Lake Placid or Washington DC?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Lake Placid at least lets you swim close at hand. You can swim at the small beach on Mirror Lake in the village, at spots around the Saranac chain and in the rocky pools on the West Branch of the Ausable. From late June to August the shallow lakes are pleasant after a hike.

Washington's rivers aren't for swimming. The nearest sand is on the brackish Chesapeake around Annapolis, about an hour away, and the Atlantic resorts are about three hours off. In practice, most visitors cool off in a hotel pool.

Washington is far better for food. It has Ethiopian restaurants clustered around Shaw and U Street and pupusas in Columbia Heights. There is the half-smoke with chili, and blue crabs and oysters from the Chesapeake in season. You can graze at Eastern Market and Union Market, and the top end has serious tasting menus.

Lake Placid offers mountain-resort food: big diner breakfasts, pizza, burgers and craft beer on Main Street, with a few lodge dining rooms overlooking the water. It is good food after a day outdoors, but the choice is narrow, and some kitchens cut back between seasons.

Washington has a week's worth of first-rate sights. The Smithsonian museums line the National Mall, and the National Gallery and the Capitol are nearby. The memorials stand along the Reflecting Pool, and Arlington Cemetery lies just across the river. Most of the museums are free, so you can drop in for an hour at a time.

Lake Placid's history is about sport. You can visit the Olympic Center with the 'Miracle on Ice' rink and its small museum, and see the ski jumps above town. John Brown's Farm, the abolitionist's home and grave, is just outside the village. Together they make an interesting day, but not more.

Washington offers a real night out from Thursday to Saturday. There are cocktail bars and rooftops along 14th Street and U Street, cheap late drinks in Adams Morgan, dive bars on H Street and the long-established LGBTQ+ scene around Dupont Circle. Bars stay open into the early hours at weekends.

Lake Placid has a handful of pubs and brewpubs on Main Street and some hotel bars by the lake. They get lively after a ski day, but there are no clubs, and most people are asleep early so they can start out on the trails the next morning.

This is where Lake Placid is strongest. It sits at the edge of the High Peaks wilderness, with trailheads for Mount Marcy, New York's highest summit, and shorter climbs such as Cascade and Mount Jo nearby. In winter there is skiing on Whiteface, and in summer you can paddle through the Saranac and St. Regis lakes, fish the Ausable or climb at Chapel Pond.

Washington is green for a capital city. Rock Creek Park and the C&O Canal towpath run right through it, and Great Falls has a rocky gorge about half an hour away. For real mountain walking, though, you have to drive out to Shenandoah, which takes a large part of the day.

Washington has some of the richest day trips in the country. Old Town Alexandria and Mount Vernon are close by, and Baltimore is under an hour away by train. You can visit the Civil War battlefields at Gettysburg, Antietam and Harpers Ferry, and Philadelphia's Independence Hall is a fast train ride away.

From Lake Placid, most outings lead into the wilderness. The few towns within reach are Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake with its Wild Center, Fort Ticonderoga, and Montreal or Burlington about two hours away. You need a car for all of them.

Washington is the easier choice with children, mostly because so much of it is free and built for learning. There are the dinosaurs at Natural History, the rockets at Air and Space, the National Zoo and the carousel on the Mall. Every Metro station has lifts for buggies. The drawback is the long, exposed walks in summer.

Lake Placid suits active families instead. Children can skate on the Olympic rinks, ride a bobsled at Mount Van Hoevenberg or take the toboggan chute onto the frozen lake. Santa's Workshop is a short drive away. Expect long drives and cold winters.

Washington is far easier to get around without a car. The centre is flat and laid out on a grid, and the Metro reaches Arlington, Alexandria and the airport. Bike-share docks connect the monuments along the riverside paths. Georgetown has no Metro station, and trains thin out late at night and at weekends.

You can walk around Lake Placid village, from Main Street to Mirror Lake and the Olympic Center, in a few minutes. Beyond the village you need a car to reach the trailheads, Whiteface and the other lakes, often on winding winter roads, because buses are few.

Washington has more to browse. Georgetown has boutiques and antique shops along M Street, and luxury labels are grouped at CityCenterDC. Eastern Market has weekend craft and flea stalls, and the Smithsonian shops are good for prints and books.

Lake Placid's shopping is one stretch of Main Street. It is useful for ski, hiking and fly-fishing gear and for Adirondack souvenirs such as balsam pillows and maple syrup, but there is no fashion at all.

Both cities are expensive, but you spend your money in different places. In Lake Placid, lodges are dear on winter weekends, in summer and during the foliage weeks, and lift tickets, guides and a hire car add up. Cabins, older motels and the quiet spring and late autumn weeks bring the cost down, and hiking and swimming are free.

In Washington, hotels are expensive all year and restaurants are priced for expense accounts. Against that, the museums, the zoo and the memorials are free, you don't need a car, and staying in Arlington cuts the cost of a room.

Washington has a full year of theatre and music. Arena Stage and the Shakespeare Theatre Company are joined by Woolly Mammoth, the Folger's playhouse and Ford's Theatre. The National Symphony and the National Opera play a proper season, and there are concerts at the Lincoln and Howard theatres around U Street. In summer you can sit on the lawn at Wolf Trap.

In Lake Placid, live performance mostly happens in summer. The Lake Placid Sinfonietta gives free concerts at the bandshell on Mirror Lake, and the village arts centre puts on the occasional show.

Lake Placid is the more restful place, though neither city has a bathing tradition. Its quiet comes from the setting: porches over still water, fireplaces in the old lodges and the walk around Mirror Lake. On top of that, a few lodge spas offer saunas and hot tubs after a cold day.

Washington moves at the pace of a government town. You can find a hotel spa or a yoga studio, but the calmest moments are an early walk round the Tidal Basin or a bench in Dumbarton Oaks or the National Arboretum, and you have to plan for them.