Charleston or Fort Myers?

These are two equally good beach bases of quite different kinds. Charleston's Atlantic islands each have their own character: surfy Folly Beach with its pier, quiet Sullivan's Island backed by dunes and forts, and broader Isle of Palms. The water is tidal and greenish, and rip currents call for some care.

Fort Myers has the gentler sea and the longer swimming season. The shallow, calm Gulf off Estero Island suits weak swimmers, and in winter it stays swimmable when Charleston's water is cold. Sanibel's shelling is the draw Charleston can't match, though algae can spoil the water at times. Both sets of beaches are a drive from town.

Food is one of the main reasons to choose Charleston. Lowcountry dishes such as shrimp and grits, she-crab soup and Carolina Gold rice come from Gullah Geechee and West African roots, and they are cooked seriously everywhere from townhouse dining rooms to whole-hog barbecue pits. The best tables need booking well ahead.

Fort Myers keeps things casual: grouper sandwiches, peel-and-eat shrimp and stone crab on a deck at sunset. Away from the River District and Sanibel, highway chains take over, so keen eaters will run out of options quickly.

Charleston has much more to see. The whole peninsula south of Broad Street is a walking museum of Georgian and antebellum houses. The Aiken-Rhett and Nathaniel Russell houses, Fort Sumter and the International African American Museum tell the story of the city's wealth and of the slavery that built it.

Fort Myers has one real sight, the Edison and Ford Winter Estates, which make a rewarding half day among Edison's laboratory and the riverside gardens. After that the palm-lined McGregor Boulevard and a few brick streets downtown are about all the town has to show.

Neither city is built for clubbing, but Charleston gives you more to do after dark. Upper King Street packs rooftop bars, cocktail rooms and oyster bars into a few walkable blocks, and it gets loud with students and weekend groups. The French Quarter has calmer wine bars.

Fort Myers winds down earlier, with an older winter crowd. The best evenings are a sunset drink by the Fort Myers Beach pier or the monthly art walk in the River District, and the pier livens up mainly in March.

Both coasts are flat and best seen from the water, but Fort Myers has the richer wildlife. Ding Darling on Sanibel is a first-class place for wading birds, Corkscrew Swamp has a boardwalk through old-growth cypress, and in winter manatees gather on the Orange River. The Great Calusa Blueway's mangrove tunnels are made for kayaking.

Charleston's Lowcountry is spartina marsh and live oaks hung with Spanish moss. Its highlight is a kayak through the tidal creeks with dolphins, followed by quiet trails in the Francis Marion forest or the ACE Basin. One practical difference: Fort Myers is best outdoors in winter, Charleston in spring and autumn.

Charleston has the more rewarding drives out. Middleton Place, Magnolia and Drayton Hall along the Ashley River, with Boone Hall in Mount Pleasant, are about half an hour away and set formal gardens beside an honest account of the enslaved people who worked them. McLeod Plantation on James Island is given over wholly to that history. Further afield, Savannah's squares make a full day, and Beaufort leads into Gullah culture on the sea islands.

Fort Myers offers pleasant outings rather than essential ones: polished Naples, island lunches on Sanibel and Captiva, sleepy Boca Grande. Sarasota's Ringling museum and Ca' d'Zan are its best cultural trip, and Everglades City opens up the Ten Thousand Islands. Every one of these outings, from either city, means a car.

Charleston suits school-age children, Fort Myers the very young. In Charleston the aquarium and children's museum sit on the downtown waterfront, children can clamber through the aircraft carrier at Patriots Point, and the boat to Fort Sumter turns history into an outing, though house tours will test small children's patience.

Fort Myers is simpler with toddlers. The shallow, surf-free Gulf, hours of shell hunting on Sanibel and a gentle paddle past manatees and dolphins fill the days, with the science centre or the Shell Factory for a stormy afternoon. Theme parks and big zoos are missing from both, and summer heat cuts outdoor time in each.

Charleston is far easier without a car. The flat historic peninsula puts most sights within walking distance, and a free shuttle and pedicabs fill the gaps, though you will still want wheels for the beaches and plantations.

In Fort Myers a rental car is not optional. The city, beaches, Sanibel and the reserves are spread across a low-density county. Buses are sparse, and in winter the bridges to the islands clog with traffic.

Charleston makes for much better browsing. King Street changes along its length from antiques and galleries to national brands and then independent design shops, and the City Market is where Gullah artisans weave sweetgrass baskets.

In Fort Myers, shopping mostly means outlet malls and open-air centres along the highway towards Estero, which are worth it for the bargains. Periwinkle Way on Sanibel adds shell shops and galleries for an hour's browse.

Fort Myers leaves more room to manage costs, while Charleston stays dear wherever you sleep near the sights. Its peninsula inns charge big-city rates, spring and autumn weekends push them higher, and celebrated restaurants and paid house tours add up. The old streets, the Battery and the beaches are free.

In Fort Myers the price depends on when and where you stay. Winter beachfront on Sanibel is expensive, yet rooms in town or near the interstate cost much less and summer rates fall sharply. Budget for the rental car and the causeway fees.

Charleston has a slight edge thanks to Spoleto Festival USA, which fills late spring with opera, dance, chamber music and jazz. The Dock Street Theatre and Gullah storytelling give it local character through the rest of the year.

Fort Myers has the steadier winter programme: touring Broadway shows at the Barbara B. Mann hall, a repertory company in a 1908 theatre and a regional symphony. That season goes quiet in summer, so its best months fall in the cooler half of the year.

Neither city is a spa destination, and neither has any bathing tradition, so they differ mainly in how they slow you down. Charleston has slightly more choice of treatments, with a few day spas in town as well as the hotel spas and the resorts on Kiawah Island. The old town calms you too: an afternoon drifting between walled gardens and benches by the harbour does much of the work.

Fort Myers is restful in a beach-bound way. On Sanibel and Captiva the buildings stay low, bike paths replace traffic and evenings end early, so whole days pass between the pool and the shoreline. A massage, though, almost always means booking one at your resort. For a few days of pampering, Charleston comes out slightly ahead. For a week of doing very little, Fort Myers is the easier choice.