Martha's Vineyard or Poconos?

Martha's Vineyard has real sea beaches, and two kinds of them. State Beach along Nantucket Sound has calm, shallow water, Katama's South Beach faces open Atlantic surf, and the clay cliffs at Aquinnah make the most scenic beach day. Some of the best up-island sand is kept for residents and renters in summer, but there is still plenty of public shoreline.

The Poconos offer lake swimming instead, at small, grassy beaches in state parks such as Promised Land and Hickory Run or around Lake Wallenpaupack. The lakes are a little warmer in midsummer than the island's sea, and tubing down the Delaware is fun. Still, this is a dip after a hike rather than a beach vacation.

The island eats better, mostly because of its seafood: lobster rolls, fried clams and oysters from the ponds, best of all from the shacks at Menemsha harbour. The farm stands of West Tisbury and Chilmark add to it. Restaurants are few, seasonal and expensive, and in some up-island towns you bring your own wine.

Food in the Poconos is hearty rather than memorable: diners, taverns, pizza and Pennsylvania Dutch baking such as shoofly pie. Stroudsburg, Jim Thorpe and Milford have a few bistros and brewpubs, and the breweries and wineries on the back roads make a pleasant afternoon.

Neither is a museum destination, but the Vineyard's townscapes hold more interest. It has Edgartown's whaling captains' houses, the painted gingerbread cottages of Wesleyan Grove in Oak Bluffs, Wampanoag Aquinnah and a heritage trail through the island's history as a summer resort for African American families.

In the Poconos the story is coal and railways. Most of it is in Jim Thorpe, with the Asa Packer Mansion and the Old Jail Museum, alongside Eckley Miners' Village and Grey Towers at Milford. Each is a good rainy half-day, but together they do not make an itinerary.

Both go quiet early, but the island has a bit more life on a summer night. A few bars on Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs stay busy, and Edgartown has its harbour bars, all full of visitors and seasonal staff.

In the Poconos, evenings happen inside resorts and cabins. The casino resort at Mount Pocono has late gaming, the ski areas have après-ski bars on winter weekends, and Stroudsburg and Jim Thorpe have a few brewpubs. That winter crowd is something the island, almost silent outside July and August, does not have.

The Poconos have the bigger and more varied outdoors. The Appalachian Trail runs along the ridge above the Delaware Water Gap, and the region has waterfalls such as Dingmans and Bushkill. The Lehigh Gorge offers whitewater rafting and a rail trail, and in winter you can ski on Camelback and Blue Mountain. October colour across the forested plateau is the region's finest season.

Martha's Vineyard is gentler and coastal: moors, salt ponds and conservation trails at Cedar Tree Neck and Menemsha Hills, ospreys at Felix Neck and the wild barrier beach of Cape Poge. Cycling, sailing and surfcasting suit an easy pace, but there is nothing to climb.

With a car, the Poconos open up a wider spread of day trips. Bethlehem's Moravian settlement and old steelworks are about an hour south, Easton has its canal museum and Scranton has the Steamtown railway museum and a coal-mine tour. New York or Philadelphia are possible for a long day, and Jim Thorpe and Hawley are short drives from any base.

The Vineyard's outings depend on ferries, most of which run only from late spring to early autumn. In season, Nantucket and New Bedford's whaling district make excellent days out, and Woods Hole puts Falmouth and Sandwich within reach. Off-season, the choice shrinks to the island's own towns and Chappaquiddick.

The Poconos are built around children. The resorts at Mount Pocono and Tannersville have indoor waterparks that work in any weather, Camelback adds an outdoor waterpark and alpine coaster in summer, and the ski hills have gentle learning areas. Rental houses with yards suit larger families, although everything needs a car.

The Vineyard suits a simpler beach summer. There is shallow water at State Beach, the Flying Horses Carousel, crabbing off the docks and flat bike paths between Oak Bluffs and Edgartown. With no aquarium or rainy-day museum of note, a wet week is harder to fill, and the ferry and the rental both take planning.

The island is the easier place to manage without a car once you are there. Vineyard Haven, Oak Bluffs and Edgartown are walkable and linked by bike paths and by a bus network that reaches Aquinnah. The catch is the ferry crossing from Woods Hole and summer traffic on the winding up-island roads.

The Poconos are car country. Resorts, lakes and trailheads are spread across four counties, and there is no useful local transit once you arrive. Coaches reach Stroudsburg and Mount Pocono from New York, and most drives in the region are short, but allow for Friday and Sunday traffic and for winter roads after snow.

Martha's Vineyard is for slow boutique browsing, while the Poconos are for a run to the outlets. On the island that means preppy clothing shops and galleries along Edgartown's Main Street, bookshops and island-branded clothing in Vineyard Haven, and summer artisan fairs and a flea market in Chilmark. Many of those doors close once the season ends.

The Poconos have the one thing the island lacks: a large premium outlet centre beside the interstate at Tannersville, full of discounted brand-name clothing. Away from it, shopping means antique dealers in Jim Thorpe and Milford, local crafts, and maple syrup from the farm stands.

Martha's Vineyard costs far more. In July and August, hotel rooms and rental houses are expensive and usually let by the whole week. Even a meal at a seafood shack is pricey, and the ferry adds to the bill, especially if you bring a car. Picnics from the farm stands and the island buses help a little, but late spring and autumn are the only real relief.

The Poconos are noticeably easier on the wallet. Resort waterparks, lift tickets and restaurant meals still cost the full amount, and summer weekends, ski season and the autumn colour push rates up. Midweek cabins and older motels keep the bill down, though, and most of what people come for costs little or nothing, from the trails of the Water Gap to the state-park lakes.

The Poconos have a little more to plan an evening around. Delaware Water Gap has a long jazz tradition and a late-summer festival, the restored Mauch Chunk Opera House in Jim Thorpe hosts folk and roots acts, and there is a historic theatre in Stroudsburg as well as summer-stock playhouses.

On the Vineyard, performance means a short summer programme. There are concerts and sing-alongs at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs, plays at a small playhouse in Vineyard Haven and live bands in a few bars.

Neither has a bathing tradition, and they offer different kinds of rest. In the Poconos you withdraw into the woods, with a proper spa if you book one. There are destination spa resorts around Lake Wallenpaupack and Hawley, couples' resorts with in-room hot tubs and fireplaces, and old mountain lodges with spas of their own.

On Martha's Vineyard the calm comes from up-island life around West Tisbury, Chilmark and Aquinnah: farm stands, quiet roads and long evenings, at their best in September. Spa choice is limited to a few inn spas, plus yoga and massage in the main towns.