Salem, Massachusetts or Washington DC?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Salem at least sits on the sea. Its harbour shores at Salem Willows and Winter Island are fine for a paddle, and the long dunes of Crane Beach in Ipswich are about forty minutes up the North Shore, though the Gulf of Maine stays cool even in August.

Washington has no shore of its own. The Potomac and Anacostia are not for swimming, the bay beaches near Annapolis are small and brackish though warmer, and the Atlantic resorts are three hours away. In a Washington summer, the hotel pool does the job.

Washington is by far the better place to eat. Ethiopian cooking around Shaw and U Street, pupusas in Columbia Heights, grazing at Eastern Market and Union Market and ambitious tasting menus around Logan Circle give it a range Salem cannot match. Even the seafood goes further, with Chesapeake blue crabs and the old fish market on the Southwest waterfront.

Salem does the New England basics well enough, with chowder, fried clams, lobster rolls and North Shore oysters in bistros and brewpubs near the wharf, all a short walk apart. Beyond that the choice runs thin, and keen eaters keep their big meal for a day in Boston.

Washington carries far more weight here. The Smithsonian museums along the Mall, the National Gallery of Art and the monuments from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial can fill a week, and nearly all of it is free.

Salem is narrower but has a stronger sense of one place. The witch trials, the maritime wharves and the Federal houses of Chestnut Street are its main attraction, where Georgetown's similar brick streets are only a quiet backdrop in Washington. The Peabody Essex Museum is a genuinely serious collection, and two days on foot covers the lot.

Washington has a real night out, and Salem largely does not. Young staffers and students keep the 14th Street and U Street corridor, Adams Morgan's rowdier strip and the riverside beer gardens at the Wharf busy well past midnight from Thursday to Saturday.

In Salem, an evening means a taproom pint or a cocktail in an old building, and the streets go quiet before midnight outside the Halloween season. Even in October it is a costumed street festival rather than a late scene.

Washington offers more outdoors, and much of it lies inside the city. Rock Creek Park, the C&O Canal towpath and the rocky gorge at Great Falls are close at hand, and the Blue Ridge ridge walks of Shenandoah National Park are under two hours away.

Salem's outdoors is coastal and gentler: headland walks in Marblehead and on Cape Ann, kayaking among the harbour islands, birding on Plum Island and whale-watching boats from Gloucester. It has the sea that Washington lacks, but no hills of any size.

Both make excellent bases, and the difference is one of theme. From Salem, Boston is half an hour by train, Lexington and Concord recall the start of the Revolution, and a string of old harbour towns such as Marblehead, Rockport and Newburyport runs up the coast, much of it reachable by rail.

Washington's outings lean towards colonial and Civil War history. Old Town Alexandria and Mount Vernon are close by, Gettysburg, Antietam and Harpers Ferry lie further out, and Baltimore and Philadelphia are reachable by train. The battlefields need a car, while most of Salem's best outings do not.

Washington is much the easier choice with children. The dinosaurs at Natural History, the rockets at Air and Space and the free National Zoo can fill several days without spending on tickets, the Mall is a huge lawn to run about on, and the Metro takes buggies at every station. The long, exposed walks between monuments are the one drawback in summer.

Salem is small, flat and easy to manage, and older children enjoy the replica tall ship and the arcade at Salem Willows. But little there is built for children, and the story of the hangings can upset young ones, so families staying in Salem usually spend a day at Boston's aquarium.

Salem is small enough to cross on foot. The Common, the wharf, Chestnut Street and the museums all lie within a twenty-minute walk, and the station for trains to Boston and up the line to Cape Ann is close to the centre. Step off the rail line, though, and local buses are sparse, so Crane Beach or Concord really call for a car.

Washington covers far more ground, and its Metro handles it well. The clean, colour-coded lines have lifts at every station and reach Arlington, Alexandria and Reagan National Airport, and bike-share along the river paths links the monuments. Walking is pleasant on the flat grid but longer than it looks, with the Mall alone about 3km, and Georgetown has no station. For a stay that ranges across a whole city, it is the more complete network.

Salem sells one thing very thoroughly. Along Essex Street and around Pickering Wharf there are tarot cards, crystals, herbs, candles and spell books, some sold by practising witches, while antique dealers and the Peabody Essex Museum shop offer better quality. There is no fashion to speak of, and clothes shopping means a trip to Boston.

Georgetown gives Washington the ordinary high street that Salem lacks, with chains, independent boutiques and antique shops in old brick buildings along M Street and Wisconsin Avenue. CityCenterDC adds the luxury labels, and the Smithsonian and National Gallery shops are good for books and prints. Washington offers far more choice, even if neither city is worth visiting just for the shops.

Both are expensive places to sleep, with rooms at big-city prices for most of the year. They differ in what a day costs. In Washington the Smithsonian, the zoo, the memorials and the Capitol tours are free, and staying across the river in Arlington can trim the hotel bill, though restaurants and taxis are priced for expense accounts.

In Salem the sights charge modest fees, the town is walkable and the train to Boston is cheap. Its few inns are hard to find at a fair rate in October, so many visitors stay further out or come for the day.

The two are barely comparable here. Washington is a proper theatre city, from Arena Stage and the Shakespeare Theatre Company to Ford's Theatre and the Folger's Elizabethan playhouse. The National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera give it a classical season, Duke Ellington's old U Street has live music, and there are lawn concerts at Wolf Trap in summer.

Salem has a modest professional theatre company, the odd concert at the Peabody Essex Museum and bands in a few bars. For anything bigger, you take the train to Boston and come back on a late service.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, and both offer a handful of day spas and little more, so rest is something you arrange yourself. Salem gives it a spiritual flavour with tarot readers, crystal healers and meditation sessions, and a slow walk along Chestnut Street or the harbour, though the town is anything but calm in the Halloween season.

In Washington, the quiet comes from its gardens and open spaces in the middle of a busy government town: an early walk around the Tidal Basin, a bench at Dumbarton Oaks or an afternoon in the National Arboretum.