Lake Placid or New York?

Neither is a beach destination, but New York at least has the sea. Coney Island and the Rockaways are Atlantic beaches with a boardwalk and surf, reached by subway, and Long Island's longer sands are about an hour out. Lake Placid's swimming is all in fresh water: the small lifeguarded beach on Mirror Lake, the Saranac lakes and the rocky swimming holes on the Ausable.

In both places the swimming season runs from about late June to the end of August. The lakes are calmer and much less crowded than the city beaches on a summer weekend, but they are somewhere to cool off after a hike rather than a day out in themselves.

This is one of the widest gaps between the two. Lake Placid eats like a mountain resort: diners, brewpubs, pizza and burgers along Main Street, a few lodge dining rooms by the water, and maple syrup as the closest thing to a local speciality.

New York cooks nearly every cuisine on earth, made by the communities that brought it, from Flushing and Jackson Heights to Arthur Avenue. On top of that come fine dining and the city's own classics: slices, bagels and deli pastrami. If food matters to your trip, New York is the only real choice of the two.

Lake Placid's sights are about sport: the Olympic Center with the 'Miracle on Ice' rink, the ski jumps, the speed skating oval, and John Brown's Farm just outside the village. A day is enough to see them.

New York could keep you busy for weeks: the Met, MoMA, the Guggenheim and the Frick along Museum Mile, the Cloisters above the Hudson, Ellis Island, and the brownstone and cast-iron streets of Brooklyn and SoHo. If you plan a vacation around museums and landmarks, the city wins easily.

In Lake Placid an evening out means a beer at a Main Street brewpub or a lodge bar, then an early night before the trail. New York goes on all night, with cocktail and dive bars in the East Village, rooftop bars above Midtown and warehouse dance floors in Bushwick and Williamsburg that run past dawn.

Here Lake Placid has the clear advantage. The High Peaks wilderness begins at the edge of the village, with Mount Marcy, half-day climbs such as Cascade and Mount Jo, canoe routes through the St. Regis area, fly fishing on the Ausable and the ski slopes of Whiteface.

New York's green space is mostly man-made: Central Park, Prospect Park, the High Line and the birding at Jamaica Bay. Real climbs such as Breakneck Ridge are about ninety minutes away by train, so wild country is a day out from the city rather than the view from your window.

From New York the trains do the work. Philadelphia's Independence Hall, Princeton, New Haven and the Hudson Valley, with its Gilded Age estates, Dia Beacon and Storm King, are all within reach without a car.

Lake Placid has fewer outings, and most lead into the woods. Saranac Lake, the Wild Center at Tupper Lake and Fort Ticonderoga are the main ones, and Montreal is just over two hours across the border, but every trip from the village needs a car.

Both work for children, in very different ways. New York has more to fill the days: the dinosaurs at the Natural History museum, the Bronx Zoo, the Coney Island aquarium and the free Staten Island Ferry. The catch is that many subway stations have only stairs, and the Midtown crowds soon tire small children.

Lake Placid is simpler and calmer, with skating on the Olympic rinks, bobsled rides at Mount Van Hoevenberg, the toboggan chute onto the frozen lake and Santa's Workshop nearby. It suits active families who don't mind driving and dressing for the cold.

Lake Placid's village is a short walk from end to end, but the trailheads, Whiteface and the lakes are spread across the mountains. Buses are scarce and winter roads need care, so a car is part of the trip.

New York is the opposite. The grid makes Manhattan easy on foot, and the round-the-clock subway, the ferries and Citi Bike reach almost everywhere. The main irritations are stations with only stairs, rerouted weekend trains and getting to and from the airports.

Lake Placid's Main Street is good for hiking boots, fly-fishing tackle, Olympic souvenirs and balsam pillows, and not much else. New York is a shopping destination at every level, from the Fifth Avenue flagships and Madison Avenue luxury houses to SoHo's brands, the Lower East Side's boutiques and the vintage and record shops of Brooklyn.

Neither is cheap, but Lake Placid is easier on the wallet. Its lodges charge resort rates on winter weekends, in summer and in the foliage weeks, yet cabins, older motels and the quiet weeks of spring and late autumn cut costs, and hiking and lake swimming are free. The rental car is the one cost you cannot avoid.

New York is among the most expensive cities in the world to visit, with small, costly hotel rooms, tax and tip on every meal and steep theatre tickets. Free parks and ferries, cheap slices and a room in Brooklyn or Queens soften the bill, and you will not need a car.

Lake Placid's season is summer, when the Sinfonietta plays free concerts at the Mirror Lake bandshell and small bands play on lakeside lawns. For the rest of the year there is little on. New York has Broadway, the Metropolitan Opera, the Philharmonic and City Ballet at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and jazz in Village basements and in Harlem, with something on stage every night of the year.

The two are evenly matched here, but they offer rest in opposite ways. Lake Placid relaxes you through its setting: a quiet village, the walk round Mirror Lake, lodge porches over still water and fireplaces in winter, plus a few lodge spas for a massage and a sauna.

New York has a real bathing culture instead, from the old Russian and Turkish bathhouse in the East Village to the banyas of Brighton Beach and the Korean spas in Queens. Once you leave the steam room, though, the noise and pace work against rest.