Charleston or Clearwater?

Clearwater's beach is the reason to go there. The fine white sand runs into calm, shallow, clear Gulf water that you can wade far into. Sand Key, Caladesi Island and Honeymoon Island give you quieter, wilder stretches close by.

Charleston's beaches have more character, from surfy Folly with its pier to Sullivan's Island with dunes and old forts. But the Atlantic there is greenish and stirred up by the tides, rip currents appear some days, and every beach is a drive from where most visitors stay.

Charleston is one of the great eating towns of the American South. Its Lowcountry cooking draws on Gullah Geechee and West African roots, with shrimp and grits, she-crab soup and whole-hog barbecue, and it is served everywhere from restored townhouse dining rooms to the seafood shacks on Shem Creek.

Clearwater's food is casual: grouper sandwiches, shrimp baskets and drinks at sunset, with chain grills along much of the beachfront. For a more interesting meal, you would drive to the Greek tavernas of Tarpon Springs or across the bay.

Here the two cities are far apart. Charleston's whole peninsula is a sight in itself: Rainbow Row, the Battery and the walled gardens south of Broad Street, along with house museums that show the slave quarters as well as the grand rooms. Add Fort Sumter out in the harbour, and the city gives two or three full days of history.

Clearwater has a restored 1920s theatre and some small local history collections, and not much more. Anyone who wants art or architecture drives to St Petersburg or Tampa.

Neither city has much of a club scene, but Charleston gives you more choice of where to drink. Upper King Street has rooftop bars, cocktail rooms and oyster bars, with packed weekends, and the wine bars and old taverns of the French Quarter are quieter.

Clearwater's evening centres on the sunset at Pier 60, followed by tiki decks and cover bands by the water. Except in spring, it settles down early, and a real night out means a trip to Ybor City in Tampa.

Both are flat and watery, and both are best seen from a kayak, but the landscapes differ. Charleston has salt marsh, tidal creeks and live oaks hung with Spanish moss, with alligators and birdlife in the ACE Basin and Francis Marion forest. Clearwater has mangrove channels and seagrass flats, nesting ospreys, manatees in winter and the long Pinellas Trail for easy cycling. You will see dolphins in either.

Both have a good range of day trips by car, but of different kinds. From Charleston the outings are about history: the Ashley River plantations and McLeod's account of slavery, then Savannah's squares and Gullah culture around Beaufort.

From Clearwater you get cities and attractions instead: the Dalí Museum in St Petersburg, Ybor City's cigar factories, the Greek sponge docks at Tarpon Springs, the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, and the Orlando theme parks for a long day.

Clearwater is made for young children. The water is calm and shallow, Pier 60 has a playground and lifeguards, and the marine aquarium cares for rescued dolphins and turtles. Busch Gardens and Adventure Island are within reach, and condos with pools and kitchens make family life easier.

Charleston works better for school-age children, who will enjoy climbing through the aircraft carrier at Patriots Point and taking the boat to Fort Sumter. There is no theme park, though, and the house tours bore little ones.

Charleston is the easier of the two without a car, at least in town. The flat historic peninsula is a pleasure to walk, and a free shuttle and pedicabs cover the gaps, although you still need to drive to reach the beaches and plantations.

In Clearwater you can walk only along the beach strip, using the trolley down to Sand Key and the ferry to downtown. Beyond that it is spread-out sprawl, with slow buses and backed-up causeway traffic on busy weekends.

Charleston gives you a real shopping street. King Street moves from antiques and galleries to fashion brands and then to independent boutiques, and the City Market is where Gullah artisans weave sweetgrass baskets, the city's signature craft.

Clearwater offers beachwear and souvenir shops on the island and malls on the mainland. The most local thing to bring home is a natural sponge from Tarpon Springs.

Neither is cheap, but Clearwater is the easier place to keep costs down. Rooms on the mainland and further down the coast are noticeably cheaper than on the beach, condo kitchens save on eating out, and summer and autumn bring lower rates.

Charleston's inns on the peninsula charge big-city rates, its well-known restaurants match them, and house and plantation tours add up. Staying in Mount Pleasant saves money but means driving in every day.

Charleston has the edge, largely because of Spoleto Festival USA, which fills the city with opera, dance, theatre and jazz for over two weeks each late spring. The rest of the year there are plays at the Dock Street Theatre, the symphony at the Gaillard Center and Gullah storytelling and song.

Clearwater depends on touring acts. Ruth Eckerd Hall books rock, comedy and Broadway tours, and the Capitol Theatre hosts smaller concerts, but for opera or ballet you have to go to Tampa.

Neither has a bathing tradition, and in both the spas are mostly in resort hotels, so the difference lies in how you unwind. In Charleston it means slow walks through shaded gardens, quiet church courtyards and evenings at White Point Garden. In Clearwater it means a resort routine of pool, balcony and early nights, which is less restful in spring break weeks.