Bar Harbor or Ocean City, Maryland?

Ocean City wins this outright. It has about 16km of soft sand, lifeguards along the whole shore and a summer sea in the mid-20s, so swimming and bodyboarding are what a stay is built around. Assateague's dune-backed beach is close by when you want more space.

Bar Harbor's coast is granite, and the Gulf of Maine is so cold that a dip at Sand Beach is a brief shock. The real swimming is in fresh water at Echo Lake or Lake Wood, which makes a pleasant extra on a hiking trip but not a beach vacation.

Both towns eat from the sea and both have narrow, seasonal food scenes, so the difference is in the shellfish. Bar Harbor means whole lobster boiled in outdoor pots, lobster rolls, chowder and wild blueberry pie, with popovers at Jordan Pond House as its long-standing ritual.

Ocean City answers with steamed blue crabs covered in Old Bay on brown paper, crab cakes, and boardwalk fries, taffy and frozen custard. It has more diners and chains along the highway, and each town has only a handful of more ambitious kitchens.

Neither town makes a culture trip, but Bar Harbor gives a curious visitor a little more to see. It has the Abbe Museum on the Wabanaki peoples, the Gilded Age cottages seen from the Shore Path, the Tiffany windows at St Saviour's and the granite bridges of the carriage roads. Ocean City's heritage is the boardwalk itself, with the Life-Saving Station Museum and the old carousel at the inlet, and a morning covers it all.

Ocean City has a real party scene in summer. It starts at open-air bayside bars with sand floors and sunset crowds, then moves to the dance bars and sports bars along the Coastal Highway until closing, and the boardwalk at night is loud and young.

Bar Harbor has a few pubs and taprooms around Main Street and Cottage Street, no clubs, and a town that goes quiet well before midnight, partly because people get up early for sunrise on Cadillac Mountain. In both towns most of it fades once summer ends.

This is where Bar Harbor pulls far ahead. Acadia starts at the edge of town, with pink-granite mountains rising from the sea, iron-rung climbs such as the Precipice, around 70km of car-free carriage roads, the fjord-like Somes Sound, sea kayaking and whale and puffin cruises.

Ocean City's outdoors is flat and gentle. It offers Assateague's dunes, marsh and wild ponies, paddleboarding in the calm back bays and serious offshore sport fishing. Birders and anglers do well there, but there is nothing to climb, and the scenery is wide open sky rather than drama.

Ocean City has a slightly wider choice of outings across Delmarva. Historic Berlin is minutes inland, Chincoteague has its ponies, Rehoboth Beach has its restaurants, Lewes has the ferry to Cape May, and St Michaels on the Chesapeake is at the edge of a day out.

Bar Harbor's excursions are a quieter string of Maine harbours: Northeast and Southwest Harbor, Stonington, Castine, Blue Hill and Camden, plus small ferries to the Cranberry Isles. Neither town has a major sight within reach, and both need a car.

Ocean City is built for children. It has lifeguarded sand, two boardwalk amusement parks, water parks, go-karts and mini-golf, and condos with kitchens that make longer stays easy.

Bar Harbor suits families who like being outside, with tide pools, the walk across to Bar Island, flat carriage roads for bikes and junior ranger activities. But the sea is too cold for play and there is little to fill a wet day. Older children who enjoy hiking may prefer Maine, while younger ones will usually be happier in Maryland.

Bar Harbor is the easier place to manage without a car, at least in summer. The compact downtown is pleasant on foot, and the free Island Explorer buses reach the trailheads, Jordan Pond and the island villages. Out of season you need to drive, though, and trailhead parking fills early in summer.

Ocean City is a 16km strip along a wide, busy highway. The boardwalk and the inlet area are good for walking, and a summer bus and the boardwalk tram help, but most visitors keep their car for the whole stay.

Bar Harbor's best buys are Maine crafts such as wooden bowls, knitwear and gallery pottery, which you find among the fleece, fudge and moose souvenirs on Main Street and Cottage Street. Ocean City's boardwalk sells T-shirts, surf gear and sunglasses, the bayside villages add beachwear boutiques, and the outlet centre across the bridge has the mainstream brands that Bar Harbor lacks. In both towns, shopping is something you do between other plans, and much of it closes in winter.

Ocean City is the easier place to keep costs down. It is a resort for middle-income families, with older motels a few blocks back from the sea, condos to share, cheap boardwalk food, a cheap town bus and a free beach. Late May and September bring much lower room rates.

Bar Harbor has too few rooms for its summer and leaf-season visitors, so even plain motels charge resort rates, and lobster dinners, cruises and the park fee add up. Camping on the island and the free shuttle are the main ways to save.

On a July or August evening in Bar Harbor you might find a chamber concert in a church or hall somewhere on the island, during one of the small classical festivals. There are also films and touring acts at the art deco Criterion Theatre, which dates from 1932. Ocean City's stage is lighter: touring comedians and tribute bands at the convention centre theatre, free shows at the boardwalk bandstand and cover bands in the bars. Out of season, both go almost silent.

Bar Harbor is the better place to slow down, and the reason is its setting. Picture a porch looking over Frenchman Bay, a still harbour in June or after the autumn colour, and park trails where Main Street's summer crowds thin out. If you want a massage, the larger inns can provide one.

Ocean City in high summer is noisy with traffic, crowded boardwalk evenings and late bar crowds. Its quiet comes in the shoulder months, and in an early walk along an empty beach at the northern condo end.