Napa or Portland?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Portland has a little more time on the water. In summer, locals swim from small sandy beaches on the Willamette and the longer river beaches of Sauvie Island. The Oregon coast at Cannon Beach makes a scenic day of sand and sea stacks, even if the Pacific is too cold and rough for most swimmers.

Napa is further from all of that. The Sonoma shore is over an hour's drive and just as cold, so swimming means a resort pool or a summer drive out to Lake Berryessa in the eastern hills.

Napa is the stronger choice when you want wine and fine dining. Estates line Highway 29 and the Silverado Trail, and the celebrated restaurants of Yountville and St Helena turn a meal into the main event of the trip. The Oxbow Public Market is there for something simpler.

Portland eats more casually and more widely. Its food cart pods serve everything from Thai to Georgian, neighbourhood restaurants cook with salmon, crab and mushrooms, and its craft beer and coffee culture goes well beyond anything in Napa. Portland lacks Napa's special-occasion restaurants, while Napa has little cheap variety beyond its taquerias.

Portland has more to see, though neither is a city of great sights. Its highlights are the Japanese Garden in Washington Park and the walled Lan Su Chinese Garden. The Portland Art Museum, the Oregon Historical Society and the view from Pittock Mansion fill out two or three days.

Napa's list runs out within a day. It has Victorian buildings along First Street and the river, the di Rosa art estate in Carneros, and old stone wineries and main streets up the valley.

Portland is the place for an evening out. Brewery taprooms, dive bars with pinball, and cocktail and wine bars line strips such as Alberta, Mississippi, Division and Hawthorne, and they stay open late. The mood is easygoing and there are few dance clubs.

In Napa, the evening is mostly dinner, perhaps followed by a glass at a downtown wine bar, and the valley is quiet by late evening. For a proper night out you would have to drive into San Francisco.

Both have fine scenery, but Portland's reaches further. Forest Park's trails begin at the edge of the city's northwest streets, and the Columbia River Gorge puts Multnomah Falls and dozens of waterfall hikes within half an hour. Mount Hood adds alpine trails and skiing.

Napa's outdoors is gentler and centred on the vineyard floor. Balloons lift off at dawn, a paved trail suits cycling, Bothe-Napa Valley State Park has redwood groves and the climb of Mount St Helena gives wide views. Muir Woods and Point Reyes are within reach on a longer day.

Napa is better placed for days out. Yountville, St Helena and Calistoga are short drives, while Sonoma and Healdsburg open up a second wine region. San Francisco is about an hour away by car, or by ferry from Vallejo, and Sacramento is also within reach.

Portland's best outing is also wine: the Willamette Valley's pinot noir country, under an hour away. Historic Astoria, the Oregon coast and Hood River add variety, but the drives are longer and there is no great city close by.

Portland is the easier city with children. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, the zoo and playground in Washington Park, the old Oaks Amusement Park and the summer fountains can fill several days. The light rail works well with a pushchair, though the wet winters push things indoors.

Napa is made for adults. Tasting rooms hold little for children, so families rely on hotel pools, riverside parks, the geyser near Calistoga and the theme park in Vallejo, with long drives and summer heat in between.

Portland is far easier without a car. The MAX light rail runs from the airport to downtown, a streetcar links the Pearl District with the east bank, the short blocks are good for walking, and cycling is easy. You only really need a car for trips to the Gorge, the mountain or the coast.

Napa's downtown is compact and walkable, but the wineries are spread along some 50km of road and buses are infrequent. Since tasting and driving do not mix, many visitors pay for a driver or join a tour.

Portland is the better place to browse. Powell's City of Books fills a whole block in the Pearl District, and Mississippi, Alberta and Hawthorne have vintage clothing, record shops and makers' studios. The Saturday Market sells local crafts, and Oregon charges no sales tax.

In Napa, shopping mostly means buying wine, often shipped home by the case. Beyond that there are food gifts at the Oxbow Public Market, the cookware and design shops of St Helena's main street, and an outlet mall.

Neither city is cheap, but Portland is much kinder to the budget. Some of its best meals come from food carts, public transport costs little and Forest Park and the waterfront are free. The main extra cost is a hire car for trips out of town.

Napa is priced for luxury: resort rooms, tastings at the big estates, celebrated restaurants and a driver for the tasting day all add up. Even with a chain hotel to the south and meals at taquerias, it does not become a budget trip.

Portland has a proper year-round programme. The Oregon Symphony plays in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, alongside opera, ballet, resident theatre companies and touring Broadway shows. It also has indie and folk bands in small east-side rooms and the sprung floor of the Crystal Ballroom.

Napa's offer centres on the restored Opera House downtown and an Art Deco theatre that hosts touring acts. There is also a summer classical festival in winery venues and a large spring rock festival at the fairgrounds, but outside those events the calendar is thin.

Napa is built for unwinding. Calistoga has offered volcanic mud baths and mineral pools since the nineteenth century, and the resorts in Carneros and the hills have large spas. A day of tastings and terrace lunches is slow by design.

Portland relaxes you in a different way, through garden visits, forest walks and long mornings in cafés. Its bathing is limited to a few neighbourhood soaking houses with saunas and cold plunges, and the Cascade hot springs are a two-hour drive away.