Destin or Pensacola?

These are two of the finest stretches of white quartz sand on the Gulf, with the same clear green water. Destin's beaches run in a long, built-up line from Okaloosa Island through Henderson Beach State Park to Miramar Beach. On the bay side, Crab Island draws boats that anchor in shallow, warm water.

Pensacola's beach is across the bridges from town. Much of it is protected as the Gulf Islands National Seashore, so you get long stretches of undeveloped dune, and the calm sound side is ideal for toddlers. At both, watch the rip-current flags.

Both cities live on Gulf seafood: grouper sandwiches, royal red shrimp and oysters at waterfront decks. Destin's edge is its fishing harbour, where charter boats land snapper and amberjack and some kitchens will cook what you caught. The more ambitious cooking is out along 30A.

Pensacola adds a town to eat in. Palafox Street has modern Southern restaurants, brunch spots, craft breweries and a Saturday market, and the gumbo has a Creole touch. Neither has much range beyond seafood and Southern food.

This is where the two differ most. Destin grew from a fishing village and kept almost nothing historic. Its sights are a small fishing museum and, in Fort Walton Beach next door, a Native American temple mound and a park of military aircraft.

Pensacola has lived under five flags. Its Spanish, British and Victorian past survives around Plaza Ferdinand and the Seville district, and brick Fort Pickens stands at the tip of Santa Rosa Island. The naval aviation museum alone can fill a day, so a Destin visitor wanting history ends up driving to Pensacola anyway.

Pensacola has a little more choice after dark, mainly because it has a downtown. Palafox Street and Seville Quarter have pubs, cocktail bars, rooftop terraces and taprooms, full of locals and young Navy personnel at weekends. The famous roadhouse bar on the Alabama line at Perdido Key adds a rowdier night out.

Destin's going out is more of a daytime affair: boats rafting up at Crab Island in the afternoon, then frozen drinks on the harbour boardwalk decks. Neither has real clubs, and both go quiet early outside summer.

Pensacola has a little more variety outdoors. The national seashore protects salt marsh and maritime forest that are good for watching ospreys and herons. A sunken aircraft carrier offshore makes a large dive reef, and the clear Blackwater River inland is a classic for canoeing and tubing.

Destin's outdoors is mostly on the water. Deep water lies close to shore, so big-game fishing charters are quick, and the calm Choctawhatchee Bay suits paddling. The rare coastal dune lakes in the state parks to the east are worth a bike ride. Both coasts are flat and too humid in summer for more than early-morning walks.

The two cities are about an hour apart, and each is the other's obvious day out. From Destin, the pastel planned towns of Seaside and Rosemary Beach on 30A are closer and easier, and Pensacola's forts and museum are the main source of history.

Pensacola looks the other way, to Mobile with its antebellum streets, Mardi Gras heritage and battleship. Fairhope and Fort Morgan lie across Mobile Bay. From either base, the good options run out after these.

Destin is the more complete family resort. Beyond the gentle water there is a long-running marine park with dolphin and sea-lion shows, a large water park, go-karts, mini golf and pirate-ship cruises from the harbour, so rainy or restless days are easy to fill.

Pensacola works well for a simpler beach week. It has the toddler-friendly sound side, a zoo, the lighthouse climb and the tunnels of Fort Pickens. Children who love planes will be thrilled by the aviation museum and the Blue Angels' home base, but there are no big theme-park attractions.

You need a car in both. Destin strings out along a single coastal highway that jams in summer and has few safe crossings, so walking is limited to the harbour boardwalk and some beachfront stretches.

Pensacola at least has a compact downtown around Palafox Street that you can explore on foot, and a seasonal trolley along the beach. Still, the island, the naval air station and Perdido Key are all separate drives over bridges.

Destin is a better shopping trip. A large outlet centre near Miramar Beach draws shoppers from across the region, there is an open-air mall of chain stores, and the 30A towns have boutiques, galleries and home-décor shops with some style.

In Pensacola, Palafox Street offers a handful of antique and gift shops and the crafts at the Saturday market, and otherwise there is just an ordinary mall. Neither has luxury shopping or markets worth travelling for.

Pensacola is the cheaper of the two, although neither is a bargain in summer. Rooms in town and inland cost noticeably less than beachfront, the casual seafood is fairly priced, the aviation museum is free and the national seashore costs little to enter.

Destin is a resort coast through and through. Waterfront dining and paid outings like charter fishing add up quickly. In both places, a condo with a kitchen and a trip outside the summer peak bring costs down a lot, and both need car hire.

Pensacola has the livelier stage. The restored Saenger Theatre, built in 1925, is home to the local symphony, opera and ballet and hosts touring shows, and a long-running community theatre adds more. It's regional in scale, but it makes a real night out.

In Destin you have to cross the bay to Niceville for the symphony. Otherwise there are small theatre companies, summer lawn concerts in the 30A towns and cover bands on bar decks.

Neither has a spa tradition, so the difference lies in the kind of rest each offers. Destin has the polished resort spas of Sandestin and Miramar Beach, which suit a pampered stay with golf.

Pensacola's calm comes more from its quiet places, such as the empty stretches of Perdido Key and the undeveloped national seashore. In both, the restful seasons are spring and autumn, before and after the summer crowds.