Minneapolis or Wisconsin Dells?

Neither has a sea, and both offer lake swimming in water near 24°C for a short summer season. Minneapolis has the more convenient version. The sandy strips on Lake Harriet, Bde Maka Ska, Nokomis and Cedar Lake are a bike ride from downtown, so you can swim after a day of sightseeing.

The best beach near the Dells is at Devil's Lake, half an hour's drive away. The setting under quartzite bluffs is lovely, but summer weekends are crowded. Most families there swim in the waterparks instead, which is a different thing entirely.

Minneapolis has a far wider table. Its Mexican, Vietnamese, Somali, Ethiopian and Hmong communities cook along Lake Street and Eat Street and at the Midtown Global Market. Add the chef-driven places in the North Loop and you can eat something different at every meal.

In the Dells, eating out is mostly steakhouses, buffets and pizza between attractions. Its charm is Wisconsin ritual: a supper club with a brandy old fashioned, the Friday fish fry and fresh squeaky cheese curds. That is enjoyable for a few days, but food lovers go to Madison.

This is one of the widest gaps between the two. Minneapolis has two serious art museums, the encyclopedic Institute of Art and the Walker with its Sculpture Garden. It also has industrial history at the Mill City Museum and the Stone Arch Bridge by St Anthony Falls.

The Dells offers the H.H. Bennett Studio, which tells how photographs of the gorges first brought tourists to the area, and some Ho-Chunk exhibits. The rest of Broadway is wax museums and upside-down houses, which children enjoy but which are not heritage.

Minneapolis is no party city, but it does offer a real night out. There are taprooms and old bars in Northeast, cocktail bars in the North Loop warehouses, and weekend crowds in the Warehouse District and Uptown. Summer patios are the high point.

The Dells goes quiet when the waterparks close. A few taverns, sports bars and supper-club bars serve adults a drink after dinner, and the casino near Baraboo stays open late. Anyone wanting more drives an hour to Madison.

Both are strong on the outdoors, in different ways. In Minneapolis the parkland runs through the city itself. The 80km Grand Rounds links the Chain of Lakes, Minnehaha Falls and the Mississippi gorge, so you can cycle for hours from downtown. Frozen lakes and groomed ski trails keep winter active.

The Dells has the more striking scenery. You can see the sandstone canyons of the Wisconsin River by boat or kayak, and Devil's Lake has quartzite bluffs, boulder trails and rock climbing. Autumn colour in the bluffs is the time to aim for.

The Dells is better placed for days out. Madison, with its Capitol on an isthmus between two lakes, is an hour away. So are Taliesin and the House on the Rock at Spring Green, and Baraboo's Circus World and crane foundation are closer still.

From Minneapolis the best outing is St Paul, which is really part of the same visit, followed by Stillwater on the St Croix and the river towns down to Lake Pepin. Beyond those the land turns to farmland. Only St Paul is on the light rail, and everything else on either list needs a car.

Few places are built around children as completely as Wisconsin Dells. It has indoor waterpark resorts open through winter, America's largest outdoor waterpark, go-karts, mini-golf and duck boats, all a few minutes apart, and many hotels have slides of their own.

Minneapolis is good for families too. It has the Mall of America's indoor amusement park and aquarium, the Science Museum and Children's Museum in St Paul, and lake beaches in summer. Its attractions are spread out, though, and it suits teenagers better than the Dells, where water rides soon wear thin.

You can manage Minneapolis without a car. The Blue Line links the airport, downtown and the Mall of America, and the Green Line runs to St Paul. Protected bike lanes and the Midtown Greenway reach the lakes, and the skyways help in winter.

In the Dells, driving is the only practical option. Attractions sit along highways that are unpleasant to walk, and only the few blocks of Broadway work on foot. Most visitors arrive by car, and the nearest airport with regular flights is in Madison.

Minneapolis has the Mall of America, a light-rail ride from downtown, with no sales tax on clothing. It also has independent boutiques in the North Loop and makers' studios in Northeast. Luxury shops are few, but there is real choice.

In the Dells, shopping means T-shirt shops, taffy counters and cheese shops along Broadway. An outlet centre covers the mainstream brands on a rainy afternoon, but nobody plans a day around it.

Costs are much alike, both being mid-priced by American standards, but they add up in different ways. In Minneapolis the main sights are free, from the Institute of Art to the lakes, and light rail is cheap. Hotel rates climb when conventions or big sporting events come to town.

In the Dells the room is often the smaller part of the bill. Rides, tickets and resort extras add up quickly for a family on summer weekends. Older motels and off-peak dates are moderate, and the state parks cost little.

Here Minneapolis is in another league. It has the Guthrie Theater by the Mississippi, touring shows on Hennepin Avenue and the Minnesota Orchestra. Across the river are the St Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Minnesota Opera, and First Avenue, the club of Purple Rain, anchors the rock scene. There is something worth seeing most nights.

The Dells has magic shows, dinner shows and a theatre in Lake Delton for tribute bands and country acts. Visitors who care about theatre drive to Spring Green's outdoor classical theatre in summer.

Neither is a spa destination, though Minneapolis is the calmer place overall. Its Nordic sauna tradition puts public saunas on the frozen lakes in winter, with a cold plunge between rounds, and locals unwind with a walk around a lake at dusk.

The Dells has resort spas and a long-established adults-only retreat in the woods, which gives parents a real break. Otherwise the town moves at the pace of its waterslides, and summer weekends are loud. The quiet comes early in the morning on the river, or out of season.