Lake Placid or Louisville?

Neither city is a beach destination, but at least Lake Placid lets you swim outdoors. Mirror Lake has a small lifeguarded beach right in the village, and the Saranac lakes and the rocky pools on the Ausable are warm enough for a swim from late June to August.

In Louisville the Ohio is a working river with barges and strong currents, so in summer swimming means hotel or public pools, the water park at Kentucky Kingdom, or a drive out to a reservoir lake.

Louisville eats and drinks far better. Bourbon runs through everything, from downtown tasting rooms to the long whiskey lists on Whiskey Row, and the city has dishes of its own: the hot brown, burgoo, Benedictine spread and Derby pie, plus Southern and farm-to-table cooking in NuLu, the Highlands and Butchertown.

Lake Placid feeds hungry hikers and skiers with brewpubs, diners, pizza and a few lodge dining rooms looking over the water. Maple syrup and craft beer are about as local as it gets, and some kitchens cut back outside the busy seasons.

Louisville has more to see, and more variety. Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum, the Muhammad Ali Center, the Slugger and Frazier museums among the cast-iron fronts of Whiskey Row, the Speed Art Museum and the Victorian streets of Old Louisville fill two or three days.

Lake Placid's story is almost entirely Olympic: the rink of the 1980 'Miracle on Ice' with its small museum, the ski jumps and the speed skating oval. John Brown's Farm is the only other real sight. It makes a good day out, but not a culture trip.

Louisville is where a night out can keep going. Bardstown Road has a long run of dive bars and patios, NuLu and Butchertown serve cocktails and bourbon, and some bars have late licences, though there are few clubs. Lake Placid winds down after dinner and a beer in a Main Street brewpub or a lodge bar, gets livelier only after a ski day or a big event, and is quiet well before midnight.

This is Lake Placid's clear advantage. The High Peaks wilderness starts on its doorstep, with Mount Marcy, Cascade and Mount Jo for hikers and Whiteface for the biggest ski vertical in the eastern United States. Add canoe routes through the Saranac and St. Regis lakes, fly fishing on the Ausable and climbing at Chapel Pond.

Louisville's outdoors are tamer and gentler: Olmsted's Cherokee and Iroquois parks, the Big Four Bridge walkway, the fossil beds at the Falls of the Ohio, and woodland trails in Jefferson Memorial Forest and Bernheim Forest. Mammoth Cave, an hour and a half away, is the one big natural sight within reach.

Louisville has the better range of outings. Bourbon country around Bardstown, Frankfort and Lawrenceburg means distillery tours (bring a designated driver), and Lexington's horse farms and Keeneland racecourse, Shaker Village and Lincoln's birthplace are all easy trips.

From Lake Placid most outings lead deeper into the woods rather than to other towns. Saranac Lake, the Wild Center at Tupper Lake and Keene are close, while Fort Ticonderoga, Burlington and Montreal each take a long drive.

Both work well with children, in different ways. Lake Placid is about doing things: skating on the Olympic rinks, a bobsled ride at Mount Van Hoevenberg, the toboggan chute onto the frozen lake, ski school at Whiteface and easy canoe trips, with Santa's Workshop nearby.

Louisville has classic city attractions instead: the zoo, the Kentucky Science Center, roller coasters and a water park at Kentucky Kingdom, and underground ziplines in the Mega Cavern. Pack for hard cold in the Adirondacks and for humid summer heat in Kentucky.

In both you'll want a car, and both have a small centre you can walk. Lake Placid's is compact, with Main Street, Mirror Lake and the Olympic Center a few minutes apart, but the trailheads and Whiteface are reached on winding mountain roads that need winter driving skills for much of the year.

Louisville's walkable area covers downtown, the waterfront and NuLu. Churchill Downs, the Highlands and the parks are a drive or a ride-hail away across a spread-out city, but traffic is light and the roads are easy.

Lake Placid sells you what you need for the mountains, and Louisville what you want to take home. Lake Placid's one stretch of Main Street is mostly outdoor gear, ski and fly-fishing shops, Olympic souvenirs and gifts of balsam and maple. It's useful before a hike, but there's little else to browse.

In Louisville there's more to look through and better things to carry home. NuLu has design shops and galleries, and Bardstown Road has vintage clothes, records and antiques. Its distillery shops sell bottles of bourbon you rarely see anywhere else.

Louisville is somewhat easier on the budget. Hotels are moderately priced outside the racing season and the parks and riverfront are free, though tips, tax and car costs add up over the day. Derby week is the time to avoid.

Lake Placid charges resort prices in winter, in summer and in the foliage weeks, and lift tickets, guides and gear rental add to the bill. On the plus side, hiking, paddling and lake swimming cost nothing, and the quiet weeks of spring and late autumn bring accommodation costs down.

Louisville has a proper season. The Kentucky Center hosts the orchestra, the opera and the ballet, Actors Theatre puts on new American plays, and the Palace takes touring concerts, while bars on Bardstown Road have regular bluegrass and Americana.

In Lake Placid live performance mostly happens in summer: the Sinfonietta's concerts at the Mirror Lake bandshell, occasional shows at the arts centre and small bands on lakeside lawns.

Lake Placid is the more restful of the two, mostly because of its setting. Lodge spas have saunas and hot tubs for after a cold day, and the calm of Mirror Lake, porches over still water and winter fires do the rest.

In Louisville the choice is hotel spas, day spas and slow afternoons on a porch in the Highlands. For a real spa break, the old mineral-spring resorts of French Lick and West Baden Springs are an hour and a half's drive away in Indiana.