Clearwater or Orlando?

This is the clearest difference between the two. Clearwater Beach is a long barrier-island strand of powder-white sand that slopes gently into calm, clear Gulf water. Quieter stretches are close by on Sand Key, Honeymoon Island and the undeveloped Caladesi Island.

Orlando is inland. Its nearest sea is the Atlantic at Cocoa Beach or New Smyrna Beach, about an hour's drive away, so most visitors make it one beach day in a week of parks and swim in hotel pools and water parks the rest of the time.

Orlando has the wider range of the two, though you have to drive out of the resort corridors to find it. Clearwater eats casually by the water: grouper sandwiches in fish shacks, shrimp baskets and stone crab in season. Much of the beachfront is chain grills, and the Greek tavernas of Tarpon Springs are the best outing for a meal.

Orlando's tourist corridors are just as full of chains, though inside the parks Epcot's World Showcase makes grazing from one country's pavilion to the next good fun. Further out, the Vietnamese kitchens of Mills 50 and the chef-led restaurants of Winter Park and Audubon Park offer a range Clearwater cannot match.

Neither city is somewhere to plan a trip around museums, and both send keen visitors elsewhere. Clearwater has a small downtown on the bluff with early twentieth-century buildings and a restored 1920s theatre. Orlando's one real treasure is the Morse Museum in Winter Park, with Tiffany's chapel, backed by the modest museums of Loch Haven Park.

Clearwater's evenings revolve around the sunset at Pier 60, followed by tiki decks and cover bands. Things only get louder in spring, when a younger crowd arrives.

Orlando has a little more range. The themed bars at Disney Springs and CityWalk quieten early, but downtown along Orange Avenue there is a proper late weekend scene fed by a large university, plus gay bars in Ivanhoe Village. Early park starts mean most visitors never see it.

Both landscapes are flat and watery, but Clearwater has the open Gulf at hand. You can kayak through mangrove channels, watch dolphins in the harbour, walk the wild shoreline of Caladesi and Honeymoon Islands, or go sailing and fishing from the marina, all within easy reach of your hotel.

Orlando's nature is mostly freshwater. There are clear springs at Wekiwa and Blue Spring, airboat rides past alligators on the Kissimmee headwaters, and excellent birdwatching at Merritt Island on the coast. It rewards those willing to drive, whereas in Clearwater the water is on your doorstep.

Both have a good spread of outings, and they share Tampa's Ybor City and St Petersburg's Dalí Museum. These are close to Clearwater but a full day from Orlando. Clearwater's other trips go to the Greek sponge docks of Tarpon Springs and the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, with Orlando's parks about two hours away.

Orlando's best day out is the Kennedy Space Center, with the Saturn V and the shuttle Atlantis. St Augustine's Spanish fort and old streets lie to the north. From either city you will need a car.

Clearwater is a very good family beach. It has gentle, shallow water, lifeguards at Pier 60, the marine rescue aquarium, pirate boat trips and Busch Gardens within reach. Orlando, though, is in a different league, with Disney's four parks and two water parks, Universal, SeaWorld and Legoland, and whole resorts designed around children.

For toddlers who mainly want sand and paddling, Clearwater is calmer and less tiring. For children old enough to want rides and characters, Orlando is the pick, as long as you plan around queues and heat.

Neither works well without a car, but Clearwater is easier once you have arrived. On the beach island, hotels, restaurants and the sand are within walking distance, and a trolley and water taxi fill the gaps.

Orlando spreads its parks, hotels and downtown along Interstate 4, and its pavements are not built for walking between them. Only guests staying inside Disney or Universal can manage on monorails, boats and resort buses.

Shopping is one of Orlando's genuine draws. It has premium outlets on International Drive and Vineland Avenue, luxury labels at the Mall at Millenia and the boutiques of Park Avenue in Winter Park. Clearwater offers beachwear, souvenirs and mainland malls, and its most memorable thing to take home is a natural sponge from Tarpon Springs.

Both cost roughly what American resort towns cost, but the money goes in different places. In Clearwater the big expense is a beachfront room in the late winter and spring peak. The beach itself is free, and mainland motels cut the bill.

In Orlando, off-site rooms are fairly priced, and the real cost comes from multi-day park tickets, express passes, parking and meals inside the parks. Condos with kitchens help in both places.

Each has one main hall for touring shows: Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater and the Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando, which is also home to the Orlando Philharmonic. Clearwater adds the intimate 1920s Capitol Theatre and cover bands in beach bars.

Orlando adds Orlando Shakespeare Theater, the long-running spring Fringe, and polished stage shows and fireworks inside the parks. For opera or ballet, Clearwater visitors drive to Tampa.

Neither has a spa culture worth travelling for, so the difference lies in the pace. In Clearwater the days drift by among hotel pools, long lunches and evenings by the marina, with nothing that needs an early start.

Orlando's resort spas and lazy rivers are good, but they serve as recovery from early starts and long walks around the parks. Couples looking for calm there head for the lakes and quiet streets of Winter Park.