Rehoboth Beach or Savannah?

Rehoboth Beach has the clear edge. Its wide pale beach lies along the front of town, lifeguarded and within a few minutes' walk of downtown, with wilder sand at Cape Henlopen and Delaware Seashore State Park for when the boardwalk stretch is crowded.

Savannah's beach is Tybee Island, about half an hour's drive away, flat and good for paddling but with greenish-brown water coloured by the marshes. Its sea is warmer and stays swimmable longer than Delaware's, but for most visitors it is a day out rather than the shape of the trip.

Savannah has the more distinctive table. Shrimp and grits, she-crab soup, Lowcountry boil and fire-roasted oysters give it a regional cuisine of its own, served both at family-style long tables and in chef-led restaurants in old townhouses south of Forsyth Park.

Rehoboth eats better than most beach towns, with crab cakes, raw bars and a strong craft beer scene, but much of it slows down out of season and cheap eating means pizza and boardwalk fries.

This is where the two differ most. Savannah's whole historic district is the attraction: twenty-odd squares under live oaks, Federal and Greek Revival houses, Factors Walk, the Cathedral of St John the Baptist, the Telfair Museums and Bonaventure Cemetery, enough for two full days on foot.

Rehoboth has its camp-meeting cottages, the Rehoboth Art League in Henlopen Acres and a small museum house, and visitors keen on history usually end up in Lewes or at the wartime towers in Cape Henlopen.

Savannah offers more evenings out, helped by the to-go cups that let people wander between River Street's bars, the taverns around City Market and cocktail rooms in old townhouses, with art students filling the dive bars. Its weekends can be loud, and St Patrick's Day is one of the South's biggest street parties.

Rehoboth's nights are smaller and more seasonal, though its long history as an LGBTQ resort gives it piano bars and drag nights around Baltimore Avenue, and Dewey Beach next door handles the big deck-bar crowds.

Both sit in flat coastal country with no hills, and both are at their best from the water, but the character differs. Rehoboth has high dunes at Cape Henlopen, pine woods, the bike trail to Lewes and open bays for sailing and paddleboarding, with Assateague's wild ponies about an hour away.

Savannah's setting is Lowcountry salt marsh, best explored by kayak through tidal creeks or on a dolphin boat, with Wormsloe's oak avenue and Skidaway Island for walks. Its summer heat and insects make it a spring and autumn place, whereas Rehoboth's outdoors is comfortable right through summer.

Savannah has the stronger day trips, led by Charleston about two hours north, with Beaufort, Hilton Head, Fort Pulaski and the Golden Isles of Jekyll and St Simons all within reach.

From Rehoboth, Lewes is a short hop and the ferry to Cape May's Victorian streets makes a good day, but Ocean City, Berlin and Dover are pleasant rather than memorable. Either way you need a car.

Rehoboth Beach is much easier with children. Funland's gentle rides, lifeguarded beaches beside the rentals, a water park, mini-golf and Cape Henlopen's nature centre and calm bay water fill the days without much planning, as long as you come in summer.

Savannah works for older children who enjoy ghost walks, forts, trolley tours and the Girl Scouts founder's birthplace, but it has no big zoo or theme park, and summer heat wears down young walkers.

Savannah's historic district is a walker's grid, with most sights, inns and restaurants close together and a free shuttle and river ferry filling the gaps, though Tybee, Wormsloe and Bonaventure need wheels.

Rehoboth is also easy on foot and by bike once you are there, and the trolley reaches Dewey Beach and the outlets. Getting in is harder: there is no train, the highway jams on summer weekends and parking downtown is scarce.

Neither town is a shopping destination, but they shop in different ways. Rehoboth's draw is the tax-free outlet centres on the highway, which bring people from neighbouring states for brand-name bargains, with boutiques and bookshops along Rehoboth Avenue.

Savannah is more of a browse along Broughton Street's restored storefronts, with shops selling art school work and antique dealers around the southern squares, while River Street leans to pralines and souvenirs.

Both are expensive stays in season, and the difference is in when you can save. Rehoboth is priciest in July and August near the beach and becomes far cheaper in spring and autumn, with free sand and no sales tax to help.

Savannah's historic inns are dearest on spring weekends and festival dates, but walking the squares, the riverfront and the cemeteries costs nothing, and midweek summer stays or highway motels bring costs down.

Savannah has more to offer, above all the spring music festival, which spreads chamber music, jazz, blues and Americana across historic theatres and churches. The Lucas and Trustees theatres, a local philharmonic and an autumn jazz festival in Forsyth Park add to it, though off-season it is quiet.

Rehoboth's live culture is mostly free summer bandstand concerts, a small theatre company's musicals and cabaret, piano bars and an autumn film festival.

Neither has a spa culture, so rest comes from pace. Savannah gives it more readily: a bench under the oaks in a southern square or a courtyard in an old inn makes for slow days, best midweek in spring or autumn away from River Street's weekend crowds.

Rehoboth is restful only outside high summer, when June, September and autumn weekends bring an empty boardwalk and quiet bike rides under the pines.