Portland or Whitefish?

Neither has a sea worth swimming in, but Whitefish has the better water. City Beach on Whitefish Lake sits at the edge of town with a swimming dock and paddleboards. The clear, pebbly shores of Flathead Lake are about forty minutes south, and on calm days in high summer the surface warms to around 20°C.

Portland's swimming happens in the Willamette and the Columbia, from small beaches downtown and in Sellwood to the longer sands of Sauvie Island. The Oregon coast is a fine drive for a walk on the sand, but the Pacific is too cold and rough for most swimmers. In both places, getting in the water is a midsummer pleasure only.

Portland is by far the better place to eat. Its food cart pods put Thai, Georgian and Mexican cooking side by side. Neighbourhood restaurants work with salmon, Dungeness crab, mushrooms and hazelnuts, and the breweries, coffee roasters and Willamette Valley pinot noir give every day something good to drink.

Whitefish keeps to hearty mountain cooking along Central Avenue: elk and bison burgers, trout, wood-fired pizza, and huckleberries in everything in late summer. It is satisfying after a long hike, but over a week you will keep returning to the same few tables, with almost no international food.

Neither is a sightseeing destination, but Portland has enough for two or three good days. Its best sights are the Japanese Garden in Washington Park and the walled Lan Su Chinese Garden. The Portland Art Museum has a strong Native American and Northwest section, and Pittock Mansion gives the view towards Mount Hood.

Whitefish has the timber-framed Great Northern depot with its small museum of railway and logging history, and very little beyond it. Anyone who wants a gallery for a wet afternoon will find one only in Portland.

Portland has far more going on after dark, though it is a bar city rather than a club city: brewery taprooms, dive bars with pinball machines and careful cocktail bars along strips such as Division, Hawthorne and Mississippi, serving late. Whitefish has the same relaxed spirit on a much smaller scale. Its saloons and taprooms on Central Avenue fill with the après-ski crowd in winter and spill onto patios in summer, and most nights are over long before Portland's bars close.

Both are outdoor destinations first, but Whitefish is the wilder of the two. Glacier National Park brings the Highline Trail, Grinnell Glacier and Lake McDonald, with grizzlies, mountain goats and bighorn sheep. Big Mountain has skiing right above town, and the Bob Marshall Wilderness lies beyond.

Portland's strength is how close it all is to a city: more than 110km of trails in Forest Park, waterfall hikes in the Columbia River Gorge within half an hour, and Mount Hood for skiing and alpine walks. The scenery is greener and less dramatic. It also stays open for more of the year than Glacier's high country, which is reliable only from July to September.

Portland has more places to go for the day. The wine towns of the Willamette Valley, such as McMinnville, Dundee and Newberg, are under an hour away. Victorian Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia, a coast day at Cannon Beach and the orchards of Hood River add plenty of variety.

From Whitefish, the outings worth making lead into Glacier and the wilderness rather than to other towns. Kalispell's Conrad Mansion, the galleries of Bigfork and the mission church at St Ignatius make pleasant stops but are not worth a whole day on their own. Both need a car.

Portland has more for children who are not natural hikers. There is the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry with its submarine, the zoo and playground in Washington Park, Oaks Amusement Park and the summer splash fountains, and light rail makes it all easy with a pushchair. Rain pushes winter indoors, and visible homelessness in parts of downtown can unsettle some families.

Whitefish suits families who are active outdoors. It has a ski school and gentle runs in winter, a zip line and alpine slide in summer, calm water at City Beach and flat walks in Glacier such as the Trail of the Cedars. With no zoo or museums, children who dislike the outdoors may soon get bored.

You can get around Portland without a car: MAX light rail runs from the airport, the downtown blocks are short, a streetcar loops through the centre and the river bridges are easy to walk or cycle, though the east-side neighbourhoods mean bus rides. Whitefish's centre is only a few blocks, with the long-distance train stopping at the depot and a free ski shuttle in winter. Glacier, Flathead Lake and the trailheads, however, are almost impossible to reach without a car.

Portland's shopping is independent and much broader. Powell's City of Books fills a whole block in the Pearl District, vintage and record shops line Mississippi, Alberta and Hawthorne, and Oregon charges no sales tax. Whitefish is good for an afternoon of browsing on Central Avenue among outdoor outfitters, western boots, wildlife art and huckleberry jam, though neither place has luxury fashion.

Portland is the easier of the two on a budget, mainly because so much of what makes it enjoyable costs little or nothing. Food carts serve some of its best meals, transit fares are low and Forest Park and the riverside are free. You only need a hire car for the days you leave town, though downtown hotel rooms cost what they do in most big American cities.

Whitefish asks more of your wallet. Rooms are scarce and expensive in July, August and the ski season, restaurants charge resort prices and a car is close to unavoidable for the whole stay. Coming in late spring or autumn, or staying in Kalispell or Columbia Falls, takes the edge off, and Glacier itself is good value once you are inside.

Portland has a proper season. The Oregon Symphony plays in the restored Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, alongside opera, ballet and resident theatre companies, and indie and folk bands play small east-side rooms and the sprung floor of the Crystal Ballroom. Whitefish has a community arts centre, a summer theatre company, the valley symphony over in Kalispell and free outdoor concerts in summer, which are pleasant if they fall on your dates but too few to plan a trip around.

Portland offers more ways to unwind. Soaking houses in its residential neighbourhoods have hot tubs, saunas and cold plunges, and the Japanese Garden and long café mornings make it easy to slow down.

Whitefish relies on lodge and resort spas and a few yoga studios, and most of its calm comes from still mornings by the lake and long days outside. The natural hot springs are about two hours' drive from either place.