Newport, Rhode Island or Portland, Maine?

Newport has the better beaches for actually swimming. Easton's Beach sits at the foot of the Cliff Walk and Second and Third Beaches in Middletown are longer, while the sheltered water at Third and Gooseberry suits paddling. All are a few minutes from the harbour.

Portland's sand is just as pretty at Crescent, Higgins and Pine Point, and old-fashioned at Old Orchard Beach, but it lies up to half an hour out and the Gulf of Maine stays several degrees colder. There a beach day means walking and wading. In Newport it means a swim.

Portland is the place to eat. Its harbour shacks and Maine oyster bars match the seafood Newport does well, and then come chef-run restaurants built on farm and fishing produce, serious bakeries, potato-flour doughnuts and dozens of craft breweries in East Bayside and along Industrial Way.

Newport's table is narrower: lobster rolls, clear-broth chowder and clam cakes on the Thames Street wharves, a few smart Bellevue Avenue dining rooms and the island wineries. That is enjoyable for a weekend, but on a longer stay you are likely to drive to Providence for variety, and some kitchens shorten their hours in winter.

Newport has far more to see. The Breakers, Marble House and the other Vanderbilt-era cottages on Bellevue Avenue are among the grandest houses in America. The Point and Historic Hill add colonial streets, Touro Synagogue and the Redwood Library, which easily fills two or three full days.

Portland's sights fit into a day or two: the brick Old Port rebuilt after 1866, the Winslow Homer collection at the Portland Museum of Art, Victoria Mansion and Portland Head Light. Its art museum is the stronger of the two towns', but it has nothing to match the mansions.

Neither town has a club scene and both suit an evening of drinks rather than a late night, so the difference is in where and how you drink. Newport's nights centre on Thames Street and the wharves, loud with sailing crowds and wedding parties on summer weekends and thin out of season.

Portland spreads further. There are Old Port pubs and oyster bars, brewery taprooms that fill early, and quieter cocktail and wine bars in the West End and on Munjoy Hill, which gives more choice for a relaxed drink after dinner.

Both look to the sea rather than the hills, in different ways. Newport is the sailing town, with charters and lessons from the harbour. On one small island you also have the 5km Cliff Walk, the wave-cut ledges at Brenton Point and birdwatching at Sachuest Point.

Portland faces Casco Bay, with ferries to Peaks and Chebeague for quiet lanes, plus schooners and whale and seal cruises. It also has the White Mountains about two hours inland for real hiking, which Newport cannot offer.

Newport has the stronger set of excursions. Providence is under an hour away and Boston about an hour and a half. Bristol, Block Island, New Bedford's whaling museum and Mystic's seaport fill other days.

From Portland the trips run along the Maine coast to Ogunquit's Marginal Way, Kennebunkport, Portsmouth's colonial waterfront, Bath and the windjammers at Camden. They are charming harbour towns rather than cities. From either base, a car is close to essential.

Portland is the easier choice with children. The Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine is built for younger kids, and island ferries and lobster boats feel like adventures. Old Orchard Beach adds a pier and an amusement park, and there is a wildlife park within an hour.

Newport has warmer, calmer water at Third and Gooseberry Beaches, the Easton's Beach carousel and the touch tanks at Save The Bay's aquarium. But its main sights are long mansion tours aimed at parents, and summer traffic wears families down.

Newport's centre is more compact and better served. The harbour, Thames Street and the colonial quarter are all close together, and buses, a summer trolley and a harbour ferry reach the mansions and the nearer beaches. The catch is getting in, because the island bridges and the parking clog up in summer.

Portland's peninsula is just as pleasant on foot, if steeper in places, and the train to Boston is a real plus. But its city buses do little for visitors, so the beaches, Portland Head Light and the coast towns mean hiring a car.

Neither is a shopping destination, and an afternoon covers either one. Newport leans nautical and preppy, with wharf galleries, sailing clothes and the antiques dealers of Spring and Franklin Streets.

Portland's Old Port is more independent and Maine-made, selling pottery, woollens and art. It also has Freeport twenty minutes north, a whole town of outlets around the L.L.Bean flagship.

Both are costly, but Newport is harder on a budget. Room rates in summer and early autumn are very high, there are few cheap beds in the centre, and mansion tickets and parking add to every day.

Portland is also expensive in July, August and the foliage season. Still, its seafood shacks, brewery food trucks and walkable peninsula give you more ways to save. In either town, coming out of season cuts the bill sharply.

The two are close here but differ in kind. Newport's strength is a few famous summer weeks: the Jazz and Folk Festivals at Fort Adams and chamber music in the mansion ballrooms, with little beyond them.

Portland has a steadier calendar through the year instead. The Portland Symphony Orchestra plays at Merrill Auditorium, Portland Stage puts on professional theatre and touring bands play the State Theatre.

Newport offers a little more for unwinding. It has spas in its larger waterfront and resort hotels, yoga studios, and a quiet Cliff Walk in May, June, September and October, though high summer is anything but calm.

Portland has only hotel and day spas. You rest there by taking a slow ferry to a Casco Bay island, walking the Eastern Promenade at dusk, or trying a cold sea dip followed by a waterfront sauna.