Cape May or Louisville?

Cape May is a real beach town. The sand runs the whole length of the oceanfront, the surf is gentle on most days, and the bay side has Sunset Beach, where people hunt for the polished quartz "diamonds". The only catch is the season: before mid-June and after mid-September the water is too cool for most swimmers.

Louisville has no beach at all. The Ohio is a barge river with strong currents, so swimming in summer means hotel and public pools or a drive to the reservoir lakes in the countryside.

Louisville eats and drinks with more character. Bourbon runs through everything, from the long whiskey lists on Whiskey Row to the distillery tasting rooms downtown. The hot brown, burgoo and Derby pie are Kentucky specialities worth trying where they are most at home. NuLu, the Highlands and Butchertown have enough good restaurants for several nights.

Cape May is strong in one area: scallops, flounder and oysters landed by one of the East Coast's busiest fishing fleets, plus long breakfasts on Victorian porches. Beyond the seafood it is mostly fudge, taffy and ice cream, and in winter many kitchens close.

The two towns are built very differently. Cape May's appeal is architectural and all in one place: a whole town of gingerbread cottages and porch-fronted hotels, with the Physick Estate and the lighthouse as the main interiors and views. Louisville has more to fill the days, with Churchill Downs and its Derby museum, the Muhammad Ali Center, the Slugger and Frazier museums on Main Street, and the Speed Art Museum.

Both places love Victorian building. In Cape May it is seaside guesthouses, while Old Louisville is a district of grand brick and stone mansions.

Louisville gives you a proper night out, built on bars rather than clubs: dive bars and patios along Bardstown Road, bourbon and cocktail bars in NuLu and Butchertown, and late licences that let a night run on. Derby season in spring is when it goes wildest.

Cape May's evenings are porch evenings, plus a few pubs and hotel bars with cover bands in summer, and the town winds down well before midnight. Anyone wanting more noise drives up to the Wildwoods.

Cape May has the edge thanks to its position at the tip of the peninsula. Autumn hawk and monarch migrations through Cape May Point State Park and Higbee Beach draw birders from far away, and summer boats almost always find dolphins. Kayaking the back-bay marshes completes the picture, though the land is completely flat.

Louisville's outdoors are greener and more wooded: Olmsted's hilly Cherokee and Iroquois parks, fossil beds at the Falls of the Ohio, and forest trails at Bernheim. Mammoth Cave is within reach for a longer outing.

Louisville has the richer choice of outings. Bourbon country around Bardstown and Frankfort, Lexington's thoroughbred farms and Keeneland, Shaker Village and Lincoln's birthplace can fill several separate days, though you will need a designated driver for the tastings.

From Cape May, the best outing is the ferry across Delaware Bay to colonial Lewes. The Wildwoods and Atlantic City are close by, but Philadelphia is a tiring round trip, and after that the options run out.

Cape May is easier with small children. Lifeguarded beaches, quiet safe streets, surrey rides on the promenade, crabbing on the bay and dolphin boats all sit close together, and the free county zoo is a short drive away. Bear in mind that some historic B&Bs don't accept young children.

Louisville has more big-ticket attractions, including a good zoo, the hands-on science centre, a coaster and water park, and underground ziplines at the Mega Cavern. They are spread across the city, though, and the summer humidity makes car-bound days tiring.

Cape May is easier to manage once you're there. The historic district, the promenade and the Washington Street Mall are all a short, flat walk apart, and bikes take care of the rest. Getting to Cape May is the hard part, since there is no rail and only a thin bus service.

Louisville is more dependent on the car. Downtown and NuLu are walkable, but Churchill Downs, the Highlands, the zoo and the parks all need a drive or a ride-hail, although light traffic keeps that painless.

Neither town is a shopping destination, and they are about level. What you would browse is different. Cape May's three-block pedestrian mall has bookshops, boutiques, homeware and taffy, with antique dealers and galleries among the Victorian houses.

Louisville's best finds are bourbon bottles you rarely see elsewhere, Derby hats and racing memorabilia, plus vintage clothes and records on Bardstown Road and design shops in NuLu.

Louisville is the easier place to stay on a budget. Downtown hotels are moderately priced outside the racing season, parking is easy, and the parks, riverfront and Old Louisville cost nothing. Derby week is the exception, when rates jump several times over.

Cape May in summer is expensive. B&Bs and oceanfront hotels charge peak rates with minimum stays, you need beach tags and paid parking, and the better restaurants charge big-city prices. Coming in the shoulder season or staying in the Wildwoods next door brings costs down.

Louisville has a complete arts calendar. The orchestra, Kentucky Opera and Louisville Ballet share the Kentucky Center, Actors Theatre has a long record of premiering new American plays, and bars on Bardstown Road often host live bluegrass and Americana.

Cape May's stage is smaller and mostly theatrical: a professional company in a converted church, historic American drama, and a long-running chamber music festival in early summer. Outside the season there is very little on.

Cape May is the more restful of the two, as long as you avoid summer weekends. Rocking chairs on porches, afternoon tea in guesthouse parlours, sunsets over the bay and a few hotel day spas make spring and autumn genuinely calm.

Louisville offers hotel spas and slow afternoons in horse country. For a true spa break you would drive about an hour and a half to the old mineral-spring resorts of French Lick and West Baden Springs in Indiana.