Clearwater or St. Augustine?

Clearwater has the better beach, and it is the reason the town exists. The sand is powder-white and the Gulf water is calm and clear enough to wade far out. You stay right on the barrier island, a few steps from the sea. When the Pier 60 crowds get too much, Sand Key, Caladesi Island and Honeymoon Island offer quieter sand.

St. Augustine's beaches on Anastasia Island are wide and pleasant, running from the state park dunes down to Crescent Beach, but they are a drive from the historic centre. The Atlantic there has easy surf and is usually green and churned rather than clear. Winter water is a little colder too, so it works better as a beach to walk on than as a swimming destination.

Neither is a place to travel for the food, and they end up roughly level, but the local flavour differs. In Clearwater the dish to try is a fried or blackened grouper sandwich at an open-air fish shack, with stone crab in season and sunset drinks on a deck. Much of the beachfront is chains, though, and the Greek tavernas of Tarpon Springs are the best outing for a meal.

St. Augustine's seafood carries a Minorcan accent. The fiery datil pepper goes into hot sauces, a spicy red clam chowder and pilau. It also has a few chef-driven restaurants and wine bars around the old town and San Marco, which make for a more interesting dinner than the tourist places on St. George Street.

Here the two are far apart. St. Augustine was founded by the Spanish in 1565 and has two clear layers of history. The colonial layer is the coquina Castillo de San Marcos, the old city gate and the walled gardens of the Spanish quarter. The Gilded Age layer is Flagler's Tiffany-glassed Ponce de Leon Hotel and the Lightner Museum in the former Alcazar. Add the Cathedral Basilica and Fort Matanzas, and there is enough to fill several days.

Clearwater offers a downtown on the bluff with some early twentieth-century buildings and a restored 1920s theatre, and not much more. Anyone who wants art has to make the trip to St Petersburg or Tampa.

Both are places for a few drinks rather than a late night out, and neither has much in the way of clubs. In Clearwater the evening starts with the crowd watching the sunset at Pier 60, then moves to tiki decks and beach bars with cover bands. It gets louder in spring break season, and anyone after a proper night out drives to Ybor City.

St. Augustine's drinking happens in the old town instead. Pubs, taverns and cocktail bars with courtyards cluster around St. George Street, Hypolita Street and the bayfront, and college students liven things up in term time.

The landscapes are much alike: flat, watery country with no hills, and dolphins, ospreys and herons in both. Clearwater has a little more to do. Caladesi and Honeymoon Island keep stretches of Gulf coast wild, manatees gather in sheltered water in winter, and the marina runs sailing, parasailing and deep-sea fishing. The Pinellas Trail is good for easy cycling on an old rail line.

St. Augustine's setting is tidal salt marsh and maritime hammock along the Matanzas River. The best of it is long marsh walks in the Guana Tolomato Matanzas reserve, kayaking through the creeks and paddleboarding on the Anastasia lagoon.

Clearwater has the stronger set of days out. St Petersburg has the Dalí Museum, Tampa has the old cigar quarter of Ybor City, Tarpon Springs has its Greek sponge-diving harbour, and Sarasota has the Ringling Museum and Ca' d'Zan. Between them they make up for the lack of sights in Clearwater itself.

St. Augustine's list is shorter. Jacksonville's museums and Cummer gardens, Victorian Fernandina Beach and the Daytona speedway are the main options. Kennedy Space Center is a long but rewarding day. From either city Orlando's theme parks are about two hours away, and you need a car for almost everything.

Clearwater suits young children better. The surf-free shallows and lifeguarded beach make paddling easy, the marine aquarium cares for rescued dolphins and turtles, and pirate boat trips leave from the marina. Busch Gardens and a water park are an easy drive away, and condos with pools and kitchens are everywhere.

St. Augustine keeps children busy for a shorter stay. There are cannon firings at the fort, alligators and a zipline at the 1893 Alligator Farm, and the lighthouse to climb. Its historic centre is compact and safe, but for big rides you still have the two-hour drive to Orlando.

St. Augustine is easier to manage without constant driving. The fort, St. George Street, Flagler College and the bayfront are all a few minutes' walk apart, and sightseeing trolleys loop past the rest, so you can park once and spend the day on foot. The beaches and lighthouse still need a car or bike.

In Clearwater the walkable part is the beach island itself, which has a trolley down to Sand Key and a water taxi to downtown. Almost every outing beyond that crosses low-rise sprawl by car, and causeway traffic backs up on busy weekends.

Neither town is a place to shop seriously, but the browsing is different. Clearwater has beachwear and souvenir stalls on the strip and malls on the mainland. Its most local find is natural sponges from Tarpon Springs, and luxury shopping means a drive to Tampa.

St. Augustine has more character to browse. There are art galleries, antique dealers and craft shops around Aviles Street, bottles of datil-pepper sauce to take home, and an outlet mall by the interstate for mainstream brands.

Both cost about the same, and neither is cheap. In Clearwater the beachfront rooms are the expensive part, especially in the late-winter and spring peak. Mainland motels and condos with kitchens bring the cost down, and summer is cheaper if you accept the heat and storms.

In St. Augustine the pressure falls on the historic inns and B&Bs within walking distance of the old town, particularly at weekends. Highway motels, island stays and midweek visits are the ways to save there.

The two are evenly matched, with one main stage each. Clearwater's Ruth Eckerd Hall is an indoor venue for touring Broadway shows, comedians and orchestral concerts, and the 1920s Capitol Theatre stages smaller shows.

St. Augustine's main stage is the open-air Amphitheatre in the woods on Anastasia Island, which books rock, country and folk acts, and there is also a community theatre. For opera or ballet, you drive to Tampa from one and Jacksonville from the other.

Neither has a bathing tradition or spas worth travelling for, but Clearwater is the easier place to switch off. It is a low-rise resort and retirement town with nothing to get up early for, so days drift between hotel pools, shaded balconies and evenings at the marina. It is least restful during spring break and in the summer heat.

St. Augustine offers quiet B&B verandas, courtyard gardens and an evening walk on the bayfront seawall. Its sightseeing and busy weekend crowds make it feel more gentle than truly restful, so midweek is the time to go if you want calm.