Ocean City, Maryland or Washington DC?

Ocean City is built around its beach, a wide band of soft sand running the whole length of the island, watched by lifeguards and warm enough for bodyboarding through high summer. Anyone who wants more space can head to the condo blocks in the north or the undeveloped dunes on Assateague.

Washington has no beach to speak of. Its rivers are for paddling rather than swimming, the Chesapeake sand near Annapolis is small and brackish, and the Atlantic resorts, Ocean City among them, are a weekend away.

Ocean City's food is a seaside ritual of steamed blue crabs with Old Bay on brown paper, crab cakes and boardwalk fries, taffy and custard. Beyond that the choice is shallow and largely made up of chains and diners.

Washington eats far more widely. It has Ethiopian restaurants around Shaw and U Street, pupusas in Columbia Heights, the half-smoke, tasting menus in Logan Circle and Penn Quarter, and grazing at Eastern Market and Union Market. Chesapeake crabs and oysters turn up there too, so you get Maryland seafood without giving up the range.

There is not much of a contest here. Ocean City's heritage comes down to the boardwalk, its early carousel and the Life-Saving Station Museum, which take a morning between them.

Washington could fill a week with the Smithsonian museums along the Mall, the National Gallery of Art, the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington Cemetery, and nearly all of them are free.

Washington has the better and more varied night out. It offers cocktail bars and rooftops on 14th Street and U Street, late slices in Adams Morgan, dives on H Street and Dupont Circle's LGBTQ+ bars, and it carries on all year, although it is mostly a Thursday to Saturday affair.

Ocean City's nights are simpler and seasonal. You get open-air bayside bars with sand floors, sunset rum drinks and dance bars along the highway, with a young, loud crowd in summer and very little from October to May.

Washington has more ground to cover on foot. Rock Creek Park's wooded valley, the C&O Canal towpath, the gorge at Great Falls and, further out, the Shenandoah ridges give it real hiking and cycling, with cherry blossom in spring and colour in autumn.

Ocean City's outdoors is flat and watery instead. It has the salt marsh and wild ponies on Assateague, kayaking and crabbing in the back bays, and a long tradition of offshore marlin fishing.

From Washington the region opens up. Old Town Alexandria is a Metro ride away, Mount Vernon and Baltimore are close, and Gettysburg, Antietam and Harpers Ferry are within an hour or two. Philadelphia is a long but rewarding day by fast train.

Ocean City's surroundings are quieter Delmarva towns. Historic Berlin, Chincoteague's ponies, and Rehoboth and Lewes to the north are pleasant, but they are small outings rather than major sights.

Both cities work well for children, in very different ways. Ocean City is a classic seaside resort, with a lifeguarded beach, boardwalk amusement parks, water parks, go-karts and mini-golf, and condos with kitchens for longer stays. The drawbacks are summer crowds and the graduating teenagers who arrive in early June.

Washington keeps children busy with free learning instead. There are dinosaurs at Natural History, rockets at Air and Space, the National Zoo and the open lawns of the Mall, and the Metro has lifts at every station for buggies. The long, hot walks between sights are the main drawback.

Washington is far easier without a car. The flat, gridded centre is pleasant to walk, the Metro reaches Arlington, Alexandria and the airport, and bike-share docks line the riverside paths. Only Georgetown and the countryside beyond the city are awkward to reach.

Ocean City is a long strip split by the busy Coastal Highway, and nearly everyone drives there and keeps the car. The boardwalk and the old inlet downtown are walkable, and a summer bus and boardwalk tram help, but Assateague and the mainland need wheels.

Washington offers a proper afternoon of shopping. There are boutiques and antique shops on Georgetown's M Street, luxury labels at CityCenterDC, maker stalls at Eastern Market and good museum shops at the Smithsonian.

In Ocean City shopping means T-shirts, surf gear and fudge on the boardwalk, plus an outlet centre across the bridge.

Ocean City is the cheaper of the two, though neither is a bargain. Older motels set back from the sea, condos shared by a group and the free beach keep costs down, and late May and September bring room rates well below summer levels.

Washington's hotels are expensive all year and its restaurants are priced for expense accounts. What saves money there is that the museums, the zoo and the memorials cost nothing, and staying in Arlington or near a suburban station cuts the room bill.

Washington has a real stage scene. Arena Stage, the Shakespeare Theatre, Woolly Mammoth and Ford's Theatre cover the drama, and the National Symphony Orchestra and the opera give it a classical season. There is jazz in Georgetown, go-go and big touring acts around U Street, and lawn concerts at Wolf Trap in summer.

Ocean City offers cover bands, touring comedians at the convention centre and free summer concerts at the bandstand, which are fine for an evening but not something to plan a trip around.

Neither city is a place for a spa retreat, and both offer little beyond hotel and day spas. In Ocean City, calm means an early walk on an empty northern beach in the shoulder months, away from the noise of high summer.

In Washington it means a quiet hour in the Dumbarton Oaks gardens or the National Arboretum, or at dawn by the Tidal Basin.