New York or Pittsburgh?

New York has real Atlantic sand you can reach on the subway. There are Coney Island and Brighton Beach with their boardwalk, the longer Rockaways where people surf, and Jones Beach about an hour out. From late June to early September a swim is a realistic break from the city.

Pittsburgh is landlocked. Nobody swims in its rivers, so the nearest option is the small reservoir beaches at Lake Arthur, a drive of about 45 minutes, with Presque Isle on Lake Erie two hours away. Neither city is a beach destination, but only New York makes a beach afternoon easy.

Both cities eat through their immigrant history, but on very different scales. New York cooks almost every cuisine on earth in the neighbourhoods its communities settled, from Fujianese food in Flushing and Tibetan in Jackson Heights to Caribbean in Crown Heights. It also has slices, bagels and deli pastrami on every corner and one of the world's deepest fine-dining scenes.

Pittsburgh's table is mainly Central and Eastern European: pierogies, haluski, stuffed cabbage, and its own sandwiches with the fries stacked inside. The Strip District, the chef-led kitchens of Lawrenceville and East Liberty and a good craft-beer culture make it rewarding, and cheaper, but you will run out of new things to try much sooner.

New York's museums are in a different league. The Met, MoMA, the Guggenheim, the Frick and the Cloisters could take up a long stay, and the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the Brooklyn Bridge are landmarks the whole world knows.

Pittsburgh's sights come from the same Gilded Age money, here Carnegie, Frick and Heinz, packed into a few districts. The Carnegie Museums in Oakland, the Cathedral of Learning's Nationality Rooms, the Warhol and the Mattress Factory make a strong weekend. Its finest sight is the view of bridges and rivers from the top of the Mount Washington inclines.

Going out in New York can go on all night. There are speakeasy-style bars and dives on the Lower East Side, rooftop bars facing the skyline, and Williamsburg and Bushwick warehouse parties that run past dawn, with late trains to get you home.

Pittsburgh is a bar city with a 2am last call. Lawrenceville's Butler Street draws a young crowd, East Carson Street is the student strip, and on game nights the whole place turns black and gold. It is friendly and easy-going, but it hardly has a club scene.

The two are roughly level here, but the green spaces are very different. New York's nature is mostly designed: Central Park, Prospect Park and the High Line, birdwatching at Jamaica Bay, and the steep climb up Breakneck Ridge, which you can reach by train with no car.

Pittsburgh has wilder country closer to hand. Wooded ravines run through Frick and Schenley parks, and you can kayak under the downtown bridges. The Great Allegheny Passage cycle trail starts in the city, and Ohiopyle's whitewater gorge is a drive away. In both cities, autumn colour is the high point of the year.

New York has more good days out, and most can be done by train. Philadelphia's colonial old town is about an hour and a half away, with Princeton and Yale's New Haven also within reach. Up the Hudson are the Gilded Age estates, Dia Beacon and the sculpture park at Storm King.

Pittsburgh has one outstanding day: Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob together in the Laurel Highlands, with Ligonier or the Flight 93 memorial added on. After that the choice is thin, and you will need a car for nearly everything.

These two are close for families, and both have excellent dinosaur halls. New York has the bigger attractions: the Natural History Museum with its planetarium, the Bronx Zoo and the free Staten Island Ferry. The cost is the subway stairs with a pushchair, small hotel rooms and the tiring crowds of Midtown.

Pittsburgh is easier to manage. The Science Center, Children's Museum and National Aviary are all on the North Side, Kennywood's old wooden coasters are a summer treat, and children love riding the inclines. The hills and the distances between neighbourhoods mean a car helps a great deal with small children.

In New York you never need a car. The Manhattan grid is easy to walk, and the subway runs all night to four of the five boroughs, with ferries and Citi Bikes as well. The main nuisances are express and local trains sharing lines, weekend rerouting and the trip to the airports.

Pittsburgh is walkable only in its centre, from downtown across the bridges to the North Side and the Strip. Oakland, Lawrenceville and Squirrel Hill are reached by buses designed for commuters, so most visitors use ride-hailing at night and hire a car for the Highlands.

New York is a destination for shoppers in its own right. It has Fifth Avenue flagships, luxury houses on Madison Avenue, department stores like Bergdorf Goodman and Macy's, SoHo's fashion brands, and vintage and records in Williamsburg and Greenpoint.

Pittsburgh is for browsing rather than shopping trips. The Strip District's food stalls and sports kit, the independent shops on Butler Street and the boutiques of Walnut Street are pleasant, but big brands are in suburban malls you need a car to reach.

Pittsburgh costs far less. Hotel rooms, even downtown, cost much less than on the coast, and casual meals and beer are reasonable. Tips, rides between neighbourhoods and big football weekends still add to the bill.

New York is one of the most expensive cities in the world to visit, with costly small rooms, tax and tip on every meal, and steep theatre and museum tickets. You can soften this by staying in Queens or Brooklyn, eating slices and food from street carts, and making the most of the free ferry, parks and High Line.

New York is the world capital of the stage. Broadway and Off-Broadway, the Met Opera, New York City Ballet and the Philharmonic at Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall make every evening a choice. There is also a century of jazz in the Village and Harlem, and free Shakespeare in the parks in summer.

Pittsburgh does well for its size. Its downtown Cultural District has the respected Symphony at Heinz Hall, and opera, ballet and touring Broadway musicals at the Benedum. The Hill District of August Wilson's plays gives the city a jazz heritage of its own.

Neither city is a place to unwind, but New York has more ways to do it. Its bathing culture includes the old Russian and Turkish baths in the East Village, banyas at Brighton Beach and large Korean-style spas in Queens and New Jersey. The quiet gardens of the Cloisters help offset the noise everywhere else.

Pittsburgh has no bathing tradition, so relaxing there means a day spa, the warm glasshouses of Phipps Conservatory or a walk in Frick Park. For a proper spa stay, you drive to the resort hotels in the Laurel Highlands.