Philadelphia or Savannah?

Neither city has a beach of its own, but Savannah's is much easier to reach. Tybee Island is about half an hour away, the sea stays warm well into autumn and the flat sand suits small children, even if the water is marsh-tinted rather than clear.

From Philadelphia, the Jersey Shore means a drive of over an hour, weekend traffic and a swimming season that runs only from late June to early September. It is a summer outing, whereas Tybee can fill a day in May or October too.

Both cities have a strong regional cuisine, but of very different kinds. Philadelphia's is built on sandwiches and street food, with cheesesteaks and hoagies from corner delis and Reading Terminal Market. Beyond those it has a wider spread of Mexican, Vietnamese and bring-your-own-wine dining rooms in Fishtown and East Passyunk.

Savannah's is the Lowcountry table: shrimp and grits, she-crab soup and roasted oysters, often served family-style at long tables. It offers more Southern comfort but less range, with little beyond its own tradition.

Either city makes a fine sightseeing trip, but Philadelphia offers weight and Savannah offers atmosphere. In Philadelphia you see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, then spend days in the Barnes, the Museum of Art, the Penn Museum and Eastern State Penitentiary.

Savannah has smaller collections, chiefly the Telfair Museums and the Owens-Thomas House. Its main exhibit is the town plan itself: twenty-odd squares under live oaks and Spanish moss, best taken slowly on foot over a day or two.

Neither is a clubbing city, and both are at their best in bars. Philadelphia spreads its evenings across neighbourhoods: warehouse bars and craft-beer halls in Fishtown, cocktails around Rittenhouse Square and the long-established Gayborhood.

Savannah's evenings are more concentrated and more of a street party. Drinks in to-go cups travel between River Street and City Market, bachelorette groups fill the weekends, and St Patrick's Day turns the whole city into a party.

Philadelphia's outdoors is wooded land, Savannah's is water. In Philadelphia the steep Wissahickon gorge and the Schuylkill River Trail past Boathouse Row lie inside the city, with the Pine Barrens and the hiking country of the Poconos within a day's reach.\n\nSavannah's salt marsh and tidal creeks are best seen from a kayak or a dolphin-watching boat, and the oak avenue at Wormsloe and the trails of Skidaway Island give gentler walks. It is flat in every direction, and summer heat and insects push most outings into spring and autumn.

Philadelphia has the much stronger range, largely thanks to the train. New York, Baltimore and Washington each make an easy day by rail, Lancaster County's Amish country is an hour west, and Valley Forge and Longwood Gardens lie closer still. Gettysburg's battlefield is a longer drive of about two hours.\n\nSavannah's best outing is Charleston, two hours by car, with Beaufort, Hilton Head and the Georgia islands of Jekyll and St Simons nearer to hand. They are pleasant coastal towns rather than great cities, and almost all of them need a car.

Philadelphia is the easier city with children because it has the big attractions Savannah lacks. These include the Franklin Institute's walk-through heart, the Please Touch Museum for under-eights, the dinosaurs at the Academy of Natural Sciences and the country's oldest zoo.

Savannah is pleasant with children rather than built for them. Trolley tours, the free river ferry, ghost walks and a day at Tybee fill a few days, but there is no zoo, aquarium or theme park, and the summer heat tires young children quickly.

Both have flat, walkable historic grids, but Philadelphia's reaches further. On foot you can cover everything from Old City to the Parkway, and beyond that subway lines, trolleys and regional rail, including a train to the airport, cover more ground, if not always pleasantly.

Savannah's walkable core is smaller, helped by a free shuttle and the river ferry. Bonaventure Cemetery, Wormsloe and Tybee all need a car or a tour, and the midday summer heat shortens how far anyone wants to walk.

Philadelphia gives a shopper more to work with. It has brands and boutiques along Walnut Street, the old diamond trade of Jewelers' Row, independent shops in Fishtown and the vast King of Prussia mall half an hour out, and no sales tax on clothing.

Shopping in Savannah is a browse along Broughton Street, with student artwork, antiques and bookshops to enjoy. River Street and City Market lean towards pralines and souvenirs.

Philadelphia is slightly easier on the budget, though restaurant bills in both cities climb quickly once tax and tip are added. Its founding sights are free, the sandwiches are cheap and filling, and bringing your own wine cuts the cost of dinner.\n\nSavannah's inns are priced for a weekend getaway, although walking the squares and cemeteries costs nothing. A cheaper motel by the highway also means paying for a car.

Here Philadelphia is in a different league. The Philadelphia Orchestra on the Avenue of the Arts, opera and ballet at the 1857 Academy of Music, recitals by Curtis Institute students and plays at the Walnut Street Theatre give most evenings of the season something to attend.

Savannah's musical life peaks with its spring music festival and an autumn jazz festival in Forsyth Park. Between the two there are shows at the restored Lucas and Trustees theatres, bar bands and buskers, so a visit needs careful timing.

Savannah's slower pace makes it the easier city to unwind in, since neither has a bathing culture to fall back on. Philadelphia is brisker and a little gruff, and relaxing there usually means a hotel spa or a drive to a Korean-style bathhouse in the suburbs, with the Wissahickon gorge as the quietest escape.\n\nIn Savannah the historic district itself does the work. A bench under the oaks or the courtyard of an old inn makes doing nothing easy, at least away from River Street at weekends.