Clearwater or Williamsburg, Virginia?

This is where the two differ most. Clearwater Beach is the main reason to go: fine white sand on a barrier island, shallow water you can wade far into, and quieter alternatives at Sand Key, Caladesi Island and Honeymoon Island. You can swim off the sand nearly every day for much of the year.

Williamsburg is inland between two rivers, so a swim takes planning. There is the small strip at Yorktown, Buckroe Beach on the Chesapeake, or an hour's drive to Virginia Beach on the Atlantic. Most visitors make do with the hotel pool and add one beach day.

Neither is a food destination, but Clearwater has the slight edge, mostly because of the Gulf seafood: grouper sandwiches from dockside shacks, stone crab in season, and the Greek tavernas of Tarpon Springs within easy reach. The beachfront itself is full of chains, though.

Williamsburg's cooking is more distinctly regional, with country ham biscuits, peanut soup, Brunswick stew and Chesapeake oysters. The candlelit colonial taverns are worth it for the atmosphere rather than the food, and Richmond Road is mostly pancake houses and buffets.

Williamsburg is far ahead here. Colonial Williamsburg is a whole restored town, with Duke of Gloucester Street running past Bruton Parish Church to the Wren Building, the Governor's Palace at the end of its green, and costumed blacksmiths and printers at work. It is a careful re-creation rather than an untouched old town, but it is thorough.

Clearwater has a 1920s theatre and a few old buildings downtown, and nothing to plan a day around. Its culture is borrowed from St Petersburg and Tampa, an hour away at most.

Clearwater is the livelier of the two, though it is still a resort rather than a party town. The evening begins with the crowd watching the sunset at Pier 60, then moves on to tiki decks and cover bands, and spring brings a younger crowd that stays out later.

In Williamsburg a candlelit ghost walk or a tavern supper is a late night. Students fill a few pubs near the college in term time. For anything more you would drive to Norfolk or Richmond, just as Clearwater's night owls head to Ybor City.

Both landscapes are flat and wet, but Clearwater gives you more to do in them. The undeveloped beaches at Caladesi and Honeymoon Island, the dolphins in the harbour, the manatees in winter and the mangrove channels you can paddle put wildlife right at the edge of town, and the Pinellas Trail suits easy cycling.

Williamsburg's Tidewater is greener and more wooded, with ospreys and bald eagles along the creeks. The lightly trafficked Colonial Parkway makes a lovely drive or bike ride beside the rivers, and the Virginia Capital Trail sets off from Jamestown. Summer mosquitoes and humidity push outdoor plans into spring and autumn.

The two are about level, but the outings are very different in kind. From Clearwater the range is wide: the Dalí Museum in St Petersburg, Ybor City's cigar quarter in Tampa, the Greek sponge docks at Tarpon Springs, the Ringling in Sarasota and Orlando's theme parks.

Williamsburg's trips centre on one story. Jamestown and Yorktown are each within twenty minutes, the James River plantations line Route 5, and Richmond and Monticello carry the history further. In both places you need a car.

Both are very good with children. The difference is sand against history. In Clearwater the draw is safe paddling in surf-free water, the rescued dolphins and turtles at the Marine Aquarium, and pirate boat trips. Williamsburg mixes its own Busch Gardens and water park with musket firings, fife-and-drum parades and replica ships to climb aboard. Both have hot summers, and both need a car.

Williamsburg is a little easier on foot. The historic district, Merchants Square and the campus form one flat walk of about twenty minutes, Duke of Gloucester Street is closed to cars by day, and Amtrak stops near the centre. Clearwater Beach is compact, with a trolley to Sand Key and a ferry to downtown, but causeway traffic and slow buses make the car hard to avoid. In both places the outlying sights mean driving.

Williamsburg has more worth taking home: pewter, silver, pottery and books printed the old way in the colonial-style shops, plus Merchants Square and a big outlet centre. Clearwater's beach strip mostly sells swimwear and souvenirs, and its most local find is a natural sponge from Tarpon Springs. Neither offers luxury shopping.

Williamsburg is the cheaper place to stay. Its many motels and chain hotels are reasonably priced outside summer weekends, though admission to the colonial town, Jamestown, Yorktown and the theme parks adds up quickly, and combination passes help.

On Clearwater Beach, rooms cost most in the late winter and spring peak. The beaches themselves are free, and family condos with kitchens or mainland motels bring the cost down.

Clearwater has the more useful venues. Ruth Eckerd Hall brings in touring bands, Broadway shows and orchestras, and the restored Capitol Theatre puts on smaller concerts. Williamsburg's performances are part of the colonial setting: candlelit recitals of eighteenth-century music, period plays and fife-and-drum corps, plus student shows at the college. Neither town has opera or a major company of its own.

Neither has a bathing tradition, and both rely on resort spas. Clearwater is the more restful stay, because nothing in a low-rise beach town needs an early start, so days slip into pools, balconies and early nights. Williamsburg can be calm too, with riverside golf resorts, empty greens at dawn and slow drives on the Colonial Parkway, but the day is usually built around sightseeing.