Lake Placid or Newport, Rhode Island?

Newport has the sea, and that gives it the edge. Easton's Beach sits below the Cliff Walk, Second and Third Beaches are long stretches of sand, and Gooseberry is a sheltered cove, so a whole day at the beach is easy.

Lake Placid's swimming is all fresh water. There is the small beach on Mirror Lake, spots along the Saranac chain and rocky pools on the Ausable, all better as a break between hikes than as the point of the day. The water is about as warm in both places at its peak, and both seasons end in early September.

Newport eats better because it has a cuisine of its own: oysters, fried clams, stuffed quahogs and Rhode Island's clear-broth chowder, eaten on the wharves off Thames Street. Providence is close enough for more variety.

Lake Placid's Main Street offers diners, pizza, burgers and brewpubs, with a few lodge dining rooms looking over the lake, and maple syrup is about the only local speciality. In both places some kitchens cut back out of season.

This is where the two differ most. Newport has the Vanderbilt-era palaces on Bellevue Avenue with their rooms intact, one of the country's largest groups of colonial houses on the Point and Historic Hill, and the Redwood Library and Trinity Church. That is two or three full days of sightseeing.

Lake Placid's heritage is sporting. It has the 1980 'Miracle on Ice' rink and its small museum, the ski jumps above town and John Brown's grave at his farm, which together make a pleasant day for anyone interested in Olympic history.

Neither town has clubs, but Newport has more going on. On a summer Saturday, Thames Street and the wharves fill with sailors and wedding parties moving between waterfront decks, Irish pubs and cocktail bars. Lake Placid evenings mean a beer in a Main Street brewpub or a lakeside hotel bar after skiing, followed by an early night before the trail.

Lake Placid is built around wild country. The High Peaks rise around it, Marcy and dozens of other summits are a short drive from town, and the eastern United States' biggest ski vertical is at Whiteface. Add canoe routes through the St. Regis lakes, climbing at Chapel Pond and the October foliage.

Newport's outdoors is gentler and coastal: the Cliff Walk, the ledges at Brenton Point and birdwatching at Sachuest Point. Its strength is the water, as one of North America's great sailing harbours, with surfing at Second Beach in autumn swells. It has no hills at all.

From Newport the choice is far wider. Providence's RISD Museum and Boston are both within easy driving distance, and Block Island is a ferry ride away. New Bedford's whaling museum and Mystic Seaport can be visited on the same coast.

Outings from Lake Placid mostly lead into the forest. The towns within reach are Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake's Wild Center and Fort Ticonderoga, with Montreal or Burlington making a long day. Both places need a car for nearly all of it.

Lake Placid is the more fun of the two for children. They can skate on the Olympic rinks, ride a bobsled at Mount Van Hoevenberg, go down the toboggan chute onto the frozen lake and visit Santa's Workshop nearby, all in a small, safe village.

Newport's appeal for families is mostly summer beach days, with the carousel at Easton's, the calm water at Third Beach and the touch tanks at the little Save The Bay aquarium. Mansion tours and crowded peak-season streets test young patience.

Both centres are easy to walk, but Newport does more for visitors without a car. Local buses and a summer trolley reach the mansions and beaches, and a harbour ferry crosses the water, though summer traffic and scarce parking are part of the deal.

In Lake Placid, everything beyond Main Street and Mirror Lake means driving. The trailheads and Whiteface are spread across the mountains, buses are few, and winter roads need care.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Newport offers more browsing. There are galleries and preppy sailing clothes on Bowen's and Bannister's Wharves, boutiques on Bellevue Avenue and antiques on Spring and Franklin Streets. Lake Placid's single Main Street is best for practical things: ski, fly-fishing and outdoor gear, plus balsam pillows and maple products to take home.

Both are resorts and charge like it, but Lake Placid is easier on a tight budget. Older motels on the edge of the village, self-catering cabins and the free hiking and lake swimming keep costs down, although a rental car and lift tickets add up.

Newport has few cheap beds in the centre, and mansion tickets and parking add to the bill. Staying in Middletown, coming midweek or visiting in late autumn helps a good deal.

Newport has the bigger name here because of a few summer weeks. The Jazz and Folk Festivals play at Fort Adams with the harbour behind the stage, and each July the Music Festival brings chamber music into the mansion ballrooms.

Lake Placid's music is smaller and simpler. The Sinfonietta plays its summer season, including free concerts at the Mirror Lake bandshell, and the arts centre stages occasional shows. Outside summer, both towns are quiet.

Neither has a bathing tradition, and both rely on spas in their larger hotels, so the difference is in the setting. Lake Placid's calm is a fire in an Adirondack lodge after a cold day, or a porch over still water. Newport is most restful on a quiet shoulder-season walk along the Cliff Walk, since its summer crowds work against rest.