Ocean City, Maryland or Pittsburgh?

These two could hardly be further apart. In Ocean City the beach is the whole point: a wide strip of soft sand with public access from almost every street, lifeguards along its length and warm surf in July and August. When the southern blocks fill up, there are quieter stretches to the north and the wild dunes of Assateague.

Pittsburgh has no swimming of its own. Its rivers are for kayaks and rowing, and the nearest sand is at Lake Arthur, a small reservoir beach, or at Presque Isle on Lake Erie, about two hours away. Neither makes a beach vacation.

Pittsburgh offers more variety. The Strip District's grocers and market stalls, Eastern European pierogies and haluski, and chef-led kitchens in the old industrial buildings of Lawrenceville and East Liberty mean you can eat differently every night. A craft-beer culture runs alongside.

Ocean City does one thing well. A crab feast on brown paper with Old Bay and mallets is worth the trip, and boardwalk fries, taffy and frozen custard have their own charm. Beyond that, expect diners, chains and bar food, many of them closed out of season.

Here Pittsburgh is in another league. Industrial fortunes built the Carnegie museums in Oakland, the Frick estate and a downtown of Romanesque and early skyscraper architecture. The Warhol Museum and the Mattress Factory add modern art, and the view of three rivers and their bridges from Mount Washington is a sight in itself.

Ocean City's heritage is the boardwalk, an early twentieth-century carousel and a small museum of lifeguards and shipwrecks. That is an hour's interest, not a reason to come.

Both cities offer a beer-and-bars night rather than serious clubbing, with last orders at 2am in each. The difference is in season and setting. Ocean City's open-air bayside bars, with sand floors and sunset crowds, and the dance bars on the Coastal Highway make it a loud, young summer party town that goes quiet from October.

Pittsburgh spreads its drinking across neighbourhoods and keeps it going all year: cocktail bars and breweries on Butler Street, student pub crawls on East Carson Street, and bars full of black-and-gold fans on game nights.

Pittsburgh has more variety outdoors. There are wooded ravine trails in Frick and Schenley parks, riverside bike loops, and kayaking under the downtown bridges. Further out, the Youghiogheny gorge at Ohiopyle offers whitewater and waterfalls, the Great Allegheny Passage runs out of the city, and autumn colour fills the ridges.

Ocean City's landscape is flat and open: salt marsh, shallow bays and barrier dunes. Its best outing is Assateague, with wild ponies, birding and back-bay kayaking, and offshore marlin fishing gives it a niche Pittsburgh cannot touch.

Both have a modest choice of outings, and you need a car for almost all of them. From Ocean City the trips are coastal and quiet: Berlin's old main street, the pony village of Chincoteague, Rehoboth's restaurants, and Lewes with its ferry to Victorian Cape May.

Pittsburgh's trips have fewer towns but one landmark sight. Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob make a full day of Frank Lloyd Wright, with Ligonier's fort and the Flight 93 memorial on the same route through the Laurel Highlands.

Ocean City is the easier family vacation in summer. Children have a lifeguarded beach, two boardwalk amusement parks, water parks, go-karts and mini-golf on almost every block, and rented condos make longer stays easy. The downsides are peak-weekend crowds, graduation week in early June and closures out of season.

Pittsburgh is a strong second, and better when the weather turns. The Science Center, Children's Museum, aviary, zoo and dinosaur halls keep children busy all year, and Kennywood's wooden coasters cover the summer thrills. It is more spread out, though, so days need more planning.

Neither city is easy without a car, but Pittsburgh is easier. Downtown is walkable, bridges lead straight to the North Side, the T light rail links the two, and the inclines climb Mount Washington. Reaching the outer neighbourhoods means buses or ride-hailing.

Ocean City is a long, thin strip along a busy highway. You can walk the boardwalk and the inlet area, and the summer bus and boardwalk tram help, but most visitors drive everywhere and fight for parking on peak weekends.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Pittsburgh gives you more to browse: market stalls and kitchenware in the Strip, vintage and design shops on Butler Street, and Walnut Street's boutiques in Shadyside. Ocean City is mostly T-shirts, surf gear, fudge and beachwear, plus an outlet centre across the bridge for mainstream brands.

Both carry American prices, and Pittsburgh is somewhat kinder to the budget. Its hotels cost well below coastal-city rates, even downtown on most nights, and casual food and beer are fair, though rates rise on big game and concert weekends.

In Ocean City, oceanfront rooms on summer weekends are what push the bill up. Older motels a few blocks back, shared condos, boardwalk food and a September visit bring it down.

Ocean City offers light vacation entertainment: comedians and tribute acts at the convention centre theatre, free bandstand and beach concerts on summer evenings, and cover bands in the bars.

Pittsburgh has a proper Cultural District. The Pittsburgh Symphony plays in the gilded Heinz Hall, the Benedum Center stages opera, ballet and touring musicals, and theatre runs all year. The Hill District's jazz history, August Wilson's legacy and the indie clubs of Lawrenceville add depth.

Both are thin on wellness, with no bathing tradition and only hotel and day spas in either. They differ in where you find calm. Ocean City offers early walks on empty northern beaches in the shoulder months, while Pittsburgh has Phipps Conservatory's warm glasshouses, quiet park paths and resort spas in the Laurel Highlands.