Virginia Beach or Washington DC?

On beaches the two are furthest apart. Virginia Beach has a long sweep of pale Atlantic sand with a boardwalk behind it and lifeguards along the main stretch. It also has gentler water on the Chesapeake side at First Landing and the dunes of Sandbridge for a quieter day.

Washington has nothing like it. Its rivers are not for swimming, the nearest beaches are small, brackish bay strands near Annapolis, and the proper Atlantic shore is a weekend away rather than an afternoon out.

Virginia Beach does one thing well: Lynnhaven oysters and Chesapeake blue crab, best eaten at dockside places around the inlet rather than on the resort strip, which is dominated by chains. Beyond seafood there is little choice.

Washington has the same bay crabs and oysters in season, and much more besides. There is Ethiopian cooking in Shaw and along U Street, pupusas in Columbia Heights, the local half-smoke, grazing at Eastern Market and Union Market, and ambitious tasting menus around Logan Circle and the waterfront.

For culture Washington is far ahead. The Smithsonian museums along the Mall, the National Gallery and the monuments from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial can fill a week, and nearly all of it is free.

Virginia Beach has a short list by comparison: the Cape Henry landing site and its 1792 lighthouse, the Adam Thoroughgood House and King Neptune on the boardwalk. For serious history you drive an hour to Williamsburg and Jamestown.

Washington has the fuller night out. There are cocktail bars and late dance spots along 14th Street and U Street, a rowdier crowd in Adams Morgan, dive bars on H Street and Dupont Circle's long-established LGBTQ+ scene, and it is busiest from Thursday to Saturday.

In Virginia Beach, going out is mostly a summer thing: rooftop decks and beach bars along Atlantic Avenue, loud and casual, with a quieter lounge crowd at Town Center. Out of season the strip empties early.

Virginia Beach's outdoors is flat coastal plain, water and marsh. First Landing State Park has trails through maritime forest and cypress swamp, and Back Bay and False Cape protect a long, empty barrier spit that you reach on foot or by bike, with waterfowl passing through in winter. Paddleboarding in the bay inlets and watching dolphins from a kayak fill the summer, but there is no hill anywhere.

Washington has the wider range, from wooded valleys to rock and mountains. Rock Creek Park and the C&O Canal towpath begin inside the city, and about half an hour upriver the Potomac drops through the gorge at Great Falls, where people climb and run whitewater. The Blue Ridge hikes of Shenandoah, such as Old Rag, are less than two hours away.

Both sit in country rich in history, but they face different parts of it. From Virginia Beach the great day out is the Historic Triangle of Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown, about an hour away, with Norfolk close by and Kitty Hawk further south. Almost all of it needs a car.

Washington has more within reach, and more of it by train: Old Town Alexandria on the Metro, Baltimore and even Philadelphia by rail. Mount Vernon, Annapolis and the Civil War battlefields of Gettysburg, Antietam and Harpers Ferry are all a drive away.

Both work well with children, in different ways. Virginia Beach is a classic beach-resort trip, with the aquarium, a water park, mini-golf, calm bay beaches for toddlers and a large theme park near Williamsburg within an hour.

In Washington the trip is about learning: the dinosaurs, the rockets and the National Zoo are free, the Mall gives children room to run and every Metro station has lifts for buggies. The capital has no beaches or theme parks nearby, while in Virginia Beach you drive everywhere.

Washington is far easier without a car. The centre is flat and laid out on a grid, the Metro reaches Arlington, Alexandria and the airport, and bike-share and riverside paths link the monuments. Only Georgetown and late nights leave gaps.

In Virginia Beach you can walk or cycle the boardwalk and take the summer trolley along Atlantic Avenue. Sandbridge, First Landing and Town Center all mean driving through suburban sprawl, often in heavy summer traffic.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Washington has more to browse. Georgetown's M Street and Wisconsin Avenue have boutiques and antique shops in old brick buildings, CityCenterDC has luxury labels, and there are craft stalls at Eastern Market and good museum shops. Virginia Beach means malls, chains at Town Center and the long-rooted surf shops of the Oceanfront.

Virginia Beach is the cheaper stay, particularly outside summer, when oceanfront rooms drop sharply in price. The beach, boardwalk and state parks cost little or nothing, though a hire car and summer weekend rentals eat into the savings.

Washington's rooms are dear all year and its restaurants are priced for expense accounts. Its sightseeing, though, is almost entirely free, and staying in Arlington or near a suburban Metro station brings the cost of a room down.

Washington is a real theatre city. It has Arena Stage, the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Ford's Theatre and the Folger's small playhouse, a full symphony and opera season, big touring acts in the restored halls around U Street and go-go, the city's own funk.

Virginia Beach offers summer rock and country at its amphitheatre and free concerts on the boardwalk stages. For opera and the symphony you go to Norfolk.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, and in both wellness means hotel spas and a few day spas. The difference is the setting. Virginia Beach has early walks on an empty boardwalk and quiet spring and autumn days by the sea. In Washington, rest means a bench at Dumbarton Oaks, the Arboretum or a morning round the Tidal Basin, against the pace of a working city.