Cape Cod or Poconos?

This is the Cape's biggest advantage. It has long ocean beaches under dune cliffs from Nauset to Race Point, gentle water on the south shore at Falmouth, Craigville and Harwich, and wide tide flats on the bay near Brewster. The outer shore is cold and has strong currents, so most swimmers go to the sound side.

The Poconos have no sea at all. Their lakes warm up well in high summer, but the beaches at Promised Land, Beltzville or Lake Wallenpaupack are small grassy strips. They are something you add to a stay, much like tubing down the Delaware.

The Cape eats much better, because its food comes from the water. You get Wellfleet oysters, fried clams and lobster rolls at clam shacks, harbour-side dining in Chatham, and the widest choice in Provincetown, with its Portuguese fishing roots. The range is still narrow, and many kitchens close or cut back between late autumn and spring.

In the Poconos, meals are diners, taverns, pizza and resort dining rooms. Pennsylvania Dutch baking and a few bistros and brewpubs in Jim Thorpe, Stroudsburg and Milford liven things up. The craft breweries and wineries on the back roads are the best outing for food and drink.

Neither place has much in the way of museums, but the Cape gives you more to see. Route 6A runs past sea captains' houses and white churches in Sandwich, Barnstable and Yarmouth Port. Provincetown has the Pilgrim Monument and a long history as an artists' colony, and lighthouses and Marconi's wireless site are dotted along the shore.

The Poconos' heritage is coal and railways, and most of it is in Jim Thorpe, with the Asa Packer Mansion and the Old Jail Museum. Eckley Miners' Village and Grey Towers in Milford are the other worthwhile half-days.

There is a real gap here. In July and August, Provincetown runs late, with crowds on Commercial Street, tea dances on the waterfront, and gay and lesbian bars and dance clubs. Hyannis has a smaller strip of bars, but most other villages go quiet after dinner.

The Poconos have no club scene. A late night means the casino resort at Mount Pocono, après-ski bars on winter weekends, or a brewpub in Stroudsburg. Most evenings end by the fire or in the hot tub.

The two are close for time outdoors, but the settings could hardly be more different. The Cape is all sand, salt marsh and open water, with dunes in the Province Lands, pine woods around the kettle ponds and the Atlantic White Cedar Swamp trail. Its standout is wildlife at sea: whale watching out to Stellwagen Bank and grey seals off Chatham and Monomoy. The Cape Cod Rail Trail adds long, flat cycling, though there is no high ground anywhere.

The Poconos are a forested plateau cut by rivers, so the outdoors here means ridges, gorges and falling water. The Delaware Water Gap carries the Appalachian Trail along its crest, waterfalls such as Bushkill and Dingmans sit in the side valleys, and the Lehigh Gorge has whitewater rafting. October colour and winter snow give the region two more seasons outdoors. What it lacks is the coast and its marine life.

The Cape has the better day trips, mostly by boat. Ferries from Hyannis and Woods Hole reach Nantucket's whaling town and Martha's Vineyard's Edgartown and Oak Bluffs. Plymouth and New Bedford's whaling museum are close by across the canal, and Provincetown has a summer ferry to Boston.

From the Poconos, the best trip is south to Bethlehem's Moravian settlement and the old steelworks, or northwest to Scranton for Steamtown and the coal-mine tour. New York and Philadelphia are a long and tiring day by road.

Both are classic family destinations, but they work differently. On the Cape, the pleasures are natural and small: crab hunting on the Brewster tide flats, warm sound beaches, ponds, bike paths and whale-watching boats. There is nothing big built for children, and a rainy day is hard to fill.

The Poconos are built for this. There are indoor waterpark resorts around Mount Pocono and Tannersville, an alpine coaster at Camelback and gentle ski slopes for learning, so the weather matters less.

You need a car in both places, but the Poconos are a little easier. Most drives take twenty minutes to an hour, coaches run from New York, and the main traffic is on Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons.

On the Cape, the two canal bridges are a well-known summer bottleneck, and village parking is tight. Its advantage is that a base in Provincetown, or one near the island ferries, makes a car-free trip possible.

The Cape has more character for browsing. There are galleries along Provincetown's Commercial Street and in Wellfleet, antique shops along the Old King's Highway, and tidy main streets in Chatham and Falmouth.

The Poconos' main draw is the large premium outlet centre at Tannersville. Beyond that it is antiques and maple syrup in Jim Thorpe and Milford. Neither place has fashion streets.

The Poconos cost noticeably less. Midweek cabins and older motels are good value, and the lakes and trails are almost free, although weekends in ski season or during autumn colour cost more.

High summer on the Cape is expensive. Weekly rentals with minimum stays near the beaches, island ferries and beach parking add up. June and September, or a motel in the mid-Cape around Hyannis, take some of the pressure off.

The Cape has the fuller summer programme. There are musicals at the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, small repertory companies in Chatham and Wellfleet, nightly drag and cabaret in Provincetown, and band concerts on the green in Chatham. Most of it fades after summer.

The Poconos have a smaller offer with some character of their own. There is the long jazz tradition of Delaware Water Gap and its late-summer festival, and folk and roots acts at the Mauch Chunk Opera House in Jim Thorpe.

The Poconos are built around rest. There are couples' resorts with hot tubs and fireplaces in the rooms, and large destination spa resorts in the lake country around Lake Wallenpaupack and Hawley.

On the Cape, the calm comes from the pace: a shingled cottage in Truro, early walks on empty sand, and resort spas in Chatham or Falmouth. Summer crowds can disturb that calm, so September is the time to go.