Portland, Maine or Salem, Massachusetts?

Neither town is a beach destination, and both front the same cold Gulf of Maine. The difference is in what lies near each. Portland has wide sandy strands at Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough within half an hour, and Old Orchard Beach adds a classic resort pier and arcades.

Salem's own shores at Salem Willows and Winter Island are harbour edges, good for a paddle and a picnic. For a proper beach you drive about forty minutes to the dunes of Crane Beach. The sea there is a little less chilly in late summer, though still a quick dip rather than a long swim.

Here the two part company. Portland is a town worth planning meals around: oysters shucked from Maine's estuaries, lobster at harbour shacks, chef-run restaurants cooking local produce, and dozens of breweries around East Bayside and Industrial Way.

Salem covers the North Shore staples of chowder, fried clams and lobster rolls well enough, near its pedestrian streets and wharf. It has little fine dining, though, and serious eaters tend to save their big night out for Boston.

Salem has the deeper sightseeing. The 1692 trials, sombre at the Witch House and the memorial and theatrical elsewhere, sit alongside a maritime park, the House of the Seven Gables and some of the finest Federal streets in the country. The Peabody Essex Museum, with its Chinese merchant's house rebuilt inside, gives the town a museum of real weight.

Portland's version is more modest: the rebuilt brick Old Port, a strong Winslow Homer holding at the art museum, Victoria Mansion and Portland Head Light. It is pleasant, but a day or so covers it.

Neither has a club scene, but Portland gives you a proper evening out. The pubs, oyster bars and cocktail bars of Fore and Wharf Streets stay busy until last orders, and there are quieter wine bars in the West End and on Munjoy Hill. Salem settles for a pint or a cocktail in an old building and an early night. Only the October Halloween season fills its bars, and even then it feels more like a festival than a late night.

Portland has more to do outdoors, and most of it is on the water. Ferries run to the Casco Bay islands, and schooners, kayaks and seal cruises leave from the harbour. Clifftop paths run along Cape Elizabeth, and the White Mountains are about two hours away for serious hiking.

Salem's landscape is softer. It has the granite shore of Cape Ann, birding on Plum Island and humpback trips from Gloucester out to Stellwagen Bank, but no high ground within easy reach.

Salem is the stronger base, because Boston, with the Freedom Trail, Beacon Hill and Harvard, is half an hour away by train. Lexington and Concord bring the Revolution and Thoreau's country within an easy drive, and Cape Ann's towns are on the same rail line.

From Portland the outings are a string of coastal towns: Kennebunkport, Ogunquit, Bath and Camden, plus the Freeport outlets. They are charming, but most need a car, and nothing compares with a major city day out. Portsmouth, about an hour from either, is the one trip the two share.

Portland is the easier choice with small children. It has a children's museum and theatre, and island ferries that feel like an adventure. Tide pools and forts at Fort Williams Park and the amusement park at Old Orchard Beach round it out.

Salem works better for older children, who enjoy the costumes, the pirate museum and climbing aboard the replica tall ship. Much of the witch material dwells on executions, which can frighten little ones, and the aquarium is a day trip away in Boston.

Salem is the easier town to visit without a car. Its flat centre puts nearly everything within a twenty-minute walk, and the station's direct trains reach both Boston and Rockport.

Portland's peninsula is also good on foot, though some streets are steep. Beyond it, buses are thin, and the lighthouse, the beaches and the coast towns really call for a hire car.

Both are small-scale, independent places to shop, but they sell very different things. Portland's Old Port boutiques deal in Maine-made pottery, woollens and art, and the Freeport outlets around L.L.Bean are a short drive away for outdoor gear. Along Essex Street, Salem leans into the occult, with tarot cards, crystals and spell books, plus antique dealers and a few good bookshops.

Both are costly places to stay, and they are costly in different ways. Portland's rates peak in July, August and the foliage weekends, then drop sharply, so the off-season gives real savings.

Salem has few beds and charges Boston-area prices for much of the year, with October the hardest month of all. Its one saving is transport: you walk the town and take the cheap train rather than run a car.

Portland has a real calendar of its own: a symphony orchestra at Merrill Auditorium, professional theatre at Portland Stage and touring bands at the historic State Theatre. Salem offers a small theatre company, talks at the Peabody Essex Museum and October street performers. For an orchestra or a major play, you take the train to Boston.

Neither is a place for treatments, but Portland is the more restful of the two. A ferry to a quiet island, a dusk walk on the Eastern Promenade or a waterfront sauna does the job. Salem adds a spiritual twist, with crystal healers and meditation sessions, and Chestnut Street is lovely for a slow stroll. In the Halloween season, though, the town is far from calm.