Bethany Beach or Philadelphia?

The difference is simple: in Bethany Beach the Atlantic is part of every day, while in Philadelphia it is an outing. Bethany's wide, guarded sand runs the length of the town. The undeveloped dunes of Delaware Seashore State Park and the gentle water of the Inland Bays, good for small children, are close by.

Philadelphia stands on two rivers, and nobody swims there. A beach day means driving down the Jersey Shore to Ocean City, Wildwood or Cape May. That is worth doing on a hot summer weekend, but it is a side trip rather than the point of the stay, and you share the road with plenty of locals.

Philadelphia eats far better. Its everyday sandwiches are the real thing: the cheesesteak, roast pork with broccoli rabe and the Italian hoagie. Reading Terminal Market and the Italian Market are worth a morning each. Beyond those, small chef-run rooms where you bring your own wine, and Mexican and Vietnamese kitchens in East Passyunk and Fishtown, give you a week of varied dinners.

Bethany Beach is about steamed blue crabs eaten off paper, crab cakes, boardwalk fries and ice cream. It is enjoyable for what it is, but the choice is narrow and much of it opens only in summer. For more variety, you drive to Rehoboth Beach.

There is barely a contest. Philadelphia has Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, and the Georgian streets of Society Hill and Elfreth's Alley. Its museums carry real weight, from the Impressionists of the Barnes Foundation to the Penn Museum and the ruined cellblocks of Eastern State Penitentiary.

Bethany Beach has its carved totem pole, a small history collection about the church camp the town grew from, and the Second World War watchtowers along the shore. Anyone staying there who wants history will find it in Lewes or further away, in Philadelphia itself.

Bethany Beach deliberately has almost no nightlife. The Quiet Resort's evenings are a walk on the boardwalk and then bed, and anyone wanting a late night drives to Dewey Beach or Ocean City.

Philadelphia offers proper bar-hopping instead. There are warehouse bars and craft-beer halls in Fishtown and Northern Liberties, cocktails around Rittenhouse Square and the long-established Gayborhood. It is a city of pubs more than clubs, but somewhere is always open until last call.

Neither place has dramatic scenery, and the outdoor time each offers is of a different kind. Bethany Beach is about water and flat coastal land: kayaking and paddleboarding on the Inland Bays, fishing at Indian River Inlet and ospreys over the marsh. The wild ponies of Assateague Island are under an hour south.

Philadelphia's green spaces are wooded and inland. The Wissahickon gorge in Fairmount Park has creekside paths and rough trails within the city. The Schuylkill River Trail runs past Boathouse Row towards Valley Forge, and the Poconos are within a long day's reach for real hiking.

Philadelphia's place on the rail corridor puts New York, Baltimore and Washington within a comfortable day. Amish Lancaster County, Valley Forge, Longwood Gardens and the Gettysburg battlefield add a range of outings that few cities can match.

Bethany Beach's outings are pleasant and small in scale: historic Lewes, the ferry to Cape May, the Victorian main street of Berlin and Chincoteague's island village. Almost all of them need a car. They fill an afternoon nicely, but none is a reason to go.

Both work well with children, in very different ways. Bethany Beach offers a classic seaside week: a guarded beach, bike rides, crabbing off a dock and free evenings at the bandstand, in a town small and quiet enough to give older children some freedom.

Philadelphia swaps the sand for big attractions that Bethany lacks. There is the Franklin Institute, the Please Touch Museum for under-eights, the dinosaur hall at the Academy of Natural Sciences and the oldest zoo in the country. These stay open all year, while most of Bethany's businesses for children close after summer.

Philadelphia is far easier without a car. Center City's flat grid puts Old City, Rittenhouse Square and the museums on the Parkway within walking distance. SEPTA's subway, trolleys and regional rail fill the gaps, including a direct train to the airport, though the system is not always pleasant.

Once you are in Bethany Beach, you can walk or cycle around the small town. But getting there, buying groceries and every outing depend on a car, and summer weekends bring heavy traffic on the coast road.

Philadelphia is a proper city for shopping. It has national brands on Walnut Street around Rittenhouse Square, independent shops in Old City and Fishtown, Jewelers' Row and the stalls of the Italian Market, with the huge King of Prussia mall half an hour away. Bethany's own shops sell surf gear, gifts and beach reading. Its serious shopping is the spread of outlet malls outside Rehoboth Beach, where Delaware's lack of sales tax is the main draw.

Neither is a cheap trip, but Philadelphia is easier on the wallet. Free sights in Independence National Historical Park, filling sandwiches at lunch and bringing your own wine to dinner make up for standard American hotel prices.

In July and August, Bethany Beach means weekly rentals near the ocean at peak rates and meals priced like a resort. Going in June or September, cooking for yourself and making use of the free beach bring the cost down considerably.

Philadelphia is a serious city for music. The Philadelphia Orchestra plays on the Avenue of the Arts, opera and ballet fill the Academy of Music, built in 1857, and students of the Curtis Institute give recitals. The Walnut Street Theatre, the oldest working theatre in the country, stages plays through the season.

In Bethany Beach, live performance means the summer bandstand by the boardwalk, where free concerts by cover bands and brass groups are watched from deck chairs. It makes a pleasant family evening, but it is not a reason to choose the town.

Neither has a spa tradition, so the difference lies in the pace. Bethany Beach is the more restful place, with leafy residential streets and a boardwalk where the surf is the loudest sound. In spring and autumn it is almost silent.

Philadelphia moves quickly and a little gruffly. Calm there means a hotel spa or a day spa near Rittenhouse Square, a bench in one of Penn's squares or a walk in the Wissahickon gorge.