Atlantic City or Myrtle Beach?

Both cities face the open Atlantic across wide, flat, pale sand, but Myrtle Beach is the better place for swimming. Atlantic City's free beach runs under the Boardwalk and continues south through Ventnor and Margate. Surf and rip currents mean you swim between the flags, and the water is only really warm for a few weeks in high summer.

The Grand Strand is far longer and its sea far kinder: it is shallow and shelves gently, the waves are usually small and the water stays warm enough to wallow in for hours. You can choose between the crowded central blocks and the calmer, dune-backed sand at Surfside or the state parks. The one drawback is that the water is greenish rather than clear.

Neither city is worth the trip for its food, but the flavour differs. Atlantic City eats like the urban Northeast: Italian-American dining rooms in Ducktown, giant subs on local rolls, boardwalk pizza and taffy, plus casino steakhouses.

Myrtle Beach is Southern and seafood-led, and it is better to eat outside the strip and its buffets. Try the docks at Murrells Inlet, Calabash-style fried fish over the state line, and shrimp and grits or she-crab soup.

You will see the sights of either place in a day, but they are different kinds of sights. Atlantic City's heritage is in the town itself: the original Boardwalk of 1870, the Monopoly street names, Boardwalk Hall with its giant pipe organ, and Lucy the Elephant just down the coast.

Myrtle Beach has little history in town, and its main sight lies to the south. Brookgreen Gardens sets American sculpture among live oaks on a former rice plantation and tells the story of the people enslaved there. Next door, Atalaya, the Moorish-style winter house, makes an easy pairing.

Atlantic City has more to do after dark, simply because the casinos never close. Their bars and lounges run all night, and in summer the big resorts hold club nights and pool parties that draw crowds from Philadelphia and New York. The catch is that it all happens indoors, and the streets between the resorts feel empty.

Myrtle Beach goes out on the oceanfront: beach bars, rooftop decks and themed clubs in the entertainment complexes, all loud, casual and seasonal. Its one local tradition is the shag, the Carolina beach dance, still danced in long-standing clubs in North Myrtle Beach.

Both sit on flat coastal plain with no hills, but Myrtle Beach has a little more wildlife to show for it. Atlantic City's best outing is the drive-through loop at the Forsythe refuge, with herons and migrating shorebirds, and the Pine Barrens' sandy trails and rivers are within about an hour.

Myrtle Beach adds something more Southern: alligators in the lagoon at Huntington Beach State Park, cypress swamps to kayak on the Waccamaw River, and dolphin cruises from the inlets. It also has dozens of golf courses along the Strand.

Atlantic City has the better choice of day trips. Philadelphia, with Independence Hall and its big museums, is about an hour and a half away by train, and Victorian Cape May is an hour to the south. Smithville, Batsto and the Ocean City and Wildwood boardwalks are all close.

Myrtle Beach's best day out, Charleston, makes for a long day with two hours' driving each way. Georgetown, Pawleys Island and Conway are closer but smaller, and every one of them needs a car.

This is where the two cities differ most. Atlantic City is built for adults, and children are kept off the casino floors. Beyond the lifeguarded beach, the Steel Pier rides and Lucy the Elephant, families often move along the shore to Ocean City or Wildwood.

Myrtle Beach has built its whole economy on family vacations. The calm sea suits small children, the hotels come with kiddie pools and kitchen suites, and the aquarium, wooden roller coaster, water parks and pirate-themed mini-golf fill the days. Just avoid spring break weeks.

Atlantic City is far easier without a car. The visit runs along one line: you can walk the Boardwalk, the jitneys run up and down Pacific Avenue day and night, and trains and buses link it with Philadelphia and New York. You only need to drive for trips beyond the island.

Myrtle Beach is spread over about 100km of multi-lane highway with few pavements, and its buses are of little use to visitors. You can walk around the boardwalk blocks, but almost everything else means driving, often in slow summer traffic on Kings Highway.

Neither is a shopping destination, though Myrtle Beach has a bit more of it. Atlantic City offers one outlet district, casino arcades and Boardwalk souvenirs, and the saltwater taffy is the thing to take home.

Myrtle Beach has two large outlet centres, waterfront complexes and the Market Common, which feels more like a town centre. The most distinctive buy is a sweetgrass basket from the stalls on the coast road south of town.

Myrtle Beach is usually a little cheaper. The huge supply of motels and rental condos keeps rates down, and kitchens in many units cut food costs, though car hire is almost unavoidable. Atlantic City's bargains come from casino hotels filling rooms midweek and out of season. Resort fees and parking eat into the savings, and summer weekends are expensive.

In both places your dates matter as much as where you go, because July and long weekends push prices up sharply.

Atlantic City is better for a big night out. Its casino arenas book touring pop and rock acts and comedians, and Boardwalk Hall hosts major concerts, boxing and the odd recital on its historic organ.

Myrtle Beach goes for family variety: country and gospel revues, Christmas shows and dinner shows with knights or pirates. Neither has an orchestra or serious theatre.

Both offer resort spas and little else, with no bathing tradition in either. The way to find calm differs. In Atlantic City it means a winter morning on the empty Boardwalk beside a grey sea. In Myrtle Beach it means the slower southern end around Pawleys Island in the mild spring or autumn, well away from the summer strip.