Lake George or Myrtle Beach?

Lake George swims like a mountain lake: clear, fresh and calm, with a lifeguarded state beach at the south end of the village, the small beach in Shepard Park and little strands in Bolton Landing. Much of the best swimming is off a rented boat or from the islands. The catch is that the beaches are modest, they fill early on hot weekends and the warm water lasts only a few weeks.

Myrtle Beach is the far bigger beach destination. The Grand Strand runs for about 100km of wide, flat sand with shallow, gently shelving ocean, and you can pick the busy central blocks or the quieter dunes at Surfside, Garden City and the southern state parks. The sea is greenish rather than clear, but it stays warm for months.

Neither is a place to travel for food, but Myrtle Beach has more worth seeking out. The waterfront restaurants of Murrells Inlet serve shrimp, oysters and flounder from local boats, the light Calabash-style fried seafood is just over the state line, and Lowcountry dishes such as shrimp and grits appear on many menus.

Lake George has no regional cooking of its own. Beyond pizza, pancakes and decks with a lake view, the better meals are the Adirondack game and lake fish in the resort dining rooms up the western shore. Many keen eaters simply drive to Saratoga Springs for dinner.

Both are resorts where culture fills a day at most, but the history is of a different kind. Lake George's is military: the reconstructed Fort William Henry recalls the 1757 siege behind The Last of the Mohicans, with musket demonstrations and the courthouse museum alongside.

Myrtle Beach's main sight is a garden rather than a fort. Brookgreen Gardens sets American sculpture among live oaks on a former rice plantation and tells the story of the people enslaved there, and the Moorish-style Atalaya stands next door.

Myrtle Beach has more going on after dark. Beach bars and rooftop decks line the boardwalk, the big entertainment complexes have dance clubs that stay open late, and North Myrtle Beach keeps its own tradition of shag dancing in long-standing clubs. Some spring break and rally weeks get rowdy.

Lake George's evenings come down to the bars on Canada Street and by the water, full of boaters on summer weekends and with no real clubs. Once summer is over, and in the shore hamlets all year, nights are early and quiet.

This is Lake George's great advantage. The lake runs about 50km between forested ridges, dotted with island campsites, and the Narrows are ideal for sailing and paddling. Prospect Mountain rises right above the village, and the Adirondack Park around it offers serious hiking, autumn colour and, in winter, skiing at Gore Mountain.

Myrtle Beach's landscape is gentler and flat: salt marsh, dunes and blackwater cypress swamps. It is good for birdwatching at Huntington Beach, kayaking on the Waccamaw River, dolphin cruises and golf, but there are no hills, and summer humidity drives activity into the early morning.

Lake George has more choice within a short drive. Saratoga Springs, with its spa, racecourse and battlefield, is under an hour away, and Fort Ticonderoga is just an hour north. Lake Placid and the Vermont towns of Bennington and Manchester make good longer outings.

The best day out from Myrtle Beach is excellent but far. Charleston is about two hours each way, which makes for a long day. Closer options such as Georgetown's old port and Pawleys Island are pleasant but smaller. Whichever coast you choose, you need a car.

Both are long-established family resorts, and Myrtle Beach does it on a larger scale. Its gentle surf suits toddlers, and it adds resort pools with lazy rivers, a large aquarium, an amusement park with a wooden roller coaster and themed mini golf everywhere. It also stays warm for much longer each year. Just keep away from the spring break weeks.

Lake George has a cosier version: the Great Escape theme park, paddlewheel steamboats from the village pier, musket firing at the fort and the calm water at the state beach. Its weakness is the short season, as most of these attractions close once summer ends.

Both are places where you need a car, but Lake George is the easier of the two once you have arrived. Its sights sit close together in one small village, so if you stay there you can reach the fort, the steamboat pier and Shepard Park without driving, and summer trolleys run out to Glens Falls and the outlets. The western shore hamlets, the trailheads and every day trip still mean driving, and the islands and the Narrows are reached by boat, not by road.

Myrtle Beach spreads the same mix of attractions, outlet malls and golf courses along roughly 100km of coast, linked by multi-lane highways that are unpleasant to walk beside and slow with summer traffic on Kings Highway. On foot you are limited to your own stretch of oceanfront, where the flat sand works as a promenade, and bicycles or golf carts cover short trips. At Lake George you can leave the car parked for a day in the village, while at Myrtle Beach almost every meal and outing starts with a drive.

Myrtle Beach offers more for bargain hunters. It has two large outlet centres, the waterfront complexes and the Market Common on the old air base, plus enormous beachwear stores. Local crafts are limited to the sweetgrass baskets sold south of town.

Lake George's serious shopping is limited to the Route 9 outlets, and Canada Street sells mostly fudge and T-shirts. What it does better is gifts to take home: maple syrup, balsam pillows and rustic Adirondack furniture.

Myrtle Beach is the cheaper stay, mainly because its vast supply of motels and condos keeps room rates down, especially outside the summer peak, and kitchens cut the cost of eating out. Prices still jump in July and on long weekends.

Lake George in midsummer is priced like any American resort. Lakefront rooms, boat hire and theme park tickets add up quickly. The savings are in weekday and shoulder-season stays, cottages with kitchens, beds in Glens Falls or Queensbury and free trails and parks.

Lake George's live performance is small-scale and tied to summer: free concerts by the water in Shepard Park, a long-running jazz weekend in September, an August chamber music festival with young professional players, and summer theatre. For orchestras and ballet, people drive to the amphitheatre at Saratoga Springs, and out of season there is very little on.

Myrtle Beach thinks bigger and glossier. Large theatres stage country, gospel and Christmas revues and comedy, dinner shows put on knights or pirates, and touring country and rock acts play the main entertainment complex. With no orchestra or serious drama on either side, the choice is between intimate summer music by the lake and a polished evening show.

Lake George is the more restful choice, provided you stay away from the village in midsummer. The grand hotels on the points and islands near Bolton Landing have full spas, and lakeside cottages make for slow mornings on the water. The historic mineral baths in Saratoga Springs are under an hour away.

Myrtle Beach has massage rooms in its resort and golf hotels but no bathing tradition. The loud, car-bound strip works against rest, so anyone looking for quiet should head south to Pawleys Island or come in spring or autumn.