Philadelphia or Salem, Massachusetts?

Neither city is a beach destination, and both send you out of town for good sand. From Philadelphia that means the Jersey Shore: wide Atlantic beaches at Ocean City, Wildwood or Cape May, more than an hour's drive away, where the water is properly warm for swimming in late summer.

Salem has harbour beaches close to the centre at Salem Willows and Winter Island, fine for a paddle and a picnic. The dunes of Crane Beach are about forty minutes away. This is the Gulf of Maine, so a swim is a quick, chilly dip rather than an afternoon in the water.

Philadelphia is a city where you can plan the day around meals. There are cheesesteaks and roast pork sandwiches from corner shops, Reading Terminal Market and the Italian Market to browse, and small bring-your-own-wine dining rooms in East Passyunk and Fishtown.

Salem does New England seafood well enough, with chowder, fried clams and lobster rolls near the wharf. Beyond that the choice is small, and there is no market. Keen eaters staying there save their serious dinners for Boston.

Philadelphia has a bigger story and the collections to match. Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell mark the founding of the country. The Barnes Foundation, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Penn Museum add art and archaeology, and together they easily fill four or five days.

Salem's history is narrower but very distinctive. One half is the witch trials of 1692. The other is the merchant wealth behind the Federal houses of Chestnut Street and the wharves of the maritime park. The Peabody Essex Museum, with its rebuilt Chinese merchant's house, is the main sight, and two days covers the town.

Philadelphia is no club city, but it has plenty of good bars. The warehouse bars of Fishtown and Northern Liberties, the cocktail crowd around Rittenhouse Square and the long-established Gayborhood all keep weekends busy, helped by the large student population.

Salem usually stops at a pint in a taproom. October's Halloween crowds fill the bars, but even then the mood is a festival, not a late night. For a real night out, people take the train to Boston.

The two are fairly even, but the scenery is different. Philadelphia's is inland and wooded. The Wissahickon gorge lies inside the city limits, and the Schuylkill River Trail is an easy cycle past Boathouse Row towards Valley Forge, with the Pine Barrens and the Poconos further out.

Salem's outdoors is the sea. There are cliff walks on the Marblehead headlands and Cape Ann's granite shore, sea kayaking around the harbour islands, birdwatching on Plum Island and whale-watching boats from Gloucester. Neither city has mountains or real wilderness close by.

Both make excellent bases. The difference is what lies around them. Philadelphia sits on the Northeast rail corridor, so it reaches other major cities: New York, Baltimore and Washington by fast train, plus the Amish farms of Lancaster County, and Gettysburg by car.

Salem has one big city, Boston, half an hour away by commuter train. Its other outings are small and historic: Marblehead, Rockport and Gloucester up the coast, and the revolutionary sites at Lexington and Concord. More of Salem's list works without a car.

Philadelphia gives children much more to do. The Franklin Institute's giant walk-through heart, the Please Touch Museum for under-eights, the dinosaur hall and the country's oldest zoo can fill several days, and costumed guides in Old City make history easy for older children to follow.

Salem is easy to manage but has little made just for children. They will enjoy the replica tall ship and the old seaside arcade at Salem Willows. The hangings and gloom in the witch museums can frighten younger ones, and Boston's aquarium makes the better day out.

Both are easy without a car at the centre, but for different reasons. Philadelphia's flat grid lets you walk from Old City to the Parkway museums. Subway lines, trolleys and a direct airport train cover the wider city, though the stations are plain and sometimes grim.

Salem is simply small. Everything is within a twenty-minute walk, and the train station is a short walk away. Away from the rail line, buses are sparse, so beaches and state forests are easier to reach by car.

Philadelphia has the wider shopping. There are brands and boutiques on Walnut Street, the old diamond district of Jewelers' Row, food gifts from the markets and the huge King of Prussia mall half an hour away. Clothing carries no sales tax in Pennsylvania.

Salem's shops are a niche of their own. Essex Street and Pickering Wharf are lined with tarot cards, crystals, spell books and Halloween souvenirs, with some antique dealers and bookshops besides. For clothes, people go to Boston.

Neither city is cheap, but Philadelphia is easier on the budget. Its founding sights are free, a hoagie makes a filling lunch, and bringing your own wine keeps dinner costs down.

Salem has few hotels, and rooms charge Boston-area rates for most of the year. In October a room at a fair rate is very hard to find. Walking, the cheap train and the modest entry fees help, but the bed is the expensive part.

Philadelphia is a major city for music and theatre. The Philadelphia Orchestra plays on the Avenue of the Arts, and opera and ballet fill the 1857 Academy of Music. Curtis Institute students give recitals, and the Walnut Street Theatre is the oldest working theatre in the country. Small jazz clubs carry on the city's soul and jazz history.

Salem has a modest theatre company, occasional concerts at the Peabody Essex Museum and street performers in October. For anything bigger, you take the train into Boston and back on a late service.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, so rest means finding quiet corners. In Philadelphia that might be a bench in one of Penn's leafy squares, a walk in the Wissahickon gorge or a drive to a Korean-style bathhouse in the suburbs, away from the city's brisk pace.

Salem adds day spas, tarot readers, crystal healers and meditation sessions to suit its spiritual side. For most of the year it is a calm harbour town, but in the Halloween season it is anything but restful.