Portland or Portland, Maine?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Portland, Maine has the better of it. Sandy strands at Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough and Old Orchard Beach lie within half an hour, and the Gulf of Maine warms just enough in August for wading and a brisk swim.

Portland's ocean is an hour and a half away at Cannon Beach, beautiful for walking among sea stacks but too cold and rough for swimming. Summer swimming there means the river beaches at Sellwood or on Sauvie Island instead.

Both cities eat and drink very well, and both are serious about craft beer and coffee, but the menus differ. Portland's strength is range: food cart pods serving Thai, Georgian and Mexican cooking alongside neighbourhood restaurants using salmon, mushrooms and hazelnuts, with Willamette Valley pinot noir on every list.

Portland, Maine is narrower and more coastal. Lobster rolls, steamers, Damariscotta oysters and chowder come first, and international cooking is thin. Pick it for seafood by the water and Oregon for variety.

Neither city is a sightseeing heavyweight, and each is covered in a couple of days. Portland's highlights are its gardens, the Lan Su Chinese Garden and the Japanese Garden in Washington Park, along with the Pittock Mansion view to Mount Hood.

Portland, Maine is more about historic townscape: the brick Old Port rebuilt after the fire of 1866, the Winslow Homer works at the Portland Museum of Art, the Longfellow house and Portland Head Light just outside town.

Portland offers a fuller night out. Taprooms, dive bars with pinball, cocktail and wine bars line separate strips on Alberta, Mississippi, Division, Hawthorne and Belmont, and bars serve until about 2.30am, so an evening can wander from one neighbourhood to the next.

Portland, Maine's going out is concentrated in the Old Port along Fore and Wharf Streets, with quieter bars in the West End and on Munjoy Hill. Last orders come earlier, at 1am, and winter weeknights are quiet. Neither has a real club scene.

This is where the two differ most. Portland has a large urban forest on its doorstep, waterfall hikes in the Columbia River Gorge, kitesurfing at Hood River and skiing on Mount Hood, with snow-capped volcanoes on the skyline.

Portland, Maine's outdoors is gentler and centred on the sea: kayaking among the Casco Bay islands, schooner and whale-watching trips, and clifftop walks at Two Lights. For real mountain hiking, the White Mountains are two hours away.

Both make good bases for a few days out, and both really need a car. From Portland, the outings are to wine country around McMinnville and Dundee, the Gorge and Hood River orchards, and the Victorian river port of Astoria.

Portland, Maine's day trips are a string of harbour towns along the coast: Kennebunkport, Ogunquit's cliff path, colonial Portsmouth, shipbuilding Bath and Camden's windjammers. Choose by taste, vineyards and waterfalls against sea captains' houses and boats.

Both are relaxed with children, but they offer different things. Portland has the bigger attractions, the science museum with its submarine, the Oregon Zoo and Oaks Amusement Park, which keep wet days covered, though parts of downtown can feel uncomfortable.

Portland, Maine has no zoo or major aquarium, and its appeal is outdoors and seaside: island ferries, tide pools and forts at Fort Williams Park, and the pier at Old Orchard Beach. Really only a summer choice.

Portland is easier without a car. The MAX light rail runs from the airport to downtown, a streetcar links the Pearl District with the east bank, and the flat riverside is good for cycling. The spread-out east side means some bus rides.

Portland, Maine's peninsula is compact and walkable, if steep in places, and the island ferries are a pleasure, but buses are thin. Reaching Portland Head Light, the beaches or the coast towns is much easier with a hire car.

Portland gives a shopper more to work with. Powell's City of Books fills a whole block, and vintage, record shops and makers' studios line Mississippi, Alberta and Hawthorne. Oregon's lack of sales tax is a small bonus.

Portland, Maine's Old Port boutiques, with Maine pottery, woollens and art, are pleasant for an afternoon, and the Freeport outlets around L.L.Bean add outdoor gear. Neither city has luxury labels.

Neither is cheap, but Portland is the easier on a budget. Food carts are some of its best eating, transit is inexpensive and Forest Park costs nothing, so car hire for trips out of town is the main expense.

Portland, Maine is noticeably dearer in summer and on foliage weekends, when peninsula rooms charge big-city rates and lobster dinners add up. Seafood shacks and a visit out of season ease the cost.

Portland has the deeper stage and music scene: a symphony in a restored movie palace, resident opera, ballet and theatre companies, and a long indie and folk tradition played out in small east-side rooms and the sprung-floored Crystal Ballroom.

Portland, Maine has a symphony at Merrill Auditorium, Portland Stage and touring acts at the State Theatre. That is enough for an evening, but not enough to plan a trip around.

Portland has a modest edge, with soaking houses in its residential neighbourhoods and Cascade hot springs within a two-hour drive. In both cities, though, unwinding is mostly a matter of pace.

In Portland that means gardens, forest trails and long café mornings. In Portland, Maine it means a ferry to a quiet island, dusk on the Eastern Promenade and perhaps a cold sea dip followed by a sauna.