Pittsburgh or Salem, Massachusetts?

Neither is a swimming destination, but Salem at least has the sea. Its harbour beaches at Salem Willows and Winter Island are within reach for a paddle, and the dunes of Crane Beach are about forty minutes away, though the Gulf of Maine stays chilly even in high summer.

Pittsburgh's rivers are for kayaking, not swimming. The nearest beach is the small lake shore at Moraine State Park, and the real sand at Presque Isle on Lake Erie is a two-hour drive.

Pittsburgh has the more satisfying table. The Strip District is a proper market street of grocers, fishmongers and roasters, Eastern European dishes such as pierogies and haluski are still part of daily life, and Lawrenceville and East Liberty have serious modern kitchens alongside a solid brewing scene.

Salem keeps to New England seafood: chowder, fried clams, lobster rolls and North Shore oysters, all within a short walk of the centre. It has no market culture and little fine dining, so keen eaters tend to save their big meals for Boston.

The two are evenly matched, but they offer very different things. Pittsburgh's sights come from steel fortunes: the vast Carnegie Museums in Oakland, the Warhol Museum and the Mattress Factory on the North Side, the Frick estate, and the city of bridges spread below Mount Washington. They are scattered across several neighbourhoods.

Salem tells one concentrated story, from the 1692 trials at the Witch House and the memorial to the maritime wealth of the wharves, the custom house and Chestnut Street's Federal houses. The Peabody Essex Museum gives it a world-class collection, and all of it fits into two days on foot.

Pittsburgh offers far more to do after dinner. Butler Street in Lawrenceville has cocktail bars, breweries and dives, East Carson Street is a long and noisy student strip, and game nights fill bars across town with fans in black and gold. It is a city of bars rather than clubs, though.

Salem's evenings usually come down to a taproom or a drink in an old building, and the streets are quiet well before midnight. October livens things up with costumed crowds, but anyone wanting a real night out takes the train to Boston.

Pittsburgh has the stronger outdoors. Wooded ravines run through Frick and Schenley parks, you can paddle a kayak under the downtown bridges, and the Laurel Highlands offer whitewater on the Youghiogheny at Ohiopyle and the Great Allegheny Passage cycle trail leaving straight from the city.

Salem's landscape is coastal and gentler: granite shore walks on Cape Ann, sea kayaking among the harbour islands and birding on Plum Island. Its one draw Pittsburgh cannot match is whale watching from Gloucester out to Stellwagen Bank.

Salem makes much the better base. Boston is about half an hour away by train, the same line runs to Gloucester and Rockport, and Marblehead, Concord, Lexington, Newburyport and Portsmouth all fill an easy day, many of them without a car.

Pittsburgh has one outstanding excursion in Fallingwater, which pairs well with Kentuck Knob and Ligonier, plus the Flight 93 memorial further east. After that the choice thins out into farmland, and a car is essential.

Pittsburgh gives families much more to fill a week. Beyond its children's museums there is the zoo and aquarium together in Highland Park, and the warm glasshouses of Phipps Conservatory save a wet afternoon. Riding an incline up Mount Washington is a treat in itself. Everything works at a manageable scale, but the city is hilly and spread out, so with small children a car makes the days much easier.

Salem works best as a gentle stop rather than a base for a long family stay. Its small, flat centre is easy with a pushchair, Salem Willows has an old-fashioned arcade, ice cream and a waterside park, and the Peabody Essex Museum has hands-on family spaces. In October, though, the streets are packed shoulder to shoulder, which is hard going with young children.

Salem is far easier to get around. Almost everything lies within a twenty-minute walk, and the station near the centre has direct trains to Boston and up to Cape Ann, so a car only matters for beaches and inland forests.

Pittsburgh's compact downtown, the T to the North Side and the inclines work well. But Oakland, Lawrenceville and Shadyside are reached by commuter buses or ride-hailing, and steep hills and river crossings slow walking between them.

Neither city is worth the trip for shopping, and the difference is one of character. Pittsburgh's browsing is about food and independents: the Strip District's stalls, vintage and design shops on Butler Street and boutiques on Walnut Street, with the big brands out in the suburban malls.

Salem's Essex Street and Pickering Wharf are lined with tarot cards, crystals, herbs and spell books, plus antiques and bookshops. It is a curiosity rather than a place to buy clothes.

Pittsburgh is clearly the cheaper stay. Hotel rooms, even downtown, cost well below coastal prices, and casual meals and beer stay reasonable, though tips and rides between neighbourhoods add up.

Salem has few hotels, and they charge Boston-area rates, which become hard to find at a fair price in October. It does save money on transport, since you can walk everywhere and the train to Boston is inexpensive.

This is where Pittsburgh pulls furthest ahead. Its downtown Cultural District has a respected symphony orchestra in Heinz Hall, opera, ballet and touring musicals at the Benedum Center, and a year-round programme of plays. The Hill District's jazz history and August Wilson's plays give the city a stage heritage of its own.

Salem has a small professional theatre, talks and concerts at the Peabody Essex Museum and street performers in October. For anything bigger, you take the train into Boston and catch a late service back.

Neither is a place for a spa vacation, and both offer only day spas and massage. Pittsburgh's calmest corners are the warm glasshouses of Phipps Conservatory and the park paths, with proper spa resorts a drive away in the Laurel Highlands. Salem leans spiritual, with crystal healers and meditation sessions, and it is restful outside October but anything but calm during the Halloween season.