Ocean City, Maryland or Savannah?

Ocean City wins easily, because the beach is the whole town. It has about 16km of soft sand on the open Atlantic, moderate surf for bodyboarding, and wilder dune-backed shore on Assateague a short drive south.

Savannah has no beach of its own. Tybee Island is half an hour away, with wide flat sand and warmer water, but the sea there is coloured greenish-brown by the marshes, and most visitors give it one day rather than a whole stay.

Savannah eats better and more widely. Lowcountry dishes such as shrimp and grits, she-crab soup and roasted oysters sit alongside family-style Southern dining rooms and a small group of chef-led restaurants in restored townhouses.

Ocean City has one great ritual, a paper-covered table piled with steamed blue crabs in Old Bay, plus boardwalk fries, taffy and custard. Beyond that it is mostly diners, chains and bar food, and many kitchens shut down after summer.

This is where the two differ most. Savannah's 1733 grid of garden squares, framed by Federal, Greek Revival and Victorian houses, is a sight in itself. Add the Cathedral of St John the Baptist, Factors Walk, the Telfair Museums and Bonaventure Cemetery, and two full days of sightseeing are easy to fill.

Ocean City has the Life-Saving Station Museum, an early twentieth-century carousel and the boardwalk itself. Anyone who wants history has to drive out to find it.

Savannah has the edge, mainly for variety. Drinks in to-go cups let an evening move from River Street's cobbled bars to quiet cocktail rooms and student dive bars, and St Patrick's Day becomes a huge street party.

Ocean City is louder and simpler in summer. Its big open-air bayside bars with sand floors and dance bars along the Coastal Highway draw a young crowd until closing time, but from October to May the scene almost disappears.

The two are broadly level, both set in flat salt marsh and barrier islands with no hills. Ocean City's highlight is Assateague, where wild ponies graze among the dunes and pine woods. The town is also a serious base for offshore sport fishing and for sailing or jet skiing on the calm bays.

Savannah's outdoors is more about tidal creeks and live oaks. You can kayak the marsh at high tide, take a boat out to spot dolphins, or walk the avenue of oaks at Wormsloe. Its summer heat and insects push outings into spring and autumn.

Savannah has much stronger day trips. Charleston is about two hours away, and Beaufort, Hilton Head, Fort Pulaski and the Georgia islands of Jekyll and St Simons are all close enough for a day.

From Ocean City the outings are gentler: the old main street in Berlin, the ponies at Chincoteague, the restaurants of Rehoboth Beach, and the ferry from Lewes across to Cape May. Both cities need a car for almost all of these.

Ocean City is the better family resort by a distance. It has lifeguarded sand, two old boardwalk amusement parks, water parks, go-kart tracks and a mini-golf course every few blocks. Watch out for crowds on peak weekends and for the graduating teenagers who take over in early June.

Savannah works for families on a shorter visit. Children can run around in Forsyth Park, ride the trolley tours and the free ferry, and older ones enjoy the ghost walks and the forts. It has no big zoo, aquarium or theme park, though.

Savannah is far easier to get around without a car, at least in the centre. The historic district is flat and compact, and a free shuttle and the river ferry fill the gaps. Bonaventure, Wormsloe and Tybee still need wheels.

Ocean City is a 16km strip along a busy highway that is unpleasant to walk beside. The boardwalk and the old inlet area are walkable, and a summer bus runs along the strip, but most visitors drive in and keep the car all week.

Savannah is the better place to browse. Broughton Street has restored storefronts with boutiques and home-goods shops, and art students and graduates sell their work there, with antique dealers and bookshops dotted around the squares.

Ocean City's shopping is boardwalk souvenirs, surf shops, fudge and an outlet centre across the bridge. Neither city is a reason to come for shopping.

Neither is cheap, and the costs come from different places. In Ocean City the expense is oceanfront rooms on summer weekends and crab feasts. Shared condos, older motels set back from the sea, boardwalk food and a free beach keep it manageable, and late May and September are cheaper.

In Savannah the expense is inns in the historic district at weekends and during festivals. Much of what you come for, such as the squares, the park and the cemeteries, costs nothing. Staying out by the highway saves money but adds a car.

Savannah has a real programme, especially if you time the trip right. The spring music festival brings chamber music, jazz and Americana to historic theatres and churches, the Lucas and Trustees theatres host touring shows, and there is a local philharmonic.

Ocean City offers comedians and tribute bands at the convention centre, free summer concerts at the bandstand and cover bands in bars, and nothing more serious.

Neither city has a spa tradition, but Savannah is much easier to unwind in. Its historic district moves slowly, and a bench under the oaks or a quiet inn courtyard on a southern square makes a restful midweek stay in spring or autumn.

Ocean City in high summer means traffic, crowded evenings on the boardwalk and late bar crowds. Its calm comes only in the shoulder months, with early walks on the empty northern beaches.