Daytona Beach or Rehoboth Beach?

Both towns are built around wide Atlantic sand with lifeguards, but Daytona's is the bigger and longer-lasting beach. Its hard-packed strand runs for miles, with quieter stretches at Ormond Beach and Ponce Inlet and steady surf at New Smyrna, and the water stays warm for months. Watch out for rip currents and greenish water.

Rehoboth's pale sand and usually moderate surf are pleasant, and Cape Henlopen and Delaware Seashore State Park add wilder, emptier beaches. However, the water is only really inviting in high summer.

Rehoboth eats better. Its long role as Washington's summer escape brought chef-led restaurants to Rehoboth Avenue, and Mid-Atlantic crab cakes, steamed blue crabs and a strong craft-beer tradition give it a clear local flavour.

Daytona's best meals are fried shrimp, grouper sandwiches and smoked fish dip, eaten on fish-camp decks along the Halifax River or near Ponce Inlet. Away from the water, chain restaurants dominate.

Neither is a sightseeing destination, but Daytona has more to fill a day or two. You can tour the Speedway and its land-speed history, see the Cuban art at the Museum of Arts and Sciences and climb the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse.

Rehoboth's cultural offer comes down to the Art League's garden galleries in Henlopen Acres and traces of its Methodist camp-meeting past. Anyone keen on history soon drives to Lewes.

The two are evenly matched for going out, but the crowds differ. Daytona's evenings mean tiki bars, sports bars and the biker saloons of Main Street, which fill up during Bike Week, Biketoberfest and race weeks.

Rehoboth's nights centre on the piano lounges, drag shows and LGBTQ bars around Baltimore Avenue, with Dewey Beach's loud deck bars for a younger crowd. In both towns real clubs are scarce, and the scene fades out of season.

Daytona has a little more variety in its flat, watery landscape. Canaveral National Seashore and the Mosquito Lagoon are good for paddling among dolphins, Merritt Island is excellent for birding, and manatees gather at Blue Spring in winter. Summer heat pushes outdoor plans to early mornings.

Rehoboth's strengths are Cape Henlopen's tall dunes and the bike trail through woods and wetland to Lewes, which make it the better place for easy cycling.

Daytona has more major destinations within reach. St Augustine's Spanish fort lies about an hour north, Kennedy Space Center a little further south, and Orlando's theme parks are an hour inland.

From Rehoboth the outings are smaller and gentler: historic Lewes ten minutes away, the ferry to Cape May's Victorian streets, and Chincoteague or Ocean City down the coast.

Rehoboth is the easier family base. Its compact grid puts lifeguarded beaches, ice cream and gentle rides within a short walk of the rental houses, and Cape Henlopen's nature centre and calm bay water suit small children.

Daytona has plenty of space on the sand, condos with pools and Orlando's parks an hour away. Against that, rip currents, fierce summer heat and the noise of Bike Week and spring break all need planning around.

In Rehoboth you can leave the car parked. Downtown, the boardwalk and the beach are a short walk apart, bikes are everywhere, and a summer trolley runs to Dewey Beach and the outlets.

Daytona spreads along long, wide roads on both sides of the river, and its buses are too infrequent to rely on, so you need a car for almost everything beyond the sand.

Rehoboth is the better place to shop, helped by Delaware's lack of sales tax. Large outlet centres sit on the highway, and Rehoboth Avenue has independent boutiques, bookshops and galleries. Daytona offers an outlet centre, a mall and motorcycle gear on Main Street, and that is about all.

Daytona is the cheaper stay. It has a large supply of older motels and condo rentals, and diners and seafood places keep meals reasonable, though a car adds to the bill and rates jump during race weeks and Bike Week.

In summer, Rehoboth charges full resort prices for beach rooms, meals and parking. It only becomes good value in spring and autumn, when the swimming season is over.

Neither town has much of a stage scene, and both rely on free outdoor concerts in summer. Daytona has more for a winter visitor, with visiting orchestras on the symphony society's season and touring Broadway shows at the Peabody Auditorium. Rehoboth's local company performs musicals and cabaret, and its autumn film festival is the highlight of its year.

For rest, both towns have hotel spas and little else, so what matters is choosing quiet dates. In Daytona that means avoiding race weeks and Bike Week, and then enjoying condo pools and dawn walks on the hard sand. Rehoboth is at its most restful in June, September and on autumn weekends, when the boardwalk empties and the pine-shaded bike paths are quiet.