Charleston or Palm Beach?

Both towns sit on the Atlantic, but the water is different. Charleston's barrier islands have good sand and distinct characters: Folly for surf and a pier, Sullivan's for dunes and old forts, Isle of Palms for width. The water is greenish and churned by the tides, though, and the swimming season ends in October.

Palm Beach has the clearer, warmer sea because the Gulf Stream runs close to shore, and you can swim right through the winter. The island's own beaches are narrow and hemmed in by seawalls, but Singer Island, Jupiter and Delray make up for that, and Peanut Island adds calm, shallow water for snorkelling.

Here Charleston is clearly the stronger choice. It has a cuisine of its own, Lowcountry cooking rooted in Gullah Geechee and West African traditions. Expect shrimp and grits, winter oyster roasts and whole-hog barbecue, cooked with ambition along King Street and in the French Quarter.

Palm Beach eats well but formally, in Italian and French dining rooms, with stone crab in season and strict dress codes. West Palm Beach's Cuban bakeries and waterfront green market widen the choice, but there is no local tradition to seek out, and neither place has much street food.

Charleston has more to see and a weightier story to tell. The whole peninsula south of Broad Street is the sight. Its house museums, Fort Sumter and the International African American Museum deal directly with slavery and the Civil War.

Palm Beach's heritage is narrower: Gilded Age wealth, seen in Flagler's Whitehall, the Mediterranean Revival vias Mizner designed and the ocean-front estates. Its strength is art, since the Norton Museum has a broader collection than Charleston's small Gibbes, but the list of sights is short.

Neither town is worth choosing for its nightlife, but Charleston makes for the livelier evening. Upper King Street packs rooftop bars, cocktail rooms and oyster bars into a strip you can walk, and the French Quarter has older taverns.

Palm Beach island is quiet by eleven, and much of its social life happens in private clubs. Going out means crossing to Clematis Street in West Palm Beach, which does have a couple of dance spots, something Charleston largely lacks.

Both are flat, low-lying coast, and they are about equal for the outdoors. The difference is where you look. In Charleston it is the marsh: kayaking through tidal creeks with dolphins, live oaks hung with Spanish moss, and alligators in the ACE Basin.

Palm Beach's best nature is underwater. Reefs lie close offshore, and the Blue Heron Bridge dive site is famous for seahorses and octopus. On land there are Everglades boardwalks at Loxahatchee, and manatees gather in winter.

Charleston has the wider range of outings. The Ashley River plantations are half an hour away, Savannah makes a full day, and Beaufort and the sea islands bring you into Gullah culture, though you need a car for all of them.

Palm Beach has one big outing, Miami, which you can reach by fast train without driving. Beyond that, the coast offers Delray, Boca Raton and Jupiter's lighthouse: pleasant resort towns, but much alike, with little older heritage.

Both work for families, in different ways. Charleston keeps its children's sights close together on the downtown waterfront, with the aquarium, the children's museum and the aircraft carrier at Patriots Point, although house tours lose younger children.

Palm Beach has a zoo and a drive-through safari park, which Charleston lacks, plus the calm lagoon at Peanut Island. The island itself is built for adults, though, so family days happen across the bridge and by car.

Charleston is easier to manage without a car, at least in town. The historic peninsula is compact and flat, and pedicabs and a free shuttle fill the gaps, but the beaches and plantations need a car.

Palm Beach is more spread out. Worth Avenue and the Lake Trail are pleasant on foot or by bike, but the zoo, wildlife reserves and northern beaches are far apart and the buses are slow. The fast train to Miami is the one link it has that Charleston lacks.

Palm Beach is the better place to shop, especially at the top end. Worth Avenue is a true luxury street of major fashion houses and jewellers set in Mizner's courtyards. The consignment shops sell designer pieces from local wardrobes, and Antique Row has serious dealers.

Charleston's King Street makes for handsome browsing, from antiques to independent boutiques, but it has no luxury tier. What it has that Palm Beach lacks is craft: Gullah sweetgrass baskets woven and sold at the City Market.

Neither town is cheap, but Charleston is easier on the budget. Its peninsula inns and best-known restaurants charge big-city prices, but staying in Mount Pleasant and spending your days on the free old streets and beaches keeps costs down.

Palm Beach is a step dearer, with winter hotel rates and restaurant bills set for a wealthy clientele. Staying in West Palm Beach, or coming in the hot summer when rates fall, softens the cost.

The two are close, and both depend on the season. Charleston's high point is a single burst, Spoleto Festival USA in late spring. The rest of the year brings plays at the Dock Street Theatre, the symphony and distinctive Gullah storytelling.

Palm Beach's calendar runs through the winter. The Kravis Center hosts touring Broadway shows, visiting orchestras and Palm Beach Opera, and Dramaworks stages serious plays. From late spring the programme thins out sharply.

Charleston slows you down with its pace, while Palm Beach does it with its spas, and for a stay built around treatments the Florida island has the edge. In Charleston, rest means shaded gardens, quiet church courtyards and long evenings by the water at White Point Garden. For a spa day you are limited to hotel spas in town or a drive out to the resorts on Kiawah Island.

Palm Beach makes rest the core of a visit. Its large oceanfront resort spas have salt-water pools and fitness programmes, and beach yoga, early swims in a warm sea and walks along the lagoon fill the mornings. Neither town has a bathing tradition, so in both, wellness means a private spa rather than anything communal.