Washington DC or Wisconsin Dells?

Washington is a river city, and its swimming is a long way off. The Potomac and Anacostia are not for bathing, the small, brackish Chesapeake beaches are an hour away and the Atlantic resorts are a weekend trip, so most visitors cool off in a hotel pool.

Wisconsin Dells has no sea either, but it does better. Devil's Lake, half an hour south, has clear water and sandy beaches below quartzite bluffs, and Mirror Lake and Lake Delton have calm spots closer to town. It is still only a June-to-September half day out, and the waterparks do most of the swimming.

Washington eats far better. Its strengths are the Ethiopian restaurants around Shaw and U Street, pupusas in Columbia Heights, Chesapeake crabs and oysters in season, grazing at Eastern Market and Union Market, and ambitious tasting menus around Logan Circle and the waterfront.

The Dells is family refuelling: pizza, buffets and steakhouses on the strips. The Wisconsin touches are charming, such as a supper club with a brandy old fashioned, a Friday fish fry and fresh cheese curds, but food lovers save their appetite for Madison.

This is where the two are furthest apart. Washington can fill a week with the Smithsonian museums, the National Gallery, the Capitol, the Library of Congress reading room and the memorials along the Reflecting Pool, nearly all of them free and within walking distance of each other.

Wisconsin Dells has the H.H. Bennett Studio, which tells how photographs of the gorges first drew tourists here, and some exhibits on the Ho-Chunk Nation. Beyond that, the upside-down houses and wax museums on Broadway are amusements, not heritage.

Washington has a real night out, at least from Thursday to Saturday: cocktail bars and rooftops on 14th and U Street, late slices in Adams Morgan, dive bars on H Street and the long-established gay bars of Dupont Circle.

In the Dells the evening ends when the waterparks close. A few taverns, brewery taprooms and supper-club bars do for a quiet drink, the casino near Baraboo stays open late, and there are no clubs at all.

The two are about even, though the outdoors is very different in each. Washington's is woven into the city, with the wooded valley of Rock Creek Park, the flat C&O Canal towpath and the rocky gorge at Great Falls, and Shenandoah's ridge hikes a longer drive away.

The Dells puts its landscape at the centre of the trip. You take a boat or kayak through the sandstone canyons of the Wisconsin River, climb on the quartzite at Devil's Lake, and in winter go cross-country skiing, which Washington cannot offer.

Washington has much more within reach. Old Town Alexandria is a Metro ride away and Mount Vernon just beyond it. Baltimore and Annapolis are each about an hour away, the battlefields at Gettysburg, Antietam and Harpers Ferry are an easy drive, and Philadelphia is a fast train ride.

From the Dells the choice is shorter, and every trip needs a car. The best are Madison's lakeside Capitol and campus, Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin and the House on the Rock at Spring Green, and Circus World in Baraboo.

Washington is a good family city, with dinosaurs at Natural History, rockets at Air and Space, the free zoo and the Mall to run about on. Still, the long, hot walks and the absence of beaches or theme parks make it a better fit for school-age children than toddlers.

Wisconsin Dells is built for children from top to bottom. The indoor waterpark resorts work in any weather, rides and mini-golf are minutes apart, and the river trails give a change of pace. Teenagers may tire of it sooner than younger children.

Washington is far easier without a car. The centre is a flat grid, the Metro reaches Arlington, Alexandria and the airport with lifts at every station, and bike-share links the monuments. The main gap is Georgetown, which has no station of its own.

In the Dells you will need to drive. Attractions and resorts are spread along highways that are unpleasant to walk, and only the few blocks of Broadway work on foot. The nearest regular flights are from Madison, an hour away.

Washington has more worth browsing: Georgetown's boutiques and antique shops in old brick buildings, the luxury labels at CityCenterDC, weekend crafts at Eastern Market and excellent museum shops for books and prints.

The Dells offers T-shirts, taffy and cheese along Broadway, plus an outlet centre of mainstream American brands for a wet afternoon. It is fine for children's souvenirs and little else.

Wisconsin Dells is the cheaper trip. Rooms in the older motels are moderate outside the peak and meals are Midwestern in price, although waterpark tickets and resort extras soon add up for a family on summer weekends.

Washington's hotels, restaurants and taxis are expensive all year, and dearer still in cherry blossom season. Its saving grace is that the museums, zoo and memorials cost nothing, so the sightseeing itself is almost free.

Washington has a full cultural calendar. There is resident theatre at Arena Stage, the Shakespeare Theatre, Woolly Mammoth and Ford's Theatre, a symphony and opera season, touring acts at the Lincoln and Howard theatres on U Street, and summer concerts on the lawn at Wolf Trap.

The Dells offers magic and variety shows and tribute acts in Lake Delton. Anyone who cares about the stage drives to Spring Green's outdoor classical theatre or to Madison.

Neither is a place to come for rest, but the calm takes different forms. In Washington it means a hotel spa and quiet hours in the Dumbarton Oaks gardens, the National Arboretum or around the Tidal Basin early in the morning.

The Dells has resort spas and an adults-only retreat in the woods where parents can get away for a day or two, plus an empty river at dawn. Summer weekends there are loud, though.