Anguilla or US Virgin Islands?

Both are first-rate beach destinations with powdery sand and water around 26°C to 29°C all year, so the choice comes down to style. Anguilla is one flat island ringed by beaches, from long Shoal Bay East to the resort bays of the west end, and with no cruise ships even its famous strands stay uncrowded. Boat trips to Sandy Island and Prickly Pear Cays add sandbar days.

The US Virgin Islands spread their beaches across three islands. St John's north-shore bays inside the national park, such as Trunk Bay and Maho Bay, have reef right off the sand, Magens Bay is the classic on St Thomas, and St Croix adds Sandy Point and Buck Island. Expect more people near the cruise port on St Thomas.

Anguilla makes more of an evening meal. Dinner is the main event, with polished beachfront restaurants along the west end and Sandy Ground, crayfish and grilled snapper, and the weekend lolos where ribs come off the grill. Its range is still narrow, and a week covers most of it.

The US Virgin Islands have a stronger home-cooking tradition, with kallaloo, fungi, pates and goat stew from roadside stands and festival food fairs, best on St Croix with its rum distilleries. Around the St Thomas resorts and Cruz Bay, though, menus lean towards American dishes, and few people come here for the food.

The US Virgin Islands have far more to see. Nearly two centuries of Danish rule left Christiansted's arcaded streets and Fort Christiansvaern, and in Charlotte Amalie Fort Christian, the 99 Steps and the sand-floored synagogue, while Annaberg and Whim show the sugar and slavery past.

Anguilla's sights amount to Wallblake House in The Valley, the Heritage Collection Museum in East End and the carvings in Fountain Cavern, a morning or two at most.

Neither is a clubbing destination, but the US Virgin Islands give a few more options. Red Hook on St Thomas and Cruz Bay on St John have strips of open-air bars full of charter-boat sailors, and Christiansted's boardwalk fills in the evenings on St Croix.

Anguilla's late nights come down to a handful of beach bars at Sandy Ground and Sunday sessions that run into the evening. Both islands come alive at festival time: Anguilla in March and early August, the Virgin Islands at the St Thomas carnival and the Crucian Christmas festival.

This is where the US Virgin Islands pull well ahead. St John is mostly national park, with green hills, dry forest and trails like Reef Bay, and the water holds turtles, rays, the Buck Island underwater trail and the bioluminescent Salt River Bay. Serious hikers still run out of routes in a few days.

Anguilla is low, dry scrubland, and its outdoor life is almost entirely at sea: diving in the marine parks around Prickly Pear Cays and Dog Island, kitesurfing in the trade winds, and local sloop racing. On land there are cliff walks and birdwatching at the salt ponds, but no hills to climb.

The US Virgin Islands offer more outings, mostly by boat. From St Thomas the ferry to St John is easy, and the British Virgin Islands, including Jost Van Dyke and Virgin Gorda, are within an hour or so if you bring a passport.

From Anguilla the one real trip is the short ferry from Blowing Point to Saint Martin, for Marigot, Grand Case and duty-free Philipsburg, with St Barths an occasional pricier charter.

Anguilla keeps things simple for small children. Rendezvous Bay, Meads Bay and Shoal Bay West shelve gently, and the island's quiet, almost traffic-free roads make every hop between villa and beach short and easy. Beyond the sand, though, nothing is aimed at children, and older ones may run out of things to do after a few days.

The US Virgin Islands give children more to do. At Maho Bay on St John, turtles feed in water shallow enough for young snorkellers, and the marine park at Coki Point has touch pools and an underwater observatory. The price is the steep lanes and longer drives, which can wear small travellers out, so a resort with its own beach on the east end of St Thomas makes days easier.

Anguilla is the easier place to move around. It is a single island about 26km long with light traffic, so a hire car puts any beach a short drive away, though arrival needs a flight to Sint Maarten and a ferry.

The US Virgin Islands mean narrow, steep, winding roads with few pavements. Shared safari taxis cover St Thomas and St John and the Red Hook ferry links the two easily, but St Croix needs a flight or a long ferry.

Charlotte Amalie gives the US Virgin Islands a real shopping street, with duty-free jewellers and watch dealers in old Danish warehouses, plus local crafts at Mongoose Junction and St Croix's hook bracelets.

On Anguilla there is little beyond galleries, resort boutiques and sea salt or hot sauce as souvenirs, so keen shoppers take the ferry to Saint Martin.

Both are expensive, but Anguilla more so. Its accommodation is mostly high-end resorts and villas, and nearly everything is imported, with only the lolos for cheaper meals.

The US Virgin Islands leave more room to economise: St Croix and the campgrounds and guesthouses on St John are more modest, and the national park beaches and trails cost little or nothing.

Neither has a theatre or classical scene, but the US Virgin Islands have a more distinctive musical tradition in quelbe scratch bands, steel pan and the mocko jumbie stilt dancers, plus touring shows at the university amphitheatre on St Thomas.

Anguilla's live music is reggae, soca and string bands in beach bars, with its March reggae festival and August Summer Festival as the highlights.

Neither has its own bathing tradition, so wellness on both means resort spas and slow days. Anguilla's spas at the luxury resorts are among the more extensive, and the whole island keeps the same unhurried pace.

In the US Virgin Islands rest depends on where you stay: St John or the east end of St Croix give hammock days, while the cruise traffic around Charlotte Amalie does not.