluffs in Lake Park, long level rides on the Oak Leaf Trail and kayaking on the river through downtown. Kettle Moraine's glacial hills, an hour away, are gentle rather than dramatic.

Milwaukee has the stronger choice of outings, chiefly because Chicago is about an hour and a half away by train. Madison, Cedarburg's stone mills, Kohler's gardens and Lake Geneva's mansions are all easy outings.

Both cities offer Frank Lloyd Wright. From Milwaukee it is the SC Johnson buildings in Racine. From Pittsburgh it is Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob, together a superb day. Beyond those, Pittsburgh has the Flight 93 memorial and Ligonier, and then little else, with a car needed for nearly everything.

Pittsburgh gives children more. The North Side alone has the Carnegie Science Center with its submarine, the Children's Museum and the National Aviary. Add the dinosaur halls in Oakland, the zoo and aquarium, and Kennywood's classic wooden roller coasters in summer. The catch is the hills, which make a car useful with small children.

Milwaukee is the easier, flatter city to manage. It has a large zoo, Discovery World's aquariums and the Mitchell Park Domes for cold days, but from November to March there is less to keep a family busy.

Pittsburgh is slightly easier without a car. The T light rail runs under downtown and across to the North Side, and the inclines climb Mount Washington. Its compact centre connects to the stadiums and the Strip District on foot, though steep hills slow the walk to Oakland or Lawrenceville.

Milwaukee's centre is flat and pleasant along the Riverwalk, with The Hop streetcar through the Third Ward, but there is no rail beyond it. Outside the core it is a driving city. The upside is that parking is easy.

Neither city is worth visiting to shop. Milwaukee's best browsing is in the Third Ward's warehouse boutiques, and the usual souvenirs are Wisconsin cheese, beer and Harley-Davidson gear.

Pittsburgh has a bit more variety: the stalls and kitchenware of the Strip District, independent and vintage shops on Butler Street, and Walnut Street in Shadyside, which is the nearest either city gets to an upmarket boutique street.

Both are good value by American standards, with hotels well below coastal prices, cheap beer, and tips and tax on every restaurant bill. Where your money goes is different. In Milwaukee, many parks, the lakefront and festivals cost little or nothing, but hiring a car adds up. In Pittsburgh, ride-hailing between its hilly neighbourhoods is the cost that grows. Both raise hotel rates on big game or festival weekends.

Pittsburgh has the deeper programme year round. The Pittsburgh Symphony is long respected and plays in the gilded Heinz Hall, the Benedum Center hosts the opera and ballet, and the city's jazz history in the Hill District, home to August Wilson's plays, lives on in small clubs.

Milwaukee has a full set of companies of its own, and the ornate Pabst Theater is a lovely place to see a band. Its biggest draw is Summerfest, weeks of music on the lakefront, so the timing of your trip matters more here.

Neither city has a bathing tradition. In both, wellness means hotel and day spas, along with a quiet walk. Milwaukee offers the lakefront and the Riverwalk, and Pittsburgh has Phipps Conservatory's warm glasshouses and the paths of Frick Park. For a proper spa stay, Kohler is about an hour from Milwaukee, slightly closer than Pittsburgh's resorts in the Laurel Highlands.