Philadelphia or Williamsburg, Virginia?

Neither town is a beach destination, and in both a swim means a drive. From Philadelphia it is about an hour and a quarter to the wide Atlantic sand of Ocean City or Wildwood, a summer weekend outing with heavy traffic.

Williamsburg has calmer, warmer water closer by. There is the small river beach at Yorktown about 20 minutes away and the Chesapeake shore at Buckroe, with Virginia Beach's surf an hour off. Sea nettles in the bay in high summer are the catch.

Philadelphia eats far better. The sandwich canon of cheesesteaks, roast pork with broccoli rabe and hoagies is sold everywhere. Reading Terminal Market and the Italian Market are destinations in their own right, and East Passyunk, Fishtown and Center City add Mexican, Vietnamese and modern American cooking in small bring-your-own-wine dining rooms.

Williamsburg's table is narrower and more regional. The best of it is a ham biscuit, peanut soup, or oysters and crab from the bay, plus a few bistros around Merchants Square. Much of the rest is candlelit tavern fare chosen for atmosphere, and pancake houses and buffets along Richmond Road.

Both are places to stand where American history happened, but Philadelphia has more to offer. Its founding sites are the real thing: Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and Carpenters' Hall sit among Georgian streets in Old City and Society Hill. Beyond them are big collections in the Barnes Foundation, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Penn Museum, enough for four or five days.

Williamsburg works the other way. It immerses you in one era through a restored colonial capital, with interpreters at work in the shops and the Governor's Palace at the end of its green. Much of it is careful reconstruction, and two or three days covers it.

Philadelphia offers real nights out, built on bars rather than clubs. There are warehouse bars and beer halls in Fishtown, cocktails around Rittenhouse Square, corner taverns in East Passyunk and the long-established Gayborhood, and the university crowd keeps weekends busy.

Williamsburg has almost none of this. A few student pubs near the college, some taprooms and a candlelit ghost walk make up a typical evening, and anyone wanting more drives to Norfolk or Richmond.

Philadelphia has more green space within its own limits. The wooded Wissahickon gorge in Fairmount Park and the Schuylkill River Trail past Boathouse Row are reachable without a car, and the Pine Barrens and Poconos are within a day's reach.

Around Williamsburg the land is flat Tidewater of tidal creeks, marsh and wide rivers. It is best seen from a kayak on the Chickahominy or by bike on the Colonial Parkway, with ospreys and eagles overhead. Summer brings heat and mosquitoes.

Philadelphia's day trips reach much further. Fast trains on the Northeast corridor put New York, Baltimore and Washington within a day out, and the train also reaches the Amish country of Lancaster County. Gettysburg, Valley Forge and Longwood Gardens are within a drive.

Williamsburg's outings are closer but smaller. Jamestown and Yorktown are each under half an hour away and complete the colonial story, and the James River plantations and Richmond extend it. Almost every trip needs a car.

Williamsburg is the better family trip because it is built around children's days out. Busch Gardens has rides for every age, Water Country USA is next door, and in the Historic Area children can march with the fife and drum or quiz a blacksmith. The town is relaxed, and family motels with pools are everywhere.

Philadelphia makes a good city trip with children rather than a resort one. The Franklin Institute's giant heart, the Please Touch Museum and the country's oldest zoo are the highlights. Grubby stations and fewer outdoor thrills make it the second choice.

In Philadelphia you can leave the car at home. Penn's flat grid links Old City, Rittenhouse Square and the Parkway museums on foot, and SEPTA's subway, trolleys and airport train cover the rest, if a little roughly.

Williamsburg's walkable part is only the Historic Area, Merchants Square and the campus, about 20 minutes end to end. The theme parks, outlets, hotels, Jamestown and Yorktown are scattered along highways that the local buses barely serve.

Philadelphia has a wider range of shops. There are brands and boutiques on Walnut Street, independents in Fishtown and Old City, and the old diamond trade of Jewelers' Row. The vast King of Prussia mall is half an hour away, and there is no sales tax on clothing.

Williamsburg's shopping is distinctive in its own way. The colonial-style shops sell handmade pewter, pottery, tin and books printed in the old way, which makes good souvenirs. Beyond those, it is Merchants Square gifts and an outlet centre on Richmond Road.

Overall costs end up similar, but the money goes in different places. In Philadelphia the hotels and sit-down dinners are the expense, while the Independence sights are free and a hoagie lunch or a bring-your-own-wine dinner saves money.

Williamsburg turns that around. Motel and condo rooms are easy on the budget outside peak weeks, but every major attraction charges a hefty admission and a rental car is close to unavoidable, so combination passes matter.

Philadelphia is a serious city for music and theatre. The Philadelphia Orchestra plays on the Avenue of the Arts, opera and ballet fill the 1857 Academy of Music, and Curtis students give recitals. The Walnut Street Theatre, jazz clubs and Fishtown's indie venues fill out the rest of the week.

Williamsburg's performances are part of the period setting. There are candlelit eighteenth-century recitals, period plays and fife-and-drum corps on Duke of Gloucester Street, plus student shows at the college in term time. There is no professional company in town.

Neither has a bathing tradition, but Williamsburg makes the easier place to slow down. Its historic inn and the golf resorts on the James River have full spas, and early walks on the empty colonial greens or a drive down the wooded Colonial Parkway set a gentle pace.

Philadelphia's quick, slightly gruff rhythm works against rest. Calm comes from a day spa near Rittenhouse Square, a Korean-style bathhouse out in the suburbs, or a quiet hour in the Wissahickon gorge.