Salem, Massachusetts or Stowe?

Neither town is a beach destination, but Salem at least has salt water. You can paddle off the harbour shores at Salem Willows and Winter Island, and the long dunes of Crane Beach are about forty minutes up the North Shore. The Gulf of Maine stays cold, so expect a summer dip rather than a day on the sand.

Stowe has only fresh water: rocky swimming holes in the mountain streams, and small sandy shores on Waterbury Reservoir and Lake Elmore, a drive away. In high summer the lakes are a little warmer than Salem's sea, but a swim here is a break from hiking.

The two are much the same in quality, but they taste of different places. Salem eats from the sea: chowder, fried clams, lobster rolls and North Shore oysters, served in bistros and brewpubs that are all a short walk apart. For a serious meal you head into Boston.

Stowe eats from the farms and the breweries. Vermont's hazy IPAs, farm cheddar, maple syrup and cider doughnuts set the tone, served in farm-to-table dining rooms and après-ski taverns along Mountain Road. The choice thins out in the quiet spring and late-autumn weeks.

This is where the two differ most. Salem has two layers of history. One is the witch trials, remembered at the Witch Trials Memorial, the Witch House and the Charter Street burying ground. The other is the seafaring wealth that followed, seen in the maritime park's wharves, the House of the Seven Gables and the Federal houses of Chestnut Street.

The Peabody Essex Museum, with its rebuilt Chinese merchant's house, would be worth the trip on its own. Stowe has a pretty steeple, covered bridges, a ski museum and the von Trapp connection, which together take up about an afternoon.

Both towns go to bed early, and neither has a club. Salem's evenings mean taprooms and cocktails in old buildings around the pedestrian centre, and the town only really stays up in October, when Halloween crowds fill the streets. For more, you take the train into Boston.

In Stowe, evenings run on the ski calendar. The base-lodge bars fill as the lifts close, and on winter weekends there is the odd band. For a real night out you have to drive to Burlington.

Stowe is far ahead here. Mount Mansfield, Vermont's highest peak, rises straight above the valley, with groomed runs, glades and backcountry routes in winter, and the Long Trail, the boulder-filled pass of Smugglers' Notch and the waterfalls in summer. The valley's early October foliage is what most visitors remember.

Salem's outdoors is coastal and mild: headland walks in Marblehead and on Cape Ann's granite shore, sea kayaking among the harbour islands, and birding on Plum Island. Whale-watching boats from Gloucester offer something Stowe cannot, but there are no mountains anywhere nearby.

Salem makes much the better base. Boston is half an hour away by commuter train, with the Freedom Trail, Beacon Hill and Harvard across the river. The same rail line runs up to Gloucester and Rockport, Marblehead is practically next door, and Lexington, Concord and Newburyport are easy drives.

Stowe's outings all need a car, and they are mostly small towns: Burlington on Lake Champlain, Montpelier with its gold-domed statehouse, and the breweries and cider mills of Waterbury. The Shelburne Museum's village of folk art and historic buildings is the one real highlight.

Stowe suits active families better. Both Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak have ski school and gentle beginner slopes. A children's resort lies over Smugglers' Notch, and in summer there is the flat river path for bikes and pushchairs, plus sugarhouses where children can watch syrup being made.

Salem is small, flat and easy, and older children enjoy the replica tall ship and the arcade at Salem Willows. However, much of the witch material dwells on hangings that can frighten young children, and October is very crowded.

Salem is far easier without a car. The wharf, the Common, Chestnut Street and the museums are all within a twenty-minute walk, and the commuter rail station is close to the centre. You only need a car for Crane Beach, the state forests or Concord.

Stowe is strung along an 11km valley road between the village and the ski area. A winter shuttle bus and the summer river path cover part of it, but in practice you need a car to get here and to reach any trailhead. In winter that means snow tyres on steep, icy roads.

Salem has the more distinctive browse. Essex Street and Pickering Wharf are lined with shops selling tarot cards, crystals and spell books, some run by practising witches. Antique dealers, independent bookshops and the museum shop add some quality.

Stowe's shops sell what a ski valley needs, outdoor gear, plus pottery, woodwork and wool. The best souvenirs are maple syrup and cheddar. Neither town has fashion shopping.

Both are costly, and Salem is a little gentler on the wallet. Rooms there carry Boston-area prices and are very hard to find in October, but walking is free, the train into the city is cheap and the sights charge modest fees.

Stowe is priced as a major eastern ski resort, so lift tickets, ski rental and resort dining add up fast, and Christmas, the school vacations and foliage season are the most expensive times. Costs fall noticeably in spring and November, when the valley motels and free trails make a tight budget possible.

Neither town has much of a stage, and both send you elsewhere for an orchestra. Salem has a modest professional theatre company and talks and concerts at the Peabody Essex Museum, and in October street performers and witch-trial re-enactments add to that. A late train back from Boston opens up the opera and symphony.

Stowe's programme follows the seasons. The arts centre at Spruce Peak hosts touring acts, and in summer there is community theatre and hillside concerts that draw on the von Trapp family's musical legacy. Burlington is the nearest city for anything bigger.

Salem has little to offer on wellness. There are a few day spas and massage studios, and to suit the town's spiritual side there are crystal healers and meditation sessions. The most restful thing here costs nothing: a slow walk past the Federal houses of Chestnut Street, or along the waterfront out to Salem Willows.

Stowe takes rest far more seriously. Couples from the cities of the northeast often come up for a spa weekend, and the larger resorts have treatment rooms, steam rooms and saunas. Neither town has thermal springs or a public bathing culture, so in Stowe it all comes at resort prices. Spring and November are the times to go, because mud season keeps the hikers away, the valley empties and room rates drop.