Clearwater or New Orleans?

The beach is what Clearwater exists for. A long run of powder-white sand slopes into calm, clear water shallow enough to wade far out. Sand Key, Caladesi Island and Honeymoon Island add quieter stretches within easy reach.

New Orleans sits on a working river and a lake that nobody swims in. The nearest sand is around Bay St. Louis, well over an hour away, and the water there is warm but murky. For a vacation built around swimming, there is no real contest.

Food is where New Orleans pulls far ahead. It has a whole cuisine of its own, from Creole dining rooms in the French Quarter that have served the same dishes for over a century to po'boy counters in Mid-City. Add crawfish boils in spring, oysters in the cooler months and a serious cocktail tradition.

Clearwater eats well at the simple end, with a blackened grouper sandwich at a dockside shack. Beyond that, though, the beachfront is mostly chains, and the best meal outing is a drive to the Greek tavernas of Tarpon Springs.

Clearwater gives you a sightseeing hour rather than a sightseeing day. A stroll through the old downtown above the harbour and a look at its restored theatre is about all there is. Anyone who wants museums or historic quarters will spend more time in the car than in front of them.

In New Orleans, sightseeing fills several days, and most of it happens on foot. A morning might begin at Jackson Square, with St. Louis Cathedral and the Cabildo, where the handover of Louisiana to the United States took place in 1803, and end among the above-ground tombs of an old cemetery. The National WWII Museum can take a whole afternoon. The list of major museums runs out quickly after that, but the city's Creole, African American and Caribbean heritage shows in its streets and keeps a curious visitor busy.

A night out in New Orleans has no fixed end. There is no closing time and drinks can be carried in the street, and the evening runs from Frenchmen Street's music bars to Bywater dives, with Bourbon Street as the loud neon option.

Clearwater's evening peaks at sunset on the sand by Pier 60, followed by tiki decks and cover bands. It gets livelier in spring, but for anything resembling New Orleans you would drive to Ybor City in Tampa.

Both landscapes are flat and wet, but Clearwater gets you outdoors more easily. Its mangrove channels are made for kayaking and paddleboarding, dolphins swim in the harbour, and the island state parks keep osprey nests and wild shoreline close to the hotels.

New Orleans offers something different in kind: cypress swamps and bayous with alligators and Spanish moss, seen by boat or from the Barataria boardwalks. Those mean an excursion, though, and summer humidity rules out much activity until autumn.

Clearwater has a slight edge here, mostly because two larger cities lie within an hour. St Petersburg has the Dalí Museum and Tampa has the old cigar quarter of Ybor City. Further out are Tarpon Springs' sponge docks, Sarasota's Ringling Museum and, at a stretch, Orlando's theme parks.

From New Orleans the outings are fewer but weightier. The River Road plantations, above all the Whitney, deal frankly with slavery, and Cajun country around Lafayette is reachable at the edge of a day. A car helps from both cities.

Clearwater is built for young families. Its gentle, surf-free water has lifeguards near Pier 60, the marine aquarium cares for rescued dolphins and turtles, and Busch Gardens and Adventure Island are under an hour away.

New Orleans does better with children than its reputation suggests. Audubon Zoo, the riverfront aquarium, City Park's carousel and the streetcars all go down well. Still, the summer humidity, Bourbon Street and the care needed after dark make it harder work for parents.

New Orleans is far easier without a car. The French Quarter, the Marigny and the Warehouse District sit close together on flat ground, and the green St. Charles streetcars run out to Uptown. They are slow, and some trips call for ride-hailing.

In Clearwater you can walk and take the trolley on the beach island itself, but the mainland is driving country. Almost every outing to the parks or across the bay goes far better with a hire car.

New Orleans gives shoppers something to look for. Royal Street has antique dealers selling chandeliers and estate jewellery, and Magazine Street runs for miles of boutiques and vintage shops. Carnival masks and pralines come from the French Market.

Clearwater's beach strip mostly sells swimwear and souvenirs, backed by mainland malls. The most local purchase is a natural sponge from Tarpon Springs.

Neither is a bargain, and overall costs come out broadly similar. The difference lies in when and where the money goes. In Clearwater, beachfront rooms are dearest in the late-winter and spring peak, while mainland motels and condo kitchens help cut costs.

New Orleans is somewhat gentler day to day, thanks to cheap po'boys, the streetcar and free street music. Rooms near the Quarter jump sharply around Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest. In both cities, the hot summer months are the cheaper time to stay.

New Orleans is a destination for music lovers in its own right. On any night you will find traditional jazz, brass bands, zydeco and funk in the Frenchmen Street clubs and Tremé bars, and second-line parades move through the neighbourhoods on Sundays. The formal stage is small by comparison.

Clearwater makes do with touring acts at Ruth Eckerd Hall, smaller concerts in the old Capitol Theatre and cover bands in the beach bars. That is fine for an evening, but it is not something to travel for.

Neither city has a spa tradition. Clearwater is still the more restful of the two, a low-rise resort where nothing needs an early start and the days pass between pool, balcony and an early night.

New Orleans can slow down too, with quiet courtyard mornings and lazy afternoons under City Park's oaks. But the city's pull is towards late nights, and the French Quarter after dark is anything but restful.