New York or Niagara Falls?

Neither city is a beach destination, but New York has real Atlantic beaches. Coney Island and Brighton Beach are at the end of the subway lines, the Rockaways are longer and draw surfers, and Jones Beach is about an hour out. Niagara Falls has no swimming near the falls at all. Its bathing is half an hour away on the sandy, shallow Lake Erie shore at Crystal Beach, which is gentle for small children but needs a drive.

New York is one of the world's great eating cities. Communities cook their own food in Flushing, Jackson Heights and on Arthur Avenue, the fine dining runs deep, and cheap classics like pizza slices, bagels and deli pastrami are on almost every block.

Niagara Falls has nothing comparable in town, where meals mean chains, diners and steakhouses on Clifton Hill, and the gorge views cost extra. Its strength lies north in the wine country, where winery restaurants, summer fruit stands and icewine make a pleasant afternoon rather than a reason to travel.

Here the gap is about as wide as it gets. New York has the Guggenheim, the Frick, the Natural History museum and the Cloisters, landmarks from Ellis Island to Grand Central, and whole streets of brownstones, cast-iron fronts and tenements where you can read its history.

Niagara Falls has the falls and a short list of heritage: the early hydroelectric stations, Brock's Monument on Queenston Heights and the War of 1812 battlefields. The wax museums of Clifton Hill are entertainment, not heritage, and anyone wanting older streets heads to Niagara-on-the-Lake.

New York has a night out for every mood. There are cocktail bars and dives in the East Village, wine bars in the West Village, rooftops with skyline views, and warehouse parties in Bushwick and Williamsburg that go on past dawn, with trains running all night to get you home.

At Niagara Falls the evening means the falls lit up in colour and summer fireworks, followed by the casinos and the sports bars of Clifton Hill. It is a resort strip for couples, groups and families, livelier in summer and quiet in winter.

Niagara Falls wins on nature because the Horseshoe Falls are one of the great natural sights of the continent. You feel the spray from the promenade, the boats push into the mist at the foot of the falls and tunnels lead behind the water. The deep gorge below and the winter ice add more to see.

Nature in New York is designed and urban: Central Park and Prospect Park, the High Line and the migrating birds at Jamaica Bay. For proper climbs you take the train to Breakneck Ridge in the Hudson Highlands, which is excellent but makes a day trip rather than a walk from the hotel.

Both make good bases, and New York is a little ahead on range. From the city, trains reach Philadelphia's colonial old town, Princeton and Yale's New Haven, as well as the Hudson Valley estates, Dia Beacon and Storm King, all without a car.

From Niagara Falls the best trip is the closest: Niagara-on-the-Lake and its wineries are twenty minutes away. Toronto makes a full city day, and Buffalo's early skyscrapers and Frank Lloyd Wright houses are half an hour across the border, for which you need a passport.

Both work well with children, in different ways. New York has the bigger institutions: the dinosaur halls of the Natural History museum, the Bronx Zoo and the aquarium at Coney Island. But subway stations with only stairs, small hotel rooms and the crowds in Midtown tire young families.

Niagara Falls is the easier trip. The tourist area is compact enough for a pushchair, the boat ride into the spray is unforgettable, and Clifton Hill has mini golf and arcades, with indoor water parks for wet days. A few days covers it, though, and the paid attractions add up.

New York is far easier without a car. Manhattan's grid is easy to walk, and the subway runs around the clock, with ferries and Citi Bike reaching almost everything else. Stairs, weekend reroutes and the airport transfer can test your patience.

At Niagara Falls, the falls, the hotels and Clifton Hill sit close together, linked by the Incline Railway, and parkway buses run out to the gorge. Beyond that, especially for the wineries or in winter, a car or an organised tour makes life much simpler.

For shopping, New York is in a different league. There are the flagships of Fifth Avenue and the luxury houses of Madison, the historic department stores, SoHo's fashion brands and Brooklyn's vintage and record shops, plus specialists in rare books, sneakers and cameras.

In the town of Niagara Falls, shopping means souvenirs, maple syrup and rain ponchos. The useful stop is the outlet centres towards Niagara-on-the-Lake, and icewine is the one thing really worth taking home.

New York is one of the most expensive cities in the world to visit, and the cost lies in ordinary days as much as in treats. Small Manhattan rooms are dear all year and dearest in autumn and December, every restaurant bill carries sales tax and a tip on top, and a Broadway seat or an observation deck can cost more than a whole afternoon of sightseeing at the falls.

Niagara Falls is noticeably cheaper, and the bill depends mostly on where you sleep and when. A room facing the falls carries a real premium in summer and on long weekends. After that, the money goes on the paid attractions: the boats into the spray and the rides and haunted houses of Clifton Hill add up quickly for a family, while meals stay at ordinary chain-restaurant prices.

No city outdoes New York for performance. It has Broadway and Off-Broadway, the Metropolitan Opera, the Philharmonic and City Ballet at Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall, with jazz in Village basements, gospel in Harlem and comedy every night of the week.

The stages in Niagara Falls itself are casino theatres with tribute acts and touring comedians. The real draw is the Shaw Festival, twenty minutes away in Niagara-on-the-Lake, a long repertory season of serious plays that is worth planning a stay around.

Neither is a place people come to unwind, but New York has more to offer. There is a historic Russian and Turkish bathhouse in the East Village, banyas in Brighton Beach and large Korean-style spas in Queens, and the gardens of the Cloisters and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden give you somewhere calm.

Niagara Falls has no bathing culture, only hotel spas and wine-country inns where a massage follows a day of tastings. The pace slows down on quiet winter weekends and in Niagara-on-the-Lake.