Philadelphia or Portland, Maine?

Neither city is a beach destination. The real difference is warm water further away against cold water close by. From Philadelphia, Ocean City, Wildwood and Cape May on the Jersey Shore are a drive of well over an hour, but there the Atlantic warms to about 22°C by late summer and you can swim properly.

Portland's sand is nearer, with Crescent Beach, Higgins Beach and the old resort strip at Old Orchard Beach within half an hour, but the Gulf of Maine rarely gets above 19°C. Expect to walk, sunbathe and wade there rather than swim.

Portland, Maine, comes out slightly ahead, because a visit there revolves around the table: lobster rolls and steamers at harbour shacks, oysters from Maine estuaries, and dozens of brewery taprooms in East Bayside and along Industrial Way. Philadelphia's strength is its everyday food, with cheesesteaks, roast pork sandwiches and hoagies, Reading Terminal Market and the Italian Market.

Where Philadelphia does better is range. East Passyunk and Fishtown have Mexican and Vietnamese cooking, and the city has its bring-your-own-wine dining rooms, while Portland's international cooking is thin. Come to Portland for seafood and beer, and to Philadelphia for variety.

Philadelphia is far ahead here. It has Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, the Georgian streets of Society Hill, and major museums in the Barnes Foundation, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Penn Museum, which together fill four or five days.

Portland's sights are pleasant and quick to see: the brick warehouses of the Old Port, rebuilt after the fire of 1866, Winslow Homer at the Portland Museum of Art, Victoria Mansion, and Portland Head Light just outside town. A day or two covers them.

Both cities go out in bars rather than clubs, but Philadelphia has many more of them and stays open later. Fishtown's warehouse bars, the cocktail bars around Rittenhouse, the corner taverns of East Passyunk and the long-established Gayborhood each feel different, and the students keep weekends full until last call at 2am.

A night out in Portland is shorter and stays in a small area: Old Port pubs and oyster bars along Fore and Wharf Streets, brewery taprooms in the early evening, and last orders at 1am. In winter, weeknights can be very quiet.

Portland, Maine, wins this because the sea is on its doorstep. Ferries reach Peaks and Chebeague for walks on island lanes, kayaks and whale-watching boats leave from the harbour, and the rocky shore at Two Lights is good for clifftop walks. The White Mountains are about two hours away.

Philadelphia's outdoors is greener and tamer: the wooded Wissahickon gorge in Fairmount Park, the Schuylkill River Trail past Boathouse Row, and the Pine Barrens about an hour out. It suits a run or a bike ride more than a whole day of scenery.

Philadelphia is well ahead thanks to its place on the Northeast rail corridor. New York, Baltimore and Washington are all a train ride away, and Amish country in Lancaster County, Valley Forge, Longwood Gardens and the Gettysburg battlefield add history and countryside.

Portland's day trips are to a string of coast towns: Kennebunkport, Ogunquit, Bath, Camden and colonial Portsmouth, plus the outlets at Freeport. They are charming and easiest by car, but they are small places, not the major cities Philadelphia can reach in a day.

Philadelphia gives children more to do. The Franklin Institute with its walk-through heart, the Please Touch Museum for under-eights, the dinosaur hall at the Academy of Natural Sciences and the country's oldest zoo make bad-weather days easy, and the Liberty Bell makes history easy to grasp for older children.

Portland is gentler and more about being outdoors: ferry rides to the islands, tide pools and forts at Fort Williams Park, and the amusement pier at Old Orchard Beach. It has no zoo or large aquarium, and only summer really works for a family visit.

Both centres are good on foot, but Philadelphia's is flat and has public transport behind it. William Penn's grid connects Old City, Rittenhouse Square and the Parkway on foot, and SEPTA's subway, trolleys and regional rail, including a direct train to the airport, cover the rest, though some stations are rough.

Portland's peninsula is lovely to walk, though some streets are steep, and the Casco Bay ferries and the train to Boston are useful. Buses are sparse, so seeing the lighthouse, the beaches or the coast towns usually means hiring a car.

Philadelphia offers more scale. There are brands and boutiques on Walnut Street, independent shops in Old City and Fishtown, the old diamond district of Jewelers' Row, and the huge King of Prussia mall half an hour away. Pennsylvania charges no sales tax on clothing.

Portland's shopping is small and independent, with Maine pottery, woollens and art along Exchange and Fore Streets. The outlets around L.L.Bean in Freeport are the bigger draw, especially for outdoor gear, but an afternoon is usually enough.

Neither city is cheap, but Philadelphia costs less. Its founding sights are free, a sandwich makes a filling lunch, and restaurants where you bring your own wine bring down the cost of dinner, though hotels and the big art museums charge normal American prices.

Rooms on Portland's peninsula reach big-city rates in July and August and on foliage weekends, and lobster and oysters make meals expensive. You can save by eating at seafood shacks and food trucks and by travelling outside peak season.

Philadelphia is in a different league. It has the Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia and the city ballet in the 1857 Academy of Music, recitals by Curtis Institute students, and the Walnut Street Theatre, the oldest working theatre in the country. The Avenue of the Arts is a reason to visit in itself, and jazz and indie clubs add more.

Portland has a respectable calendar for a city its size, with its symphony at Merrill Auditorium, Portland Stage and touring bands at the State Theatre. It is enough for an evening out, but not something to plan a trip around.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, and in both the spas are mostly in hotels or day spas, so the difference is in the pace. Philadelphia is quick and a little gruff. Calm comes from a bench in one of Penn's squares, a walk in the Wissahickon gorge or a drive to the Korean-style bathhouses in the suburbs.

Portland is easier to unwind in. You can take a ferry to a quiet island, walk the Eastern Promenade at dusk, have a long lunch by the water, or take a bracing summer sea dip and then a waterfront sauna.