Bethany Beach or Lake George?

Bethany Beach has the stronger beach. It is a wide ocean strand running the length of town, with moderate Atlantic surf and lifeguards, and the dunes of Delaware Seashore, Fenwick Island and Ocean City are all close by for variety. The Inland Bays give small children calmer water.

Lake George swims differently: clear, still fresh water with a mountain backdrop, a broad state beach at the village end and a few small hamlet beaches. Much of the best swimming is from a boat or the islands in the Narrows. The beaches are modest, they fill early on hot weekends, and the swimming season is shorter than on the Delaware coast.

Bethany Beach eats better, mainly because of the Chesapeake seafood tradition. Steamed blue crabs, crab cakes and fried clams give a meal a sense of place, Rehoboth Beach's much larger restaurant and brewing scene is 25 minutes away, and the farm stands sell summer corn and peaches.

Lake George's village food is mostly pizza, pancakes and decks priced for the view, with no regional cooking to speak of. The better meals are in the dining rooms up the shore at Bolton Landing, or an hour's round trip away in Saratoga Springs.

Neither place is a sightseeing destination, but Lake George has more history on the doorstep. Fort William Henry recreates the 1757 siege behind The Last of the Mohicans, with musket demonstrations and excavated grounds, and the old courthouse holds a small museum.

Bethany Beach has its carved totem pole, a little collection on its church-camp origins and the Second World War watchtowers along the shore. For either town, the heritage worth travelling for is a drive away.

Lake George is livelier after dark. On summer weekends the bars along Canada Street and the waterfront fill with boaters and day-trippers, and some decks stay loud until closing, though there are no clubs.

Bethany Beach proudly calls itself the Quiet Resort, and evenings rarely go beyond dinner and a boardwalk stroll. Anyone who wants a late night has to drive to the beach bars of Dewey Beach or Ocean City.

This is the widest gap between the two, and it favours Lake George. The lake stretches about 50km between forested ridges, dotted with public island campsites. Trails climb Prospect Mountain straight from the village and Tongue Mountain and Black Mountain across the water, and the wider Adirondack Park, autumn colour and winter skiing lie beyond.

Bethany Beach's nature is low and gentle: salt marsh, dunes, paddling on the shallow bays, ospreys and herons, and the wild ponies of Assateague under an hour south. There are no hills at all, and the summer mosquitoes are a real nuisance.

Lake George has the stronger outings. Saratoga Springs combines a spa town, a historic racecourse and a Revolutionary battlefield, Fort Ticonderoga is one of the country's best-preserved colonial forts, and Lake Placid and the Vermont towns are within reach.

Bethany Beach's outings are pleasant but smaller: historic Lewes, the Victorian main street at Berlin, the ferry across Delaware Bay to Cape May and the island village of Chincoteague. They make easy afternoons rather than destinations in their own right.

Both are classic family resorts, but Lake George has more to fill the days. The Great Escape theme park and water park, paddlewheel steamboat cruises, the musket firing at the fort and the mini golf and arcades of Canada Street keep older children busy.

Bethany Beach is calmer and simpler: guarded sand, bike rides, crabbing off a dock and free family concerts at the bandstand, with rides and water parks a short drive away. It lacks big-ticket attractions, but it suits young children who are happy with the beach. In both places most of this shuts outside summer.

Bethany Beach is easier to manage without driving. The town is small and flat enough that many visitors walk or cycle between rental, beach and shops all week, and a seasonal bus runs along the coast road, though you still need a car to arrive and for day trips.

Lake George's village core is walkable and has seasonal trolleys, but the western shore hamlets, the trailheads and every day trip need a car. The most rewarding way to get around the lake itself is a rented boat.

There is little to choose between them. Both offer a strip of souvenir and beachwear shops in town, with outlet centres a short drive away. Bethany's outlets outside Rehoboth Beach benefit from Delaware's tax-free shopping, and the galleries of Lewes and inland antiques shops add some interest.

Lake George's edge is local craft. Rustic Adirondack furniture, maple syrup and balsam pillows make gifts you won't find on the Delaware coast.

Lake George is somewhat easier on the budget. Older motels along Route 9, cottages with kitchens and cheaper beds in Glens Falls or Queensbury give you real alternatives to lakefront prices, and the trails and parks cost little, although theme park tickets and boat hire add up.

Bethany Beach is mostly week-long rentals of beach houses and condos, which are expensive near the ocean in July and August, and it has few hotels to fall back on. Free beach access, self-catering and no sales tax soften the cost, and June or September is much cheaper.

Lake George offers more to listen to, though only in summer. There are free waterside concerts in Shepard Park, a September jazz weekend, an August chamber music festival and summer theatre, and Saratoga's amphitheatre for orchestras, ballet and touring acts is under an hour away.

Bethany Beach has the bandstand by the boardwalk, with cover bands and brass groups on summer evenings. Beyond that there is only Rehoboth's small theatre and its autumn jazz festival.

Lake George has more for anyone who wants treatments. The grand resort hotels near Bolton Landing have full spas, and the historic mineral baths of Saratoga Springs are under an hour south. The village centre itself is noisy in high summer, so the restful side is up the shore or in early autumn.

Bethany Beach offers stillness rather than pampering. Leafy residential streets, a hushed boardwalk and near-silent shoulder seasons suit reading and long walks, but there is little beyond a few day spas.