Lake Placid or Portland, Maine?

Neither is a beach destination, and they disappoint in opposite ways. Lake Placid swims in fresh water: the little lifeguarded beach on Mirror Lake, the rocky holes on the West Branch of the Ausable and the shallower lakes nearby, which reach a pleasant 22°C in midsummer.

Portland has the better sand, with wide strands at Crescent Beach, Higgins Beach and Pine Point and the old resort pier at Old Orchard Beach. But the Gulf of Maine stays cold even in August, so you are more likely to walk and wade there than actually swim.

This is one of the widest gaps between the two. Portland is a small city that eats seriously: harbour shacks for lobster and steamers, raw bars with Damariscotta oysters, farm-to-table kitchens, bakeries and potato-flour doughnuts, with dozens of breweries on the edge of the peninsula.

Lake Placid feeds you well after a long day outside, with big breakfasts, burgers, brewpubs and a few lodge dining rooms looking over the lake. It has no cooking of its own beyond maple syrup and craft beer, and some kitchens scale back outside the busy seasons.

Portland has more to see, though both are a day or two of sightseeing at most. It has the brick and granite Old Port rebuilt after the 1866 fire, the Winslow Homer collection at the Portland Museum of Art, Longfellow's childhood home and Portland Head Light.

Lake Placid's heritage is almost entirely Olympic. You can see the 'Miracle on Ice' rink, the ski jumps and the speed skating oval, and the one historic site beyond sport is John Brown's Farm. It interests sports fans more than gallery-goers.

Neither city has clubs, but Portland actually has a night out. The Old Port packs pubs, oyster and cocktail bars along Fore and Wharf Streets, and quieter wine bars are scattered across the West End and Munjoy Hill.

In Lake Placid the evening is dinner and a beer at a Main Street brewpub or a lakeside hotel bar. It livens up after a ski day or a big event, then goes to bed early.

Lake Placid is the stronger choice here, and the outdoors is why most people go. It sits in the High Peaks wilderness, with Marcy, Cascade and Mount Jo to climb, Whiteface for skiing, the Saranac and St. Regis waters for paddling, the Ausable for fly fishing and Chapel Pond for rock climbing.

Portland's outdoors is coastal and gentler: island walks and cycling on Peaks and Chebeague, sea kayaking, schooner and whale-watching trips, and the clifftops at Two Lights. For real mountain hiking it is about two hours to the White Mountains.

Portland sits in the middle of a chain of coast towns, which makes it the better base for day trips. There are sea captains' houses in Kennebunkport, the Marginal Way at Ogunquit, colonial Portsmouth, the outlets at Freeport, the shipbuilding history of Bath and the windjammers at Camden.

From Lake Placid the outings mostly lead into the wilderness. The towns within reach are fewer: Saranac Lake, the Wild Center at Tupper Lake, Fort Ticonderoga, and Burlington or Montreal at about two hours. You need a car from either base.

Both are small, easy places with children, and the difference is when they work. Lake Placid has something in every season: public skating on the Olympic rinks, bobsled rides, a toboggan chute onto the frozen lake, a ski school at Whiteface and the Christmas theme park at Santa's Workshop nearby.

Portland is really a summer place for families. It has island ferry rides, tide pools at Fort Williams Park, the Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine, and the amusement pier at Old Orchard Beach. Neither has a big theme park or an aquarium of note.

Portland is easier to get around without a car. The Old Port, the Arts District, the West End and Munjoy Hill are a short, if sometimes steep, walk apart, ferries leave the waterfront for the islands and the train goes to Boston. You only need a car for the beaches and the coast towns.

In Lake Placid, Main Street, Mirror Lake and the Olympic Center are close together, but everything else is spread across the mountains. Buses are scarce, the nearest Amtrak station is an hour away, and for much of the year you will be driving on snowy, winding roads.

Portland has more to browse. Exchange, Fore and Middle Streets have independent boutiques selling woollens, Maine pottery and art, and Freeport, twenty minutes away, adds a whole town of outlets around L.L.Bean.

Lake Placid is one stretch of Main Street with outfitters, fly-fishing shops, Olympic souvenirs and balsam-and-maple gifts. It is useful if you need gear and has little else.

Both are pricey in peak season, but for different reasons. In Lake Placid the costs are lift tickets, guides, gear rental and an almost unavoidable rental car. You save with edge-of-village motels, cabins and the quiet spring and late-autumn weeks, and the hiking and lake swimming are free.

In Portland the big expense is a room on the peninsula in summer, plus the seafood dinners you came for. You can save by staying car-free, eating at shacks and brewery food trucks, and coming outside July and August.

Portland has a year-round calendar, which Lake Placid lacks. The Portland Symphony plays at Merrill Auditorium, Portland Stage puts on professional theatre, and the State Theatre and smaller rooms on Congress Street bring in touring bands.

Lake Placid's live music is mostly the summer season of the Lake Placid Sinfonietta, including free concerts at the bandshell by Mirror Lake. Outside summer there is little beyond the occasional show at the arts centre.

Lake Placid is the better place to slow down. The lakeside and mountain lodges have full-service spas with saunas and hot tubs, the village is quiet, and an evening on a porch over still water, or by the fire in winter, does a lot of the work.

Portland has hotel day spas and a waterfront sauna. It relaxes you more through its pace: a ferry to a quiet island, a dusk walk on the Eastern Promenade and long lunches by the harbour.