Asheville or Bethany Beach?

This is Bethany Beach's category by a distance. A wide, guarded strip of pale sand runs the length of the town, the Atlantic surf is usually moderate, and within half an hour there are the dunes of Delaware Seashore State Park and calm bay water for toddlers.

Asheville has no sea at all. Swimming there means cold mountain water: waterfall pools in Pisgah, the rock slide at Sliding Rock, tubing on the French Broad and a small sandy beach at Lake Lure. That is good for a hot afternoon, but it is not a beach trip.

Asheville eats and drinks much better. It has dozens of breweries across downtown, the South Slope and West Asheville, and Appalachian cooking built on trout, heirloom corn, ramps and barbecue. That gives it real depth for a small city, though the international range is thin.

Bethany Beach keeps things simple: steamed blue crabs at picnic tables, crab cakes and boardwalk fries, much of it open only in summer. For a wider choice you drive to Rehoboth Beach.

Only Asheville offers real sightseeing. The Biltmore Estate fills a day on its own, and the downtown's Art Deco and Beaux-Arts buildings, from the domed City Hall to the Basilica of St Lawrence, are worth a slow walk. The Folk Art Center and Thomas Wolfe's boarding house come after that.

Bethany Beach has a carved totem pole, a small local history collection and wartime watchtowers along the shore. For museums you have to drive.

Neither suits a long night out, but Asheville at least has an evening scene. Taprooms, cocktail bars and dives sit within walking distance of each other downtown and on the South Slope, and Haywood Road has looser local bars. Most places wind down around midnight.

Bethany Beach, which calls itself the Quiet Resort, offers a stroll on the boardwalk and an early night. Anyone who wants late bars drives to Dewey Beach or Ocean City.

Asheville is by far the stronger base for the outdoors. The Blue Ridge Parkway, Pisgah National Forest, Mount Mitchell and the Great Smokies give it ridge hikes over grassy balds, serious mountain biking and whitewater rafting, with spring blooms and autumn colour to time a visit by.

Bethany Beach's nature is flat and gentle: paddling the Inland Bays, crabbing, fishing at Indian River Inlet and watching ospreys over the marsh. The highlight is the wild ponies on Assateague Island, under an hour south.

Both have a modest list of outings and no major heritage destination close by, so the difference is in kind. From Asheville the trips lead into mountain towns and scenery: Brevard's waterfall country, Black Mountain and Hendersonville. The Museum of the Cherokee Indian is the strongest single cultural outing on either list.

Bethany Beach's excursions run along the coast. The choices are historic Lewes and its port, Victorian Berlin, and the ferry across Delaware Bay to Cape May.

Bethany Beach is easier with children. Guarded sand, a small and safe town, bike rides, crabbing and free bandstand evenings make for a week that needs little planning, and boardwalk rides are a short drive away.

Asheville suits active families instead. Children can see the black bears and red wolves at the Nature Center, try the zip lines, go tubing or ride Sliding Rock. Expect more time in the car between scattered sights.

You need a car for both, but for different reasons. Asheville's compact, hilly downtown is walkable, but Biltmore, the Parkway and the trailheads lie along slow, winding mountain roads, and the bus service is thin.

Bethany Beach is small and flat, so many visitors leave the car at the rental all week and walk or cycle to the sand. The car comes out for supermarkets and day trips, and a seasonal bus links the coastal resorts.

Asheville is the better place to buy something worth keeping. Pottery, glass, weaving and woodwork come from the River Arts District studios and the downtown galleries. Independent shops and vintage clothing around the Grove Arcade and Lexington Avenue add to its character.

Bethany Beach itself has surf shops and beach boutiques. The real draw is the outlet malls outside Rehoboth Beach, helped by Delaware's tax-free shopping, which suit brand bargains rather than craft.

Neither is cheap, but Asheville is slightly kinder to the budget. Its inns and Biltmore tickets are costly and autumn weekends climb sharply, but the trails, waterfalls and Parkway cost nothing, and midweek or winter stays are noticeably cheaper.

Bethany Beach is at its most expensive in July and August, when weekly beach-house rentals peak. Self-catering, free beaches and no sales tax help, and June or September brings much lower prices.

Asheville has a lot of live music for its size. Touring rock and Americana bands play the downtown venues, bluegrass and old-time jams run in pubs, and summer evenings bring fiddling and clogging at Shindig on the Green. The Mountain Dance and Folk Festival has run since 1928.

Bethany Beach has the bandstand by the boardwalk, with free summer concerts by cover bands and brass groups. It is pleasant from a picnic blanket, but there is no theatre in town.

Asheville has been a place to recover since the nineteenth century, and it shows in its yoga studios, retreats and large hillside resort spas. About forty minutes away, Hot Springs has riverside tubs filled with natural mineral water.

Bethany Beach offers rest rather than treatments. There are only a few day spas, but the leafy streets are quiet and spring and autumn are almost silent, which suits reading and long walks on the sand.