Daytona Beach or Virginia Beach?

These two are about level for beaches but feel different. Daytona's sand is hard-packed and very wide, firm enough for cars on marked stretches, with surf and rip currents most of the way along. Ormond Beach and Ponce Inlet are the quieter ends, and the water stays warm for much longer each year.

Virginia Beach has more variety in a shorter season. Its three-mile boardwalk runs behind a busy hotel row, the Chesapeake Bay beaches near First Landing have calm water for small children, and Sandbridge has dunes and rental houses instead of towers.

Virginia Beach has somewhat better food. Its strength is a real local catch: Lynnhaven oysters and Chesapeake blue crab served as crab cakes, steamed with Old Bay or in she-crab soup. Town Center adds more polished dining, and Norfolk is half an hour away when you want more choice.

Daytona's best meals are fried shrimp, grouper sandwiches and smoked fish dip at the fish camps on the Halifax River. Away from the water, chains line the main roads, and there is very little fine dining.

Neither city is a sightseeing destination, and each takes a day or two to see. Daytona's story is speed. Its main sights are the Speedway tour and the land-speed history of its sand, the Cuban art and planetarium at the Museum of Arts and Sciences, and the climb up Florida's tallest lighthouse.

Virginia Beach's story is colonial. Cape Henry marks the 1607 landing near a lighthouse finished in 1792, and the Adam Thoroughgood House is a rare early brick home. King Neptune on the boardwalk is the photo stop.

Both offer casual, beery nights out and not much more. The difference is when they come alive. Daytona fills up for Bike Week, Biketoberfest and race weeks, when the biker saloons on Main Street spill onto the street, and is mostly tiki bars and hotel lounges the rest of the year.

Virginia Beach is at its liveliest on summer evenings, with rooftop decks and sports bars along Atlantic Avenue full of vacationers and sailors. Town Center has the cocktail bars Daytona lacks, and Ghent in Norfolk is close by.

The outdoors are just as good in each place, flat but full of wildlife, with dolphins in both. South of Daytona you can kayak the Mosquito Lagoon in Canaveral National Seashore, go birding at Merritt Island and see manatees at Blue Spring in winter, but summer heat pushes plans to the early morning.

Virginia Beach has the maritime forest and cypress swamp of First Landing, plus the long, empty barrier spit of Back Bay and False Cape, reached on foot or by bike. It suits walkers and cyclists, while Daytona leans more towards paddling.

Both are good bases for day trips, but the trips are different. From Daytona the variety is wide: St Augustine's Spanish fort, the rockets at Kennedy Space Center and the Orlando theme parks are each about an hour away.

From Virginia Beach the focus is history. Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown make a strong colonial day, with Norfolk's battleship and Kitty Hawk's flight site further options.

Virginia Beach is the better place for children. The Virginia Aquarium is a proper half-day or full-day attraction, the bay beaches are gentle enough for toddlers, and an amusement park and Colonial Williamsburg are within about an hour.

Daytona has the wide sand, boardwalk arcades and Orlando's parks nearby. The downsides are rip currents, intense summer heat, and the event weeks and spring break, which bring crowds and noise most families avoid.

You will want a car in either city, but Virginia Beach is a little easier without one. At its Oceanfront you can walk or cycle the boardwalk, and a summer trolley runs along Atlantic Avenue.

Daytona has nothing like that. Apart from the beach itself and the short stretch around the boardwalk, everything is spread along wide roads on both sides of the river, and traffic jams badly during big events.

Neither city is worth a shopping trip, and both offer mainly malls and souvenirs. Daytona has a large outlet centre, motorcycle gear on Main Street and a few galleries on Beach Street. Virginia Beach has the open-air streets of Town Center and surf shops with long roots in the town.

Daytona is the cheaper of the two. Older oceanfront motels and condo rentals are plentiful, and prices are reasonable as long as you avoid the Daytona 500 and Bike Week.

Virginia Beach is expensive in summer, especially at weekends, which is exactly when the water is warm enough to swim. Its rooms get much cheaper out of season, but by then the beach is for walking, not swimming.

Virginia Beach is better placed for live performance, mainly because Norfolk is half an hour away, with the Virginia Opera, the Virginia Symphony and the Virginia Arts Festival each spring. Closer to the Oceanfront, a large amphitheatre books touring rock and country acts all summer.

Daytona's best offer is a winter series of visiting orchestras and soloists, with touring Broadway shows at the Peabody Auditorium and free summer concerts at the oceanfront bandshell. For anything more, people drive to Orlando.

Calm in Daytona depends on the calendar more than the season. Mild winter mornings on the hard sand and slow afternoons by a condo pool are peaceful, but race weeks and Bike Week bring engines and crowds that take over the town.

Virginia Beach is quietest in spring and autumn and at its loudest in high summer, when the Oceanfront is crowded. Beyond that, both rely on resort hotel spas and a few day spas, so the rest comes from timing your visit rather than from any bathing tradition.