Newport, Rhode Island or Savannah?

Both have a fair choice of beaches, but of very different kinds. Newport's are on the doorstep: Easton's Beach below the Cliff Walk, the longer Second and Third Beaches and the sheltered cove at Gooseberry. The Atlantic water there is cool and the swimming season is short, from late June to early September.

From Savannah you drive about half an hour to Tybee Island, where the sand is wide and flat and the sea is warm enough to stay in for a long time, though the marshes tint it greenish-brown. Choose Newport for brisk swims and rocky scenery close to town, and Savannah for warm water and a lazy day out.

Savannah gives the more rewarding table. Lowcountry cooking, from shrimp and grits to Lowcountry boil and fire-roasted oysters, has real regional character. Above it sits a small, serious tier of chef-led kitchens in old townhouses and warehouses south of Forsyth Park.

Newport's strength is narrower: lobster rolls, clear chowder, clam cakes and raw bars on the wharves. That is excellent for a couple of days but thin for a longer stay, and some places close in winter. Savannah's riverfront has its own fryers serving passing crowds, yet the city holds a food lover's interest longer.

Both are historic towns with two or three days of sightseeing, but they show different eras. Newport's draw is Gilded Age excess: the Vanderbilt mansions of Bellevue Avenue, toured room by room. Behind them come the colonial streets of the Point, Touro Synagogue and Fort Adams.

In Savannah the sight is the town plan itself. Oglethorpe's grid of shaded squares is best explored on foot, and the Telfair Museums and the Owens-Thomas House add art and a frank account of slavery. Newport is the place for grand interiors, Savannah for the look of whole streets.

Savannah is the livelier place after dark. In the historic district you can carry a drink in a to-go cup, so evenings wander from River Street's cobbled bars to the taverns of City Market and quiet townhouse cocktail rooms. Art students keep dive bars and dance nights going, and on St Patrick's Day the whole city becomes one large street party.

Newport's night out means the waterfront pubs and decks of Thames Street. They are busy with sailors and wedding guests on summer weekends, but there are few clubs, nights finish early and the town is much quieter out of season.

Newport has the more dramatic outdoors. The rocky shore of Aquidneck Island, along the Cliff Walk, Ocean Drive and Brenton Point, gives real coastal scenery. Sailing, kayaking and the autumn surf at Second Beach put the water at the centre of a stay.

Savannah's Lowcountry is flat and gentler: salt marsh and tidal creeks for kayaking, dolphin trips and herons and wood storks, with walks along Wormsloe's oak avenue and on Skidaway Island. It is beautiful in spring and autumn, but summer heat and biting insects cut outings short, which is less of a problem on Newport's cooler coast.

Both make good bases if you have a car. The difference lies in where the trips go. From Newport the pull is towards cities, with Providence and its RISD Museum under an hour away and Boston beyond. There is also Block Island by ferry, and the maritime history of New Bedford and Mystic.

From Savannah the trips run along the southern coast: Charleston's historic peninsula two hours north, Beaufort among the Sea Islands, Fort Pulaski and Hilton Head. Jekyll Island has a millionaires' historic district, a southern echo of Newport's own mansions. Neither city works well for day trips without a car.

Neither is built for children, and there is little to choose between them. Newport has calm water at Third and Gooseberry Beaches, the carousel at Easton's Beach and the touch tanks at Save The Bay's aquarium, though mansion tours bore younger children. Savannah has trolley tours, the free ferry, ghost walks for older children and Tybee's sea-turtle centre, but on peak summer days Newport's traffic and Savannah's heat both tire families.

Newport's real difficulty is getting there, not getting around. The harbour, Thames Street and the colonial streets of the Point are a short stroll apart, with the Bellevue Avenue mansions a climb up the hill or a trolley ride away. In summer the narrow streets and island bridges jam, and parking is scarce.

Savannah's historic district is flat and laid out on a grid, so every few blocks you cross another shaded square, and a free shuttle and the river ferry fill the gaps. Here the obstacle is the midday heat in summer, and Tybee, Wormsloe or Bonaventure all need a car or a tour.

Newport's shops are nautical and preppy: galleries and sailing clothes on Bowen's and Bannister's Wharves, a few smarter boutiques on Bellevue Avenue, and antique dealers on Spring and Franklin Streets, though many cut their hours in winter. Savannah's Broughton Street has a more artistic feel, with boutiques next to shops selling work by the art school's students and graduates, and bookshops among the squares. Neither town is worth the trip for shopping alone, but each makes a pleasant afternoon of browsing.

Savannah is the easier place to afford, though neither is cheap. Newport's room rates are steep in summer and early autumn, there are few budget beds in town, and mansion tickets, seafood dinners and parking add up quickly. Costs drop if you stay in Middletown, come midweek or visit in the cold months.

Savannah's historic inns are also priced for a popular weekend destination, but its chief pleasures cost nothing: the squares, Forsyth Park and the cemeteries. Highway motels offer a cheaper base, though you then need a car.

Newport's music is concentrated in summer, and its fame comes from history. The Jazz and Folk Festivals play at Fort Adams with the harbour behind the stage, and chamber music fills the mansion ballrooms in July. For the rest of the year there is little more than bar bands and community theatre.

Savannah's main event is its spring music festival, which spreads classical, jazz, blues and Americana across theatres and churches. The restored Lucas and Trustees theatres and a local philharmonic give it a little more to see between festivals. Still, a visitor who arrives at random may find not much more than buskers in the squares.

Neither has a bathing culture, so relaxing comes down to hotel spas and the pace of the place. Newport's calm is coastal and brisk, such as a quiet Cliff Walk in May or October. Savannah's is slower and shadier: a bench under the oaks or an inn courtyard on a southern square, though its summer humidity tires you rather than soothes.