Destin or Savannah?

Destin's sand is the whole point of the place. White quartz runs along Okaloosa Island, Henderson Beach State Park and Miramar Beach in front of clear green water, and the Crab Island sandbar on the bay side adds shallow, warm wading.

Savannah has no beach of its own. Tybee Island, about half an hour away, has wide flat sand and warm summer water, but the water is greenish-brown from the marshes and the beach town is plain. It makes a pleasant day out, not a reason to come.

Both cities rely on seafood, but Savannah has a whole cuisine built around it. Lowcountry dishes such as shrimp and grits, she-crab soup and fire-roasted oysters, family-style Southern dining rooms and a small group of chef-led kitchens in restored townhouses give you more to explore.

Destin's strength is narrower: snapper, grouper and royal red shrimp straight off the charter boats, sometimes cooked from your own catch, eaten on waterfront decks. Beyond that, the coast highway is mostly chains, and the more ambitious cooking is out along 30A.

This is where the two cities are furthest apart. In Savannah the streets themselves are the attraction. The original town plan survives, with oak-shaded squares, Federal and Greek Revival houses, Factors Walk and the Cathedral of St John the Baptist, and the Telfair Museums and the Owens-Thomas House add depth.

Destin grew out of a fishing village and kept almost nothing old. A small local museum, plus the temple mound and the military aircraft collection in neighbouring Fort Walton Beach, are the full list, so history lovers staying there end up driving to Pensacola.

Savannah offers more evenings out. Because you can carry drinks in to-go cups, people wander between River Street's cobbled bars, the taverns around City Market and cocktail rooms in old townhouses, with art-school dive bars on the edges of downtown.

Destin's nightlife is outdoors and seasonal: decks along the harbour boardwalk, beach bars on Okaloosa Island and afternoon drinking on boats at Crab Island, and it goes quiet once summer ends. Neither city has a real club scene.

Destin's outdoors reach further out to sea. Deep water lies only a short run offshore, so a morning's charter can be chasing big game fish, which Savannah's shallow tidal creeks can't match. Choctawhatchee Bay is calm enough for paddleboarding and sailing, and you can snorkel along the jetties. The state parks to the east add high white dunes and rare coastal dune lakes.\n\nSavannah's Lowcountry is quieter and more about watching than catching. You can kayak through the salt marsh at high tide, look for herons and wood storks, or walk the oak avenue at Wormsloe. You may see dolphins in either place, and in both, summer heat pushes outings into the early morning or into spring and autumn.

Savannah sits on a richer stretch of coast. Charleston is about two hours away, Beaufort and Hilton Head are closer, and Fort Pulaski and the Georgia islands of Jekyll and St Simons add variety.

From Destin the good choices are fewer: the planned towns of Seaside, Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach along 30A, and Pensacola's colonial district, naval aviation museum and forts about an hour west. Beyond those it is mostly more resort coast. From either base you will need a car.

Destin is built for family beach weeks. On top of the gentle water there are a marine park with dolphin shows, a water park, go-karts, mini golf and pirate-ship cruises. Parents should still learn the beach flag system for rip currents and expect heavy summer traffic.

Savannah works with children rather than being made for them. There is Forsyth Park and the squares for running about, trolley tours, the free river ferry, ghost walks for older children and the birthplace of the Girl Scouts' founder. With no zoo, aquarium or theme park, it fills fewer days.

In Savannah's historic district you can leave the car behind. The grid is flat and compact, most hotels and sights are a short walk apart, and a free shuttle and the river ferry fill the gaps. Bonaventure Cemetery, Wormsloe and Tybee still need a car or a tour.

Destin is the opposite. It is strung out along one congested coastal highway with few safe crossings and almost no public transport, so beyond the harbour boardwalk you need a car for nearly everything.

Neither city is a shopping destination, but the kind of browsing differs. Destin offers American resort retail: a large outlet centre near Miramar Beach, an open-air mall and surf shops, with small boutiques and galleries in the 30A towns.

Savannah's shopping is concentrated on Broughton Street and the streets around it, with restored storefronts, work by art-school students and graduates, and antique dealers and bookshops among the squares.

The two cost about the same, and neither is cheap. Destin's prices follow the sea: they are high from late spring through summer and much lower from late autumn, when the water is too cold to swim. Renting a condo with a kitchen or staying along the bay saves the most.

Savannah's highs come on spring weekends and festival dates. On the other hand, walking the squares, Forsyth Park and the cemeteries costs nothing, and staying in a highway motel or visiting midweek in summer brings the bill down.

Savannah has much the stronger calendar. It is anchored by the Savannah Music Festival each spring in historic theatres and churches, and backed by a philharmonic orchestra, the restored Lucas and Trustees theatres and an autumn jazz festival in Forsyth Park.

Destin's live music is mostly cover bands on bar decks. The symphony and touring shows play across the bay in Niceville, and in summer there are concerts on the lawns of the 30A towns.

In Destin you have to time your calm, while in Savannah it comes with the streets. Destin is restful mostly in spring and autumn, with early walks on empty sand and long afternoons on a balcony. In summer, traffic and crowds take much of that away, and pampering means the big resort spas around Sandestin and Miramar Beach.\n\nSavannah's historic district moves at an unhurried pace all on its own. People sit on benches under the oaks in the squares, and the old inns have porches and garden courtyards where doing nothing comes easily. Take a room on one of the quieter southern squares, midweek in spring or autumn, and stay away from River Street at weekends.