Quebec City or Salem, Massachusetts?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Salem gets you closer to real sand. North Shore beaches like Devereux in Marblehead and the long dunes of Crane Beach are within a short drive, and the town has small harbour shores of its own for a paddle. The sea stays cool, though, so a swim there is a brisk summer dip.

In Quebec City, the St Lawrence is for looking at, not swimming in. The Baie de Beauport beach is mostly for sunbathing and volleyball. For a proper swim you drive north to lakes such as Lac-Beauport, which are warmer in high summer than Salem's sea.

Quebec City is the stronger place to eat. Its cooking has a clear identity: tourtière, pea soup, poutine and maple in everything, plus sugar-shack feasts in early spring. The bistros of Saint-Roch and Saint-Jean-Baptiste cook with cheese, duck and cider from the Île d'Orléans and Charlevoix, and there is a proper market at the Vieux-Port.

Salem does New England seafood well: chowder, fried clams, lobster rolls and oysters, all within a short walk. But it has no market culture and little fine dining, and keen eaters tend to save their big dinner for Boston.

Quebec City has the more remarkable heritage. Its walls still stand, and the upper and lower towns, the Citadelle, Place Royale and the Plains of Abraham tell the story of New France on a scale Salem cannot match. Two good museums cover art and the history of the province.

Salem's strengths are narrower but sharp. It has the witch trials of 1692, the old wharves of its trading fortune and the Federal houses of Chestnut Street. It also has the Peabody Essex Museum, the single most substantial collection in either town.

Quebec City is the better place for a night out, mainly because it has several districts to choose from and bars that keep serving late. The Grande Allée terraces suit a loud summer evening, the pubs and taprooms of Saint-Jean-Baptiste draw a university crowd, and the cocktail and wine bars of Saint-Roch below the cliff are where locals go. Dancing is limited, and a February weeknight winds down early.

Salem has a single small cluster of bars around its pedestrian centre, and on most evenings the town has gone to sleep long before Quebec City's terraces empty. October is the exception, when Halloween crowds keep the bars busy, but it feels more like a street festival than a late night. For anything bigger, you take the train to Boston.

This is where the two differ most. Quebec City sits on the edge of real wilderness: Montmorency Falls is fifteen minutes away, and the boreal valley of Jacques-Cartier park and ski hills like Le Massif are within an hour. Its winter sports season is long and taken seriously.

Salem's outdoors is coastal and gentle: headland walks on Cape Ann, sea kayaking in the harbour, birding on Plum Island and whale-watching boats from Gloucester. It is lovely in autumn colour, but there are no mountains nearby.

Salem is the better base for day trips, mainly because Boston is half an hour away by train. Cape Ann's harbour towns are on the same line, and Lexington, Concord, Newburyport and Portsmouth add plenty of variety, from Revolutionary history to Federal-era town centres.

From Quebec City, the Île d'Orléans, the shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré and the Huron-Wendat community at Wendake make fine outings, and Baie-Saint-Paul is a lovely longer drive. You need a car for most of them, though, and the list thins out quickly after that.

Quebec City gives children more to do. Winter brings toboggan runs on the Dufferin Terrace and snow parks, there is an aquarium with polar bears and walruses, and Montmorency Falls has a cable car and zip lines. The old town's stairways are hard going with a pushchair, though.

Salem is flat and easy to manage. Older children enjoy the tall ship and the arcade at Salem Willows, but the town has little made just for children, and the hangings at the heart of the witch story can scare younger ones.

Salem is the easier town to get around. It is flat, everything lies within a twenty-minute walk, and the station sends direct trains to Boston and Cape Ann.

Quebec City is also walkable, but the cliff splits it in two. Steep streets, the Breakneck Stairs or the funicular link the upper and lower towns, and these get icy in winter. There is no metro or tram, only buses, and you will want a car for the parks and the Île d'Orléans.

Quebec City's shops give you more range, though everything is small-scale and there is no luxury fashion. You will find craft workshops and milliners in Petit-Champlain, antiques on Rue Saint-Paul, and independent fashion and design on Rue Saint-Joseph. The things worth carrying home are maple, ice cider and Inuit art.

Salem's shopping is a world of its own. Essex Street is lined with tarot cards, crystals and spell books, alongside a few antique dealers and bookshops. The museum shop is the most refined stop in town.

Quebec City is easier on the budget. Rooms in Saint-Roch or Sainte-Foy are reasonable, and the walls, the Plains and the terrace cost nothing to enjoy. It only gets expensive inside the walls in summer and during the carnival.

Salem has few beds and charges Boston-area prices for them most of the year, with October the hardest month of all. You do save on getting around, since the town is walkable and the train is inexpensive.

Quebec City has a real arts calendar. Canada's oldest symphony orchestra and the city's opera company perform at the Grand Théâtre, and Robert Lepage's Le Diamant stages experimental work. In July, the Festival d'été brings international bands to the Plains of Abraham. Most of the theatre is in French.

Salem has a small theatre company, occasional concerts at the museum and witch-trial re-enactments in October. For an orchestra or opera, you take the train to Boston.

Quebec City has a bathing tradition all its own: the Nordic spa, with outdoor hot pools, saunas and cold plunges in the forest around Lac-Beauport. There is even one in the old port. A deep-winter soak with steam rising into the snow is reason enough to go.

Salem has a few day spas and massage studios, plus the tarot readers and crystal healers that fit its character. Outside October it is a quiet harbour town for slow walks, but it offers nothing to compare with the spa circuit.