Savannah or St. Louis?

Only one of these is a beach option at all. From Savannah, Tybee Island is about half an hour's drive, with broad flat sand, warm Atlantic water in summer and a relaxed small-town feel, though the marsh-tinted sea is never clear.

St. Louis lies far inland on working rivers that are unsafe for swimming, so cooling off there means a pool or a long drive to an Ozark lake. If a day by the sea matters to you, Savannah wins outright.

Both cities eat well without being food destinations, and the difference lies in what lands on the plate. Savannah is about Lowcountry seafood: shrimp and grits, she-crab soup, oyster roasts and family-style Southern tables, plus a small run of chef-led dining rooms in old townhouses, but there is little beyond Southern cooking.

St. Louis is meatier and more varied, with ribs, toasted ravioli, Provel pizza, Italian trattorias on the Hill and Bosnian grills on South Grand, all backed by a deep brewing tradition. Seafood lovers will lean towards Savannah, and those after range and cheap eats towards St. Louis.

Savannah's draw is the whole townscape: Oglethorpe's grid of garden squares, the Federal and Greek Revival houses around them and Factors Walk above the river. The Telfair Museums and the Owens-Thomas House add depth, and it is simply the more absorbing place to walk through.

St. Louis offers set pieces rather than one preserved centre: the Gateway Arch, the Old Courthouse, the mosaics of the Cathedral Basilica and the free collections in Forest Park. Its museums are bigger, but the sights are scattered, and the city as a whole leaves less of an impression than Savannah's squares.

Savannah is the easier and livelier night out, because the historic district lets you carry a drink on foot between River Street, City Market and quieter cocktail bars in old townhouses. Weekends can get loud with group parties, and the clubs are few.

St. Louis splits its evenings between the taverns of Soulard, the dance bars of Washington Avenue, the Grove and the Loop. These are often a taxi ride apart, and many streets go quiet outside weekends and baseball nights.

Neither is a nature destination, but their landscapes could hardly be less alike. Savannah's outdoors is flat and watery: kayaking the salt-marsh creeks, dolphin trips, wading birds and the oak avenue at Wormsloe.

St. Louis has more solid ground to explore, with the woods and lakes of Forest Park, river bluffs and caves in nearby state parks, the Ozark foothills and the Katy Trail for cyclists. Paddlers and birdwatchers will lean towards Savannah, walkers towards St. Louis.

Both have a strong choice of outings, and almost all of them need a car. Savannah's are coastal: Charleston's historic peninsula two hours north, Beaufort among the Sea Islands, Fort Pulaski, and the Georgia barrier islands of Jekyll and St Simons.

St. Louis looks to history and to small river towns. It has the ancient earthworks of Cahokia Mounds twenty minutes away, French colonial Ste. Genevieve, the German wine towns of Hermann and Augusta, and Mark Twain's Hannibal further north.

St. Louis is the clear choice with children. The tunnels and slides of the City Museum, the free zoo and science centre in Forest Park, the Magic House, a theme park within reach and the ride up the Arch can fill several days.

Savannah manages with squares to run in, trolley rides, the free ferry, ghost walks and a beach day on Tybee. But it has no zoo, aquarium or theme park, and its summer heat soon wears small children out.

Savannah's historic district is compact and flat, so most of a stay can be done on foot, helped by a free shuttle and the river ferry. Only Tybee, Wormsloe and Bonaventure call for a car or a tour.

St. Louis is the opposite. MetroLink links the airport, Forest Park and downtown, but most neighbourhoods, from Soulard to the Hill, are a drive apart. Easy roads and parking soften the problem, but a car is close to essential.

Savannah has the advantage of a real shopping street. Broughton Street gathers most of the boutiques along one restored run, and thanks to the art school you can take home a print or a piece by a young artist rather than another souvenir. The antique dealers are a short stroll away among the squares, so shopping slots easily into a day of sightseeing on foot.

St. Louis has no such centre. Its most characterful finds, the vintage and record shops of Cherokee Street, are a long way from the Central West End boutiques and the Loop, and the big fashion names are out in suburban malls. Neither city is worth the trip for shopping, but in St. Louis even an afternoon of it means planning a route by car.

St. Louis is the cheaper of the two. Rooms cost less than in Savannah's historic inns, eating out is cheap by American standards, and the zoo, art museum, history museum and science centre are all free. A hire car eats into those savings.

Savannah's historic-district rooms are priced for a popular weekend destination, especially in spring. The ways to save there are its free pleasures, such as the squares and the cemeteries, and midweek stays in summer.

St. Louis is far stronger for an evening out at any time of year. It has a long-established and admired symphony in Powell Hall, touring Broadway shows at the Fabulous Fox, open-air musicals at the Muny and an early-summer opera festival. Its blues and jazz bars downtown and in Soulard keep alive a musical history that runs through Chuck Berry and W.C. Handy.

Savannah's music life peaks at its spring festival and an autumn jazz weekend in Forsyth Park. At other times it is mostly bar bands and buskers.

Neither city has a spa tradition, so the difference is one of mood. Savannah is the more restful, with benches under the oaks, slow days in the squares and quiet inns with courtyards and porches, at their best midweek in spring or autumn.

St. Louis offers calm in places, such as a morning in Forest Park or the Japanese garden at the Missouri Botanical Garden, but little that would shape a restorative trip.