Bar Harbor or Lake Placid?

Neither place is a beach destination, but Bar Harbor has the more striking shore. Sand Beach is a shell cove between granite headlands, though the Atlantic there is too cold to stay in for long. For a comfortable swim you head to Echo Lake on the quieter western side of the island, with its guarded beach, or to the smaller Lake Wood.

Lake Placid is slightly better for actually getting in the water. Its lakes and ponds, from Mirror Lake in the village to the Saranac chain and the rocky pools of the Ausable, warm to about 22°C in midsummer and give you more places to choose from.

Bar Harbor eats noticeably better because it has a real regional table. Lobster, clams, mussels, haddock and wild blueberries give meals a sense of place, and the long-standing tea and popovers at Jordan Pond House turn a hike into an occasion.

Lake Placid's food is hearty mountain-resort cooking: big breakfasts, pizza, burgers, brewpub pints and maple syrup, with a few lodge dining rooms looking over the water. It is satisfying after a day outdoors, but there is little you could not eat elsewhere.

Sightseeing is a sideline in both, and the themes could hardly be further apart. Bar Harbor's heritage is the Gilded Age summer colony, with shingle-style estates along the Shore Path, Tiffany windows at St Saviour's and the granite carriage-road bridges, plus the Abbe Museum on the Wabanaki. Two or three hours covers it.

Lake Placid's story is sport, and it fills a little more time, about a day. There are the venues of two Winter Olympics, the 'Miracle on Ice' rink, the ski jumps above town and, just outside the village, John Brown's Farm, for a dose of abolitionist history.

Evenings end early in both places, and neither has a club. Bar Harbor's few taprooms and harbour-view bars fill with hikers and cruise passengers on summer nights. Lake Placid's pubs and lakeside hotel bars are at their liveliest after a ski day in winter or during a big sporting event.

Both are first-rate outdoor bases, and what you do outdoors differs. Acadia is coastal and compact: pink granite peaks rising from the sea, the surf at Thunder Hole and Otter Cliff, tide pools, sea kayaking, whale cruises and car-free carriage roads made for cycling. Cadillac Mountain is only 466m, but it rises straight from the ocean.

The Adirondacks are a much larger wilderness of forested summits, with Mount Marcy reaching 1,629m and many long days of hiking on offer. There is canoeing through linked lakes, fly fishing on the Ausable and rock climbing at Chapel Pond. Lake Placid also has serious downhill skiing at Whiteface, which Bar Harbor cannot match.

Day trips are pleasant from both rather than a reason to come, and both need a car. From Bar Harbor you visit more coast: harbour villages around the island, the ferry to the Cranberry Isles, and Castine, Blue Hill, Stonington and Camden further along the coast. From Lake Placid you head inland to Saranac Lake, the Wild Center and Fort Ticonderoga. It also has the one big-city outing either place can offer, Montreal, just over two hours away.

Both are small, safe towns for active families, and Lake Placid has slightly more laid on for children. Skating sessions on the Olympic rinks, the ski-jump elevator, bobsled rides, the toboggan chute and Santa's Workshop give it activities in several seasons. Whiteface also has a ski school.

Bar Harbor's pleasures are simpler and come from nature: rock pools, walking the sandbar to Bar Island, cycling the flat carriage roads and junior ranger programmes. On a wet day there is little to fall back on.

Bar Harbor is the easier place to manage without a car, at least in summer. The free Island Explorer buses run from the compact downtown to the trailheads, Jordan Pond and the island villages, so many visitors never drive. Out of season you will need a car.

Lake Placid's village is just as walkable, but Whiteface, the High Peaks trailheads and the lakes are spread across the mountains with almost no bus service. A rental car is close to essential, and in winter that means driving in snow on winding roads.

Shopping is a short browse in either town, with balsam pillows in both. Bar Harbor leans towards the coast, with lobster souvenirs, blueberry jam, fudge and Maine crafts such as wooden bowls and knitwear. Lake Placid is more about gear: ski and fly-fishing shops, outfitters, Olympic souvenirs and rustic Adirondack décor.

Costs are similar, but the expensive weeks fall at different times. Bar Harbor's crunch is summer and the leaf season, with too few rooms for the number of visitors. Camping on the island is the best way to save, and once you are there, hiking and the free park shuttle cost little.

Lake Placid is also busy on winter weekends and during big events, when lift tickets and gear rental add to the bill. It gets cheaper in spring and late autumn, when older motels and self-catering cabins bring costs down. You will probably also need to pay for a rental car there.

Neither offers much beyond summer, and the two summer programmes are similar in size. Bar Harbor has chamber-music festivals in churches and halls around Mount Desert Island, plus the 1932 art deco Criterion Theatre. Lake Placid has its long-established Sinfonietta, whose free concerts at the Mirror Lake bandshell make an easy evening out.

Lake Placid is the better place for unwinding. Its larger lodges have proper spas with saunas and hot tubs, and the cold-day routine of a walk around Mirror Lake followed by a lodge fireplace works in every season.

Bar Harbor offers massages at a few hotels and inns and porches over Frenchman Bay. Its quiet comes mainly in June and late autumn, while high summer brings cruise crowds and traffic to Main Street.