Boca Raton or Key West?

Boca Raton has the real beaches. South Beach, Red Reef and Spanish River parks give a long, green, low-rise shore of soft pale sand, with lifeguards, sea grape shade and a reef close enough to snorkel straight from the beach.

Key West is about the water rather than the shore. Its sea is calm and clear because the reef breaks the swell, but Smathers is imported sand, Fort Zachary Taylor is coral rubble, and seagrass flats make wading out awkward. For a classic towel-and-swim day, Key West visitors drive an hour to Bahia Honda.

Neither is a serious food destination, but they eat very differently. Boca Raton is polished and familiar, with steakhouses, Italian and sushi around Mizner Park and a strong Jewish deli and bagel tradition, while Key West is casual and local, built on pink shrimp, conch fritters, dockside fish shacks and Cuban coffee from takeaway windows. Key lime pie and stone crab turn up in both.

Key West has more to see, and the town itself is the attraction. Old Town's conch cottages and Victorian houses, the Hemingway Home, the Truman Little White House and the shipwreck collections tell a story of wreckers, writers and presidents that fills two days.

Boca Raton's culture is thinner: Addison Mizner's 1920s Mediterranean Revival architecture, the history museum in the Old Town Hall, a respectable art museum and, just north, the Morikami Japanese gardens. Beyond those, a culture-minded visitor ends up in Palm Beach or Miami.

Key West is far livelier after dark. The evening starts with sunset on Mallory Square and moves to Duval Street's open-sided bars and rooftop decks, which run into the small hours, with a long-established gay scene at the upper end. It is loud and boozy rather than stylish, with few clubs.

Boca Raton is a dinner-and-a-cocktail town, with wine bars and lounges around Mizner Park and most of the city quiet before midnight. For a later night you drive fifteen minutes to Delray Beach's Atlantic Avenue.

Both are flat and both turn to the sea, but Key West's water is in another league. The Florida Reef lies a few kilometres offshore with daily snorkelling and diving boats, the backcountry flats are prized for tarpon and bonefish, and the Dry Tortugas offer clear water and fine birdwatching.

Boca Raton offers gentler versions: kayaking the Intracoastal mangroves, nearshore snorkelling, Gulf Stream fishing and sea turtle walks at Gumbo Limbo. Its one real advantage is the Loxahatchee refuge inland, with alligators and a taste of the Everglades within half an hour.

Boca Raton sits in the middle of the Gold Coast, so Palm Beach's Flagler Museum, Fort Lauderdale's canals, Delray Beach and a full day in Miami are all easy, by car or by train.

Key West is at the end of the road. Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas is a superb day out by ferry, and the drive over the Seven Mile Bridge to Marathon has its own appeal, but Miami and the Everglades are too far for a comfortable return trip.

Boca Raton is the easier place with children. Lifeguarded beaches with shade, Red Reef's gentle snorkelling, the turtles at Gumbo Limbo and the playgrounds of Sugar Sand Park make relaxed days, though everything means the car.

Key West has good moments for children, from the calm shallows at Fort Zachary Taylor to glass-bottom boats and the Hemingway cats, but the island is aimed at adults, and Duval Street's early drinking and Fantasy Fest make parts of it unsuitable.

This is where the two differ most. In Key West you park the car and forget it: Old Town is compact and flat, nearly everything lies within a short walk of Duval Street, and bicycles are how locals get about.

Boca Raton is built around the car, with beaches, malls and hotels strung along wide roads and slow buses. Its saving grace is the train, as Tri-Rail and Brightline make car-free outings to Fort Lauderdale and Miami practical, something Key West has no equivalent for.

Boca Raton is the place to shop. Its upscale enclosed mall is a regional draw for department stores and designer labels, and Mizner Park and Royal Palm Place add open-air boutiques and galleries, with Worth Avenue a short drive away.

Key West's shopping is mostly T-shirts and Key lime souvenirs on Duval, redeemed by Old Town's art galleries, hand-rolled cigars and harbour sponge shops. It is browsing for an evening stroll rather than a reason to visit.

Both are expensive, but Boca Raton is somewhat easier on the budget, especially in summer when room rates fall sharply, and delis and self-catering rentals help. Key West's limited land keeps rooms dear year-round, and boat trips and the Dry Tortugas ferry add up quickly.

What Key West saves you is the car: walking, cycling and a free sunset on Mallory Square offset some of the cost, whereas in Boca Raton a hire car and beach parking fees are part of the bill.

Both have modest stages, but the flavour differs. Boca Raton's is formal and seasonal: open-air concerts at the Mizner Park Amphitheater, Broadway-style musicals, Lynn University recitals and a local ballet, with the Kravis Center a drive away. Key West's is informal and nightly, with singer-songwriters in every bar, drag cabaret and street performers at sunset, plus plays at the Tennessee Williams Theatre in winter.

Neither has a bathing tradition, and rest in both means spas, pools and yoga. Boca Raton's calm is more dependable, a quiet, well-kept city of resort spas and early nights, while Key West's restfulness lives in Old Town guesthouses with garden pools and the sunset ritual, with the party on Duval never far off, so pick a street away from the bars.