Boca Raton or Naples, Florida?

Both cities have an excellent shoreline, and Naples has a slight edge, but the two coasts are quite different. Boca Raton's beaches are a chain of parks on the Atlantic barrier island, backed by dunes and sea grape, and Red Reef Park has a reef you can snorkel straight from the sand.

Naples faces the Gulf, so the water is calmer, shallower and better for wading. Beach access paths run off the streets of Old Naples, the evenings end with the sunset over the sea, and there is shelling after winter storms. It also comes with stingrays to shuffle past and the odd algae bloom.

These two eat much alike: polished, comfortable dining rooms serving steak, Italian and seafood to a wealthy crowd, with grouper and stone crab as the shared local touches. What differs is the flavour of the extras. Boca has its Jewish delis and bagel bakeries and can send you to Delray or Miami for variety, while Naples has its dockside fish houses around Tin City and on the bay.

Neither city is a culture destination, and both run out of sights within a day or so. Boca's interest is Addison Mizner's 1920s Mediterranean Revival town and the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens just to the north. Naples has the Baker Museum's American art and the Revs Institute, a real draw for anyone who loves historic racing cars.

Boca Raton gives you more to do after dinner. Mizner Park's wine bars and cocktail lounges stay pleasant late, university students keep a few casual bars going, and Delray Beach's Atlantic Avenue is close enough for a proper night out.

In Naples, evenings are a sunset drink, a piano lounge on Fifth Avenue South and bed. The crowd is older and there are almost no clubs. Anything livelier means a drive to Fort Myers Beach.

Naples is plainly the stronger choice for the outdoors. It sits at the edge of the western Everglades, with Big Cypress, Corkscrew Swamp's cypress boardwalk and the orchids of the Fakahatchee Strand within an hour, and kayaking through the Ten Thousand Islands is a memorable day.

Boca's nature is smaller in scale and lies mostly on the water: snorkelling the nearshore reef, paddling the Intracoastal mangroves and night walks to see nesting sea turtles at Gumbo Limbo. Loxahatchee refuge gives it one taste of the Everglades.

Boca Raton's position halfway along the Gold Coast gives it far more choice. Palm Beach's Flagler Museum, Fort Lauderdale's canals and a full day in Miami are all close, and the trains cover the longer runs.

From Naples the outings are fewer and further apart. The Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers and the shelling islands of Sanibel and Captiva are the highlights, while Sarasota and Miami are each about two hours away, and you need a car for all of them.

Both are safe, easy places for children, with Naples very slightly ahead. Its shallow, calm Gulf, dolphins seen from the shore, the zoo's boat ride past primate islands and the children's museum keep younger children happy. Boca Raton's strengths are Red Reef Park as a gentle first snorkel, the turtle tanks at Gumbo Limbo and Sugar Sand Park, with Lion Country Safari an hour north.

Boca Raton's Brightline and Tri-Rail stations are its one real advantage. They make car-free days in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach realistic. Within the city, though, the beaches, hotels and shops are strung out along wide multi-lane roads, and only the downtown around Mizner Park is pleasant on foot.

Naples has no train, but the compact, flat grid of Old Naples puts the beach, the pier and Fifth Avenue South within walking or cycling distance if you stay there. You still need a car for the northern beaches, the Everglades and every outing further out, and in neither city are the local buses frequent enough to rely on.

Boca Raton has a little more for shoppers, thanks to its enclosed mall west of downtown, one of the most upscale in Florida, and the open-air boutique streets of Mizner Park and Royal Palm Place. Worth Avenue in Palm Beach is an easy outing.

Naples has a narrower, more resort-flavoured offer: linen, resort wear, jewellers and galleries on Fifth Avenue South and Third Street South, plus a luxury open-air mall, nautical souvenirs in Tin City and outlet malls half an hour north.

Boca Raton is slightly easier on the wallet, though no winter stay there is cheap and its beach parks charge visitors for parking. You can save with its delis, casual seafood places and self-catering rentals, or by coming in summer, when room rates fall a long way.

Naples is the dearer of the two, with premium winter rates at the beachfront resorts and in Old Naples, but its beaches are free. The surest way to cut costs is to stay in a chain hotel inland or in Fort Myers and cook for yourself. In either city, a hire car is part of the bill.

Naples has the busier winter stage. The Naples Philharmonic has its own hall, which also brings in touring Broadway shows and chamber music, and a professional theatre company plays downtown.

Boca Raton's calendar is smaller: open-air concerts at the Mizner Park Amphitheater, the Lynn University conservatory and regional musicals. For major productions, its residents go to the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. Both cities fall quiet in summer.

For rest, the two are much alike: resort spas, day spas and yoga, and no thermal or bathing tradition in either. Where they differ is in mood. Naples' slow pace is built around golf and long sunset walks on the Gulf, while Boca's calm is that of a well-kept suburb where a rest means the pool, a massage and an early night.