Ocean City, Maryland or Wilmington?

These two are well matched for the beach, but they work very differently. Ocean City is a single unbroken strip of soft sand about 16km long, with access at the end of almost every street and lifeguards along all of it, so you walk out of your rental straight onto the beach.

Wilmington sits on a river, and its beaches are three separate towns a drive away: polished Wrightsville, casual Carolina Beach and quiet Kure Beach. In return the water is a few degrees warmer and the swimming season runs longer at both ends of the summer, though rip currents need watching on rough days.

Wilmington gives you more to eat. Alongside local shrimp, flounder and oysters, it has shrimp and grits, eastern Carolina whole-hog barbecue, modern Southern cooking in old brick buildings downtown and a lively spread of craft breweries.

Ocean City is narrower: a crab feast on brown paper with Old Bay is the highlight, and the boardwalk fries, taffy and custard are part of the fun. After that it is mostly diners and chains, and many kitchens slow down once summer ends.

There is no real contest here. Wilmington has blocks of antebellum and Victorian houses under live oaks, house museums that tell the story of the old port and of the enslaved people who worked it, and a Second World War battleship across the river, enough for two or three good days.

In Ocean City, the boardwalk itself is the heritage. The Life-Saving Station Museum and the old carousel at the inlet take an hour or two, and anything more means leaving town.

Ocean City's summer nights are louder and younger. Sprawling bayside bars with sand floors draw the sunset crowd, dance bars and beach pubs line the highway until closing, and the boardwalk is noisy well into the evening. From October nearly all of it goes quiet.

In Wilmington a night out happens in a real town centre: bars, pubs and rooftop terraces on and around Front Street, filled at weekends by university students, with relaxed beach bars at Wrightsville and Carolina Beach in summer. It is less of a party, but downtown weekends keep going, more gently, through the rest of the year.

Wilmington has the richer outdoors. Masonboro Island can only be reached by boat or kayak and makes a fine paddle, Wrightsville's waters suit surfing, and the pine savanna of Carolina Beach State Park is one of the only places on earth where the Venus flytrap grows wild.

Ocean City's best nature is just next door on Assateague, where wild ponies graze among the dunes and marsh, and the town is a serious base for offshore marlin fishing. Neither has any hills, so this is flat, watery country in both places.

From Ocean City the drives mostly lead to other seaside places: Chincoteague and its ponies, Rehoboth's restaurants, and Lewes with its ferry across to Victorian Cape May, plus the old main street of Berlin a few minutes inland.

Wilmington's outings lean towards history: Civil War earthworks at Fort Fisher, the colonial ruins of Brunswick Town, and the porches of Southport, where a ferry crosses to car-free Bald Head Island. Either way, these are gentle small-town days rather than big sights.

Ocean City is built for children in a way Wilmington is not. Two old-fashioned amusement parks sit on the boardwalk, with go-karts, water parks and mini-golf along the highway, all a short hop from a lifeguarded beach and a condo kitchen. Just avoid early June, when graduating teenagers take over.

Wilmington is still a good family base, with the aquarium at Fort Fisher, the battleship's decks and a children's museum for rainy days. But every outing means loading everyone into the car, and the summer humidity tires out small children.

Both are car towns, and Ocean City is slightly easier once you are there. Wherever you stay, the beach is a few minutes' walk away, and a summer bus along the highway and a tram on the boardwalk cover the main strip, though the highway itself is unpleasant on foot.

In Wilmington, the historic district and riverwalk are lovely to stroll, but the beaches are 15km or more away and the buses are no real help. Expect to drive to the sand every day.

Wilmington is the better place for a browse. Front Street and the restored Cotton Exchange have independent boutiques, galleries, bookshops and antique dealers in old buildings.

Ocean City sells the seaside: T-shirts, surf gear, fudge and taffy on the boardwalk, with an outlet centre over the bridge for big brands. Neither has anything for luxury shoppers.

Ocean City's savings come from being on the sand. The beach is free and a few blocks from older motels, groups can share a condo, and room rates drop well below midsummer levels in the shoulder season. September is the time to aim for, when the sea is still warm enough to swim.

Wilmington costs about the same overall but saves you money in different places. City hotels are reasonable out of season and casual barbecue and seafood are fair value, but you will almost certainly have to pay for a hire car to reach the beaches.

Wilmington has a real performing arts scene for a city its size. Thalian Hall, a restored nineteenth-century opera house, stages theatre and music, and the city has a community symphony, small theatre companies, summer stages by Greenfield Lake and long-standing jazz and blues festivals.

Ocean City's offering is lighter: tribute bands and comedians at the convention centre, free concerts at the boardwalk bandstand, and cover bands in the bars.

Wilmington is the more restful of the two. It has no spa tradition either, but its resort spas, yoga studios, slow pace and quiet waterfront evenings make it easy to unwind outside summer weekends.

Ocean City in high summer is noisy, with traffic, crowds and late nights. Peace there means the shoulder months and an early walk on the empty beaches at the northern end.