Salem, Massachusetts or Virginia Beach?

This is Virginia Beach's clearest advantage. Its broad Oceanfront sand runs the length of the boardwalk with lifeguards along the main stretch. The Chesapeake Bay beaches around First Landing have calmer water, and Sandbridge has dunes instead of hotel towers. On a summer trip, you can spend whole days on the sand.

Salem's own shores at Salem Willows and Winter Island are harbour edges, fine for a picnic and a paddle. For proper sand you drive out along the North Shore, and Crane Beach's dunes at Ipswich are the best of it. Even then, the cold Gulf of Maine makes swimming a short summer treat, not the reason to come.

The two are about level, and both centre on seafood. Salem serves New England classics, such as chowder, fried clams, lobster rolls and North Shore oysters, in bistros and brewpubs a short walk apart. Virginia Beach is about Chesapeake blue crab, she-crab soup and Lynnhaven oysters.

The real difference is where you find the good food. In Salem it is all in the walkable centre. In Virginia Beach the best meals are at dockside places by Lynnhaven Inlet, away from the chains on the resort strip. For more variety, Salem's food lovers head into Boston and Virginia Beach's drive to Norfolk.

Salem has far more to see. The Witch House and the Witch Trials Memorial tell the story of 1692, and the custom house and wharves of the maritime park show the seafaring fortune that followed. The Peabody Essex Museum, with its rebuilt Chinese merchant's house, would be a serious museum in a much larger city.

Virginia Beach's history mostly comes down to Cape Henry. The memorial cross marks the 1607 landing near the old lighthouse, and the Adam Thoroughgood House is a rare early brick home. Beyond those, the King Neptune statue is the best-known landmark, and anyone keen on history ends up driving up the peninsula.

Virginia Beach is livelier after dark, at least in summer. Atlantic Avenue and the boardwalk fill with beach bars, rooftop decks and sports bars, crowded with vacationers and sailors from the navy bases, and Town Center adds quieter cocktail lounges.

In Salem, an evening usually means a taproom or a drink in a historic building, and the streets are quiet well before midnight. The exception is October, when Halloween crowds keep the bars full. Neither city has a real club scene.

Both coastlines are low and gentle, and Virginia Beach has a slight edge in the variety of its wilder ground. First Landing's cypress swamp and maritime forest, the empty barrier spit at Back Bay and False Cape, and summer kayak trips out to feeding dolphins make for easy outdoor days, with surfing on top.

Salem's outdoors is rockier and better in autumn. The granite shore at Halibut Point and the Marblehead headlands are good for walking, Plum Island is excellent for birding, and boats from Gloucester go out to see humpback whales at Stellwagen Bank. In autumn the leaf colour is something Virginia Beach cannot match.

Salem is the better base for day trips, mainly because of the train. Boston, with the Freedom Trail, Beacon Hill and Harvard, is half an hour away by commuter rail, and the same line goes to Rockport and Gloucester on Cape Ann. Concord and Lexington, Newburyport and Portsmouth add a lot of variety, and much of it works without a car.

Virginia Beach has one excellent outing: Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown in a single history-packed day. Norfolk's battleship and waterfront are close, and Kitty Hawk is a longer drive south. Almost every trip from Virginia Beach means driving.

Virginia Beach is the more natural fit for children. The Virginia Aquarium, with its sea turtles and otters, a water park, mini-golf and bike rides on the boardwalk fill the days, and the calm bay beaches suit toddlers. A large theme park and Colonial Williamsburg's costumed trades are both within an hour.

Salem works better for older children, who enjoy the pirate museums, the replica tall ship and the old-fashioned arcade at Salem Willows. Younger ones may find the hanging stories frightening, and the October crowds are hard work with a pushchair.

In Salem, a car is more hindrance than help. The Common, the wharf, Chestnut Street and the museums are all within a short walk, and the station is close by, with trains to Boston and up the coast. You only need wheels for Crane Beach, the forests or Concord.

Virginia Beach is suburban sprawl. Away from the boardwalk and the summer trolley on Atlantic Avenue, buses are thin and slow. First Landing, Sandbridge and Town Center are all a drive, and summer traffic into the resort can be heavy.

Neither city is a shopping destination, but they are weak in different ways. Salem has its own niche along Essex Street and Pickering Wharf: tarot cards, crystals, herbs and spell books, along with antique dealers and independent bookshops. Virginia Beach has a regional mall, chain stores at Town Center and a long tradition of surf shops. Serious shoppers from Salem head to Boston.

Virginia Beach is easier on the budget, mainly because its prices drop with the season. Summer weekends at the Oceanfront are expensive, but the same rooms cost much less outside summer. The beach, boardwalk and state parks are free or close to it, although running a car adds up.

Salem has few hotel rooms, and they carry Boston-area prices for most of the year. In October they are very hard to book at a fair rate. You save on getting around, since the town is walkable and the train into Boston is cheap.

Virginia Beach has more going on in the city itself. Summer brings touring rock and country acts to the big outdoor amphitheatre and free concerts on the boardwalk stages, and Town Center has a performing arts centre. Half an hour away, Norfolk has the Virginia Opera, the Virginia Symphony and the spring Virginia Arts Festival.

Salem has a small theatre company, occasional events at the Peabody Essex Museum and bands in a few bars. For anything bigger you take the train to Boston and return on a late service.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, and Virginia Beach does a little better here. The larger oceanfront hotels have spas, and early mornings on the boardwalk in spring or autumn are genuinely calm.

Salem's version suits its character: a few day spas, plus tarot readers, crystal healers and meditation sessions. Outside October, an unhurried walk down Chestnut Street or along the harbour is the most restful thing to do. During the Halloween season, there is little peace to be found.