Cape May or Lake George?

Cape May has the better beach. A continuous strip of Atlantic sand runs along the promenade with gentle surf and lifeguards, the ocean is warm by August, and there are quieter stretches at Cape May Point and quartz "diamonds" to hunt for at Sunset Beach.

Lake George offers freshwater swimming instead: calm, clear water with no salt and no waves, and a mountain view from the state beach. You can also swim from a boat or an island in the Narrows. The beaches are smaller, though, and fill early on hot weekends.

Cape May eats noticeably better. It is a working fishing port, so local scallops, flounder and oysters appear on menus everywhere from dockside shacks to Victorian dining rooms, and breakfast on a porch becomes part of the stay.

In Lake George village the food is mostly pizza, pancakes and waterfront decks where you are paying for the view. The more careful cooking, with Adirondack game and lake fish, is in Bolton Landing and the shore resorts, and keen eaters often drive to Saratoga Springs for dinner.

Neither is a culture trip, but Cape May gives you more to look at just by walking around. The whole town is a Victorian landmark district of gingerbread cottages and hotels with long porches, and the Physick Estate and the lighthouse climb round it off.

Lake George's heritage is mostly Fort William Henry, the fort of the 1757 siege, plus a small museum in the old courthouse. Beyond that the village is motels and arcades, and the region's weightier history at Ticonderoga and Saratoga means a drive.

Lake George has the livelier evenings, within limits. On summer weekends the deck bars on Canada Street and along the waterfront fill with boaters and young day-trippers and stay loud until closing.

Cape May's nights are gentler: pubs and hotel bars around the mall, a cover band, couples and wedding parties, and most of it over by midnight. Out of season, both towns go quiet.

This is where Lake George pulls clearly ahead. The lake runs about 50km between forested ridges and has more than a hundred islands, so you can kayak, sail and camp on an island. Prospect Mountain, Black Mountain and the Tongue range are real climbs with Adirondack views, and in winter there is skiing at Gore Mountain about an hour away.

Cape May's nature is flat and coastal, and its strength is birds. The autumn migration of hawks and monarch butterflies through Cape May Point and Higbee Beach is famous among birders. Dolphin boats, kayaking in the marshes and easy cycling make up the rest.

Lake George has the stronger choice of day trips, all by car. Saratoga Springs, with its racecourse and spa, is under an hour south, and Fort Ticonderoga stands above Lake Champlain. Lake Placid and the Vermont towns are also within reach.

From Cape May, the best outing is the ferry across the bay to colonial Lewes in Delaware. The Wildwoods are next door and Atlantic City is an hour up the coast. Philadelphia is possible, but it makes for a long and tiring day.

Both are old family summer resorts with lifeguarded beaches and safe streets, so the difference is one of style. Lake George puts more on for children: The Great Escape and its water park, paddlewheel steamboats, mini golf and wax museums along Canada Street, and motels with pools.

Cape May is slower. Families ride surrey bikes along the promenade, go crabbing on the bay, take the dolphin boats and visit the free county zoo. For rides you go to the Wildwoods, and some B&Bs in the historic district do not take young children.

Cape May is easier to manage without a car. The historic district, the promenade and the Washington Street Mall are a short flat walk apart, and bikes cover the rest. There is no train, but the ferry from Delaware gives you another way in.

Lake George village is compact too, but the western shore, the trailheads and every day trip need a car, and summer traffic in the village is a nuisance. A rented boat is the best way to see the lake itself.

Neither town is worth a trip for the shopping, and what you find is different in kind. Cape May is for browsing: the three-block Washington Street Mall has independent boutiques, bookshops and home stores, with antique dealers and galleries in the historic district.

Lake George's Canada Street is mostly souvenirs and beachwear. Its more useful shopping is the outlet centres on Route 9 selling American brands, and Adirondack crafts and maple syrup make better gifts than anything in the village.

Lake George is easier on the wallet. Older motels along Route 9, cottages with kitchens and cheaper rooms in Glens Falls or Queensbury keep costs down, and many beaches, trails and parks are free or cheap.

Cape May is expensive in summer. The Victorian B&Bs and oceanfront hotels charge premium rates with minimum stays, the better restaurants cost as much as in a big city, and you also pay for beach tags and parking. Both are much cheaper outside high summer, and Cape May visitors on a budget often stay in the Wildwoods.

Both offer a pleasant evening out rather than a reason to travel, but the emphasis differs. Cape May leans on theatre, with a professional company playing a long season in a converted church and another staging historic American drama, plus a long-established chamber music festival in late spring and early summer.

Lake George is more about music outdoors. There are free concerts by the water in Shepard Park, a jazz weekend in September and a chamber festival in August, and the Saratoga amphitheatre, under an hour away, has orchestras and ballet.

For rest, Cape May mostly offers a porch and a slow afternoon: rocking chairs, tea in a guesthouse parlour and sunsets over the bay. There are a handful of day spas but no baths, and summer weekends are busy.

Lake George gives you more to work with, as long as you stay out of the village. The resort hotels near Bolton Landing have full spas, quiet mornings on the water set the pace, and Saratoga's historic mineral baths are under an hour south. Here early autumn is the calmest time.