Ocean City, Maryland or Stowe?

This is where the two are furthest apart. Ocean City is built around about 16km of wide, soft Atlantic sand with public access from almost every street, lifeguards along its whole length and moderate surf for bodyboarding. When the southern blocks fill up, there are quieter stretches to the north and the dune-backed beach at Assateague.

Stowe has no sea at all. Swimming there means rocky holes in the mountain streams or the small, unguarded lake beaches at Waterbury Reservoir and Lake Elmore, and visitors treat a swim as a break during a hike, not a reason to come.

The two are broadly level, but they taste of different places. Ocean City means steamed blue crabs on brown paper with Old Bay, crab cakes and oysters, then boardwalk fries, taffy and frozen custard, with plenty of diners and chain restaurants behind.

Stowe eats from the Vermont countryside: some of the most sought-after hazy IPAs in the country, farm cheddar, maple syrup and cider doughnuts, plus farm-to-table dining rooms and après-ski pub food. In both towns the choice shrinks in the quiet months.

Neither town is a place for sightseeing, and an afternoon covers either one. Ocean City's heritage is the seaside itself: the boardwalk with its old hotels and piers, the Life-Saving Station Museum and an early twentieth-century carousel.

Stowe is the prettier place to look at, a classic New England village with a white steeple, clapboard houses and covered bridges. Its sights are the ski museum, a small arts centre and the von Trapp family's hillside estate.

Ocean City has a real party scene in summer. Open-air bayside bars with sand floors fill up at sunset, and the sports and dance bars along the Coastal Highway stay busy until closing time. It is beer, cocktails and DJs rather than anything sophisticated, and most of it shuts down from October.

Stowe's evenings are après-ski in base-lodge bars and brewery taprooms, and they are lively only in peak ski weeks. Little stays open after midnight, and for a real night out you have to drive to Burlington.

Stowe is far ahead here. Mount Mansfield, Vermont's highest peak, rises straight above the valley, with ski runs, glades and cross-country trails in winter. In summer and autumn there is the Long Trail, the boulder-filled pass of Smugglers' Notch, waterfalls and mountain-bike routes, and early October turns the whole valley red and gold.

Ocean City's landscape is low and open: salt marsh, shallow bays and the wild ponies and dunes of Assateague. It is good for kayaking, birding and offshore sport fishing, but it has no hills or long walks.

Both towns offer small towns rather than major sights, and both need a car. From Ocean City the outings follow the coast: historic Berlin close by, the pony village of Chincoteague, Rehoboth Beach for restaurants, and Lewes, where a ferry crosses to Victorian Cape May.

Stowe's list has a little more weight in one place. Burlington is a relaxed lakefront college city, and the Shelburne Museum's village of historic buildings and folk art is the best single day out on either list. Montpelier's gold-domed statehouse is half an hour away.

Ocean City is the easier family resort. A lifeguarded beach, two old-fashioned amusement parks on the boardwalk, water parks, go-karts and mini-golf every few blocks keep children busy, and condos with kitchens make longer stays simple. Peak weekend crowds and the early June graduation crowds are the drawbacks.

Stowe works for families who like to be active: ski school and gentle beginner slopes, a children's resort over Smugglers' Notch, and sugarhouses and the flat river path in summer. It has no dedicated attractions for children, though, and every outing needs the car.

Both towns are strung along one road and most visitors keep a car, but Ocean City is easier without one. In summer a town bus runs the length of the Coastal Highway and a tram runs along the boardwalk, and the beach is a few minutes' walk from almost anywhere. Moving between neighbourhoods means the busy highway, though.

Stowe spreads about 11km up the valley to the ski area, with only a winter shuttle and the riverside recreation path to link it all. Trailheads and lakes all need a car, and winter driving means snow tyres on steep, icy roads.

Ocean City sells the seaside and Stowe sells the Vermont countryside. Along Ocean City's boardwalk the shops are T-shirts, surf gear, sunglasses stands, taffy and fudge. The bayside shopping villages add beachwear and gifts, and the outlet centre across the bridge covers mainstream brands.

Stowe's village and Mountain Road shops sell pottery, woodwork and wool from local makers, along with ski and outdoor gear. There is plenty of maple syrup, cheddar and cider to take home, and a farmers' market in summer. For designer labels, you will have to go somewhere else.

Ocean City is the cheaper of the two, though neither is a bargain. Oceanfront rooms on summer weekends and seafood dinners add up, but older motels a few blocks back, shared condos, boardwalk food and a free beach keep costs down. Late May and September are the cheapest times to visit.

Stowe is priced as one of the best-known ski resorts in the eastern United States, and lift tickets, ski rental and resort dining add to the bill. It is most expensive over Christmas, school vacations and the foliage weeks. Spring and November bring it down to a fair price.

Ocean City's stage is tribute bands and touring comedians at the convention centre theatre, cover bands in the bars, and free summer concerts at the boardwalk bandstand and on the beach. That is fine for a light evening out, but the town has no theatre company of its own.

Stowe has a little more of its own. A community theatre company puts on summer productions in the village, the performing arts centre at Spruce Peak brings in touring musicians, and summer concerts on the hillside lawns carry on the von Trapp family's musical tradition. Outside summer and the ski season the calendar thins out, and for an orchestra you have to drive to Burlington.

Stowe is the place to unwind. Its larger resorts have full spas with saunas, steam rooms and heated outdoor pools you can sit in while snow falls, and couples from northeastern cities come for spa weekends. The country inns and wood fires add to the slow pace.

Ocean City has only a few day spas, and in high summer the traffic and late crowds make it hard to rest. The quietest moments there are early walks on the empty northern beaches in the shoulder months.