Atlantic City or Stowe?

Here the gap is as wide as it gets. Atlantic City sits on a long, flat strip of pale Atlantic sand running the length of Absecon Island. It is free to use and lifeguarded all summer, with quieter stretches to the south in Ventnor and Margate and a more local beach at Brigantine.

Stowe is an inland mountain town, so its swimming is in fresh water: rocky holes in the streams, and small unguarded sandy shores at Waterbury Reservoir and Lake Elmore, about half an hour's drive away. Both places have a short season, but only one gives you a beach vacation.

Neither town is a food destination, but they eat well in very different ways. Atlantic City's best meals are the old seaside ones: Ducktown's Italian-American restaurants, oversized subs, boardwalk pizza, crab shacks on the back bays and saltwater taffy. Polished but generic casino steakhouses and buffets sit alongside them.

Stowe's food is built on Vermont produce and beer. The draws are hazy IPAs from some of the most sought-after breweries in the country, farm cheddar, maple syrup and cider doughnuts, served in farm-to-table dining rooms and après-ski taverns along Mountain Road. The choice thins out in the quiet weeks.

Neither will fill more than a day, but Atlantic City has more to see. The original Boardwalk of 1870, the street names on the Monopoly board, Boardwalk Hall with the world's largest pipe organ, the Absecon Lighthouse and Lucy the Elephant in Margate make it a small open-air record of the American seaside resort.

Stowe's appeal is the look of the place: the white steeple, the covered bridges and the clapboard village. Beyond that there is the ski and snowboard museum, a small arts centre and the von Trapp estate, which take an afternoon at most.

Atlantic City is the place for a late night. Casino floors, lounges and bars never close, and summer weekends bring resort nightclubs, pool parties and bars on the sand. The streets between the resorts feel empty after dark, though, and midweek in winter it goes flat.

Evenings in Stowe mean après-ski in base-lodge bars and brewery taprooms, which are lively in peak ski weeks and quiet the rest of the time. There are no clubs, little happens after midnight, and a proper night out means the drive to Burlington.

Stowe is far ahead. Mount Mansfield, Vermont's highest peak, rises straight above the valley. In winter it has a major ski area, glades and cross-country trails. From summer into the October foliage there is the Long Trail, the boulder-strewn pass of Smugglers' Notch, waterfalls and mountain biking.

Atlantic City's outdoors are low and flat: dunes, salt marsh and back bays. The Forsythe wildlife refuge is good for herons and shorebirds, the bays suit kayaking and crabbing, and the Pine Barrens have quiet canoeing, but none of it compares with a mountain.

Atlantic City has the better day trips. Philadelphia, with Independence Hall and big-city museums, is about an hour and a half away by train, and Victorian Cape May is an hour south. Ocean City, Wildwood, Smithville and Batsto are closer still.

From Stowe every outing is by car and smaller in scale: lakeside Burlington, the Shelburne Museum with its historic buildings and steamboat, gold-domed Montpelier, and Woodstock further off. They are pleasant, but not a reason to choose the town.

Stowe is the better base with children, as long as they like being outdoors. Families have the ski school and gentle beginner slopes on Mansfield and Spruce Peak, a children's resort over Smugglers' Notch, sugarhouses and the flat river path, all in a town that is safe and relaxed.

Atlantic City has the beach, the Steel Pier rides, a small aquarium and Lucy the Elephant, but it is built for adults. Casino floors are closed to under-21s and some blocks off the Boardwalk are rundown, so families often stay in Ocean City instead.

Atlantic City is easier without a car, at least on the island. The Boardwalk is a long, level walk past the beach and casinos, jitneys run along Pacific Avenue around the clock, and trains and buses reach Philadelphia and New York. Anything beyond the island needs a car.

Stowe is strung out along an 11km valley road. The village is walkable, and the river path and a winter shuttle help. Trailheads, lakes, neighbouring towns and the airport in Burlington all mean driving, sometimes on icy hills.

Neither town is somewhere you travel to shop, but Atlantic City is where you can replace a forgotten swimsuit or pick up a familiar brand without driving anywhere. Its outlet stores are a short walk from the Boardwalk, the casino resorts keep their own covered rows of clothes and gifts, and the Boardwalk itself is lined with T-shirt, beachwear and taffy stalls, so there is somewhere to browse on a wet afternoon.

Stowe has much less for a shopper and almost nothing in the way of fashion. Its strength is local and handmade things: Vermont crafts and artwork in the village galleries, good ski and hiking gear along Mountain Road, and maple syrup and cheddar from the farm stands. These make a more distinctive thing to take home than a box of taffy.

Atlantic City is the cheaper of the two, though timing decides by how much. Casino rooms are heavily discounted midweek and off season, the beach and Boardwalk are free, and subs and pizza cost little. Summer weekends and resort fees push costs up sharply.

Stowe is one of the best-known ski resorts in the eastern United States and is priced that way, with lift tickets, ski rental and resort dining on top of the lodging, especially at Christmas and in the foliage season. Spring and November are much kinder, and the valley motels help.

Big touring headliners are Atlantic City's strength on stage. Casino arenas and showrooms book rock and pop acts, comedians and tribute shows, Boardwalk Hall puts on major concerts, boxing and the occasional recital on its great organ, and summer adds free concerts on the beach.

Stowe's programme is smaller and more homely: touring musicians and family shows at the arts centre at the base of Spruce Peak, summer community theatre in the village, and concerts on the hillside lawns that carry on the von Trapp family's musical legacy. In either town, orchestras and a wider choice of theatre mean travelling elsewhere.

Stowe is the more restful choice. Its resort spas have saunas and heated outdoor pools you can sit in while snow falls, and they draw couples for quiet weekends. Country inns, wood fires and still evenings do the rest.

Atlantic City's casino hotels have sizeable spas too, good for a pampering afternoon, but the flashing, sleepless atmosphere around them works against relaxing. Its calmest moments come on an empty winter Boardwalk beside the grey sea.