Minneapolis or St. Louis?

Minneapolis has a genuine summer swimming scene that St. Louis cannot match. Bde Maka Ska, Lake Harriet, Lake Nokomis and the quieter Cedar Lake have sandy strips and lifeguards, and on warm evenings locals cycle over after work for a swim or a paddleboard. The season is short, though, and the lakes freeze for half the year.

St. Louis has nothing comparable. Its two great rivers have fast working currents and are not safe for swimming, so cooling off in the humid summer means a pool or a long drive to an Ozark reservoir.

The two cities eat about equally well, but in different ways. Minneapolis is at its best in its immigrant kitchens: Somali, Ethiopian, Mexican and Vietnamese places along Lake Street and Eat Street, Hmong markets and the Midtown Global Market. The Juicy Lucy and Scandinavian baking are its homegrown specialities, and brewery taprooms in Northeast are the centre of social life.

St. Louis has more dishes that belong to it alone: toasted ravioli, Provel-topped cracker-crust pizza, gooey butter cake and serious ribs. Add to that the trattorias of the Hill, the Bosnian grills of South Grand, the Saturday Soulard Market and the red-brick Anheuser-Busch brewery as a backdrop.

St. Louis gives a sightseer more. The Gateway Arch, with its tram-pod ride to the top and its museum of westward expansion, is a true national landmark. The Old Courthouse of the Dred Scott case, the mosaics of the Cathedral Basilica and the pioneering Wainwright Building add depth, and whole Victorian streets survive in Soulard and Lafayette Square.

Minneapolis is a museum town rather than a monument town. The free Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Walker's contemporary collection are excellent, and the mill ruins and Stone Arch Bridge tell the city's flour-milling story. Away from the riverfront, though, there is less historic fabric to walk through.

Neither city is built for all-night partying, and both spread their evenings across several neighbourhoods. Minneapolis leans towards beer and cocktails: taprooms and old bars in Northeast, warehouse cocktail bars in the North Loop, and summer rooftops and patios. Light rail and short distances make it easier to move between them.

St. Louis has more music in its bars. You will find blues in Soulard's corner taverns, bigger dance bars on Washington Avenue, the Grove as the LGBTQ+ and late-night strip, and riverboat casinos open late. Expect to take a taxi between these pockets.

Minneapolis puts its green space right on your doorstep. The Grand Rounds loops about 80km past the Chain of Lakes, Minnehaha Falls and the Mississippi gorge, almost free of traffic. Summer brings canoeing on the lakes, and winter brings cross-country skiing in Theodore Wirth Park and skating on the ice.

St. Louis has Forest Park in town, but its better outdoors lies a drive away. Within an hour you reach the Ozark foothills, with the bluffs and caves of Castlewood and Meramec, and the Katy Trail starts in St. Charles. In winter, bald eagles gather near Alton.

St. Louis has far more to fill the days beyond the city. Cahokia Mounds, the UNESCO-listed site of a great pre-Columbian city, is twenty minutes away. Ste. Genevieve's French colonial houses, the German wine towns of Hermann and Augusta, Twain's Hannibal and Lincoln's Springfield all make worthwhile drives.

Minneapolis has St Paul's Capitol and Summit Avenue mansions an easy light-rail ride away, and Stillwater and Lake Pepin make pleasant river outings. After that it is mostly farmland.

Both cities are easy with children, though the weather pushes families in opposite directions. In Minneapolis, the indoor amusement park and aquarium at the Mall of America, the Science Museum and the free Como Zoo carry the winter, while summer means lake beaches and paddle boats.

St. Louis has the single most memorable attraction in the City Museum, a converted shoe warehouse full of slides and tunnels. The Forest Park zoo and science centre are free, and a ballgame at Busch Stadium makes an easy evening. Its awkward season is the humid summer afternoon rather than the winter.

Minneapolis is much easier without a car. Its Blue and Green light-rail lines link the airport, downtown, the Mall of America and St Paul. The skyways let you cross downtown indoors, and protected bike lanes and the Midtown Greenway reach the lakes faster than the buses do.

St. Louis is a driving city. MetroLink covers the airport-to-downtown spine and Forest Park, but Soulard, the Hill, South Grand and every day trip need a car or a taxi. In return, the roads are uncongested and parking is easy.

Minneapolis is the better place to shop. The Mall of America is a destination in itself, there is no sales tax on clothing, and the North Loop and Northeast add boutiques and makers' studios. It is mainstream rather than luxurious.

St. Louis makes for a pleasant afternoon rather than a shopping trip. Cherokee Street's antiques, vintage and record shops are the best of it, and big-name stores sit out in suburban malls.

Costs are much the same in both, and both are cheap by American big-city standards, though neither is a budget destination. St. Louis has somewhat lower hotel prices, plus free Forest Park museums and a free zoo, but most visitors there will pay for a hire car or taxis.

Minneapolis claws some of that back with inexpensive light rail and bikes, which cover the free art institute, Sculpture Garden and lakes. Only longer outings there need a car.

Minneapolis is the stronger stage city. The Guthrie is one of the country's leading theatre companies, and around it runs a wide circuit, from the Hennepin Avenue houses to the Children's Theatre Company. Add the Minnesota Orchestra and First Avenue, Prince's club, and there is something good on most nights.

St. Louis is not far behind and has its own character. The long-established Saint Louis Symphony plays in Powell Hall, summer musicals fill the Muny's huge outdoor theatre in Forest Park, and the city's blues heritage, from Chuck Berry to the National Blues Museum, keeps Soulard's bars playing.

Minneapolis has a real tradition to offer: Nordic saunas set up on the frozen lakes in winter, with a cold plunge or a roll in the snow between rounds. Summer evenings walking around the lakes add to the calm.

St. Louis has no bathing culture, only hotel and day spas in Clayton and the Central West End. Its most restful hours are spent in the Missouri Botanical Garden's Japanese garden.