The Hamptons or Poconos?

This is the Hamptons' clearest advantage. Wide, pale ocean beaches run from Westhampton to Montauk, at Cooper's Beach, Main Beach and Amagansett. Ditch Plains has real surf, and the shallow bay beaches on Peconic Bay suit toddlers. Follow the rip-current warnings and check the parking permits.

The Poconos have no sea at all. You swim in lakes such as Wallenpaupack or at the guarded state-park beaches at Promised Land and Hickory Run. These are small grassy strips that warm nicely in high summer, and there is also tubing on the Delaware. They are pleasant to add to a stay but not worth planning a trip around.

You eat far better in the Hamptons. Peconic oysters, bay scallops, lobster rolls by Montauk harbour, farm-stand corn and strawberries, and South and North Fork wines feed both the beach picnic and the polished dining rooms of Sag Harbor and East Hampton. There is little in between, though, and much of it shuts after the autumn.

Poconos food is hearty rather than memorable: diners, taverns, pizza and resort dining rooms, with shoofly pie and whoopie pies as the Pennsylvania Dutch touch. The better meals are in a handful of bistros and brewpubs in Stroudsburg, Jim Thorpe and Milford.

Neither is a culture destination, but the Hamptons give you more to see. There are Sag Harbor's whaling-era streets and museum, the windmills and saltbox houses of early English villages, and Montauk Point Lighthouse. Add the art of the Pollock-Krasner House, the Parrish and Guild Hall, and you have a couple of good afternoons.

The Poconos' story is coal and railway money. It is concentrated in Jim Thorpe's Victorian streets and the Asa Packer Mansion, with Eckley Miners' Village and Grey Towers further out. They make worthwhile half-days, best saved for a rainy one.

Neither place stays up late, but the Hamptons at least have a summer scene. Montauk's bars run loud with a young crowd, and Southampton has a few clubs with strict door policies. Much of the famous party life happens in private houses, and outside the season evenings end at dinner.

In the Poconos an evening means a hot tub, a fire and perhaps a brewpub in Stroudsburg or Jim Thorpe. The casino resort at Mount Pocono and the winter après-ski bars are the only places open late.

The Hamptons give you gentle outdoor days, mostly on or beside the water. The best walking is at the eastern end, on the bluff trails of Montauk Point and Hither Hills, across the Walking Dunes, and through the woods and marshes of Mashomack on Shelter Island. Otherwise it is kayaking and sailing on the sheltered bays, sport fishing out of Montauk and easy cycling on the flat back roads.

The Poconos are the better choice if you want to be properly active outdoors. In the Delaware Water Gap the Appalachian Trail follows the crest of Kittatinny Ridge, and side valleys hold waterfalls such as Raymondskill and Dingmans, with Bushkill Falls the best known of all. The Lehigh Gorge adds whitewater rafting and a long riverside rail trail. October colour and winter skiing at Camelback and Blue Mountain give the woods seasons that the coast does not have.

The Poconos have more within easy reach. Bethlehem's 1740s Moravian buildings and old steelworks furnaces are an hour south, and Scranton has railway and coal-mine museums. Jim Thorpe, Hawley and the Delaware river villages are short drives from any base.

From the Hamptons, the best outing is by small ferry via Shelter Island to the North Fork's tasting rooms and Greenport's working harbour. In summer a ferry runs from Montauk to Block Island. Beyond that the choice is short, and New York works better as the start or end of the trip than as a day out.

The Poconos are built for children in a way the Hamptons are not. Resorts around Mount Pocono and Tannersville are wrapped around indoor waterparks that work in any weather. Camelback adds an outdoor waterpark and alpine coaster in summer and gentle learning slopes in winter, and the drives between attractions are short.

The Hamptons suit a slower family summer, with shallow bay beaches for toddlers, lifeguarded ocean beaches for older children, pick-your-own fields and the climb up the lighthouse. With no big attractions and slow traffic, families there tend to settle into a beach routine.

You need a car in both, but the Poconos are easier to drive. Interstates 80 and 380 link the four counties, and most drives take twenty minutes to an hour. The jams come mainly on Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons.

The Hamptons squeeze everything onto Montauk Highway, where summer weekend traffic crawls and taxis are scarce. In return, there is a rail line from New York, and on the flat back lanes a bicycle will get you to the beach and the farm stands.

The Hamptons are the place to shop if you want boutiques. There is high-end fashion and resortwear on Main Street and Newtown Lane in East Hampton and on Jobs Lane in Southampton, and Sag Harbor has bookshops and independent stores. The interiors shops and antiques dealers around Bridgehampton and Water Mill are the real local strength.

The Poconos offer bargains rather than style, at the premium outlet centre in Tannersville. Otherwise there are antiques, crafts and maple syrup to browse in Jim Thorpe and Milford.

The gap here is wide. A summer in the Hamptons is one of the most expensive anywhere. Rentals are often by the week or the season, there is little cheap lodging, and even deli sandwiches are priced for the very wealthy. Going in June or September or staying on the North Fork softens the bill, but only somewhat.

The Poconos are far easier on the budget. Midweek cabins, older motels and shared rental houses are good value, and the hiking, state-park lakes and the national recreation area cost little. Waterpark resorts, lift tickets and peak-season weekends still add up.

Both have small summer stages, and the Hamptons offer a little more range. Guild Hall and Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor put on plays and concerts, and the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival fills churches with classical music. In autumn a film festival brings screenings to the villages.

The Poconos lean towards jazz and touring acts. Delaware Water Gap has its long-running late-summer jazz festival, the Mauch Chunk Opera House in Jim Thorpe hosts roots and folk acts, and summer-stock playhouses keep resort theatre going.

The Poconos have a slight edge for switching off. Secluded couples' resorts with hot tubs and fireplaces, and the large spa resorts around Lake Wallenpaupack, are designed for getting away. A cabin in autumn or after snow is hard to beat.

In the Hamptons the sea does the restoring. There are resort spas and seawater pools in Montauk and Southampton, and early walks on empty beaches. Midsummer weekends are crowded and social, so go in June or September if rest is the aim.