Destin or St. Louis?

This is the widest gap between the two. Destin has fine white quartz sand and clear green Gulf water stretching from Okaloosa Island and Henderson Beach State Park east to Miramar Beach and the 30A coast, plus the shallow, warm Crab Island sandbar on the bay side. Watch the flags, as rip currents make rough days dangerous.

St. Louis has no beach to speak of. The Mississippi and Missouri are fast working rivers, not swimming spots, so summer cooling off means a pool or a long drive to an Ozark reservoir.

St. Louis is the more interesting place to eat. It has dishes of its own, from toasted ravioli and Provel-topped cracker-crust pizza to gooey butter cake and frozen custard, plus serious rib barbecue, the Italian trattorias of the Hill and the Bosnian grills of South Grand. The Soulard Market and a deep brewing tradition round it out.

Destin does one thing well: Gulf seafood straight off the charter boats, grouper sandwiches and royal red shrimp on harbour decks. Beyond that the coast highway is mostly chains, and the more ambitious cooking sits east along 30A.

Destin grew from a fishing village and kept almost none of its past. Beyond a small fishing museum, the sights are next door in Fort Walton Beach: a prehistoric temple mound and an outdoor collection of military aircraft.

St. Louis gives you days of real sightseeing. There is the Gateway Arch with its museum of westward expansion, the Old Courthouse where the Dred Scott case began, and the free art and history museums in Forest Park. The mosaics of the Cathedral Basilica, the pioneering Wainwright skyscraper and whole Victorian streets in Lafayette Square and Soulard complete it.

Neither is a nightlife destination, but the evenings feel different. Destin is about open-air decks on the harbour boardwalk, beach bars on Okaloosa Island and afternoon drinking on boats at Crab Island, all flip-flops and frozen drinks, and it largely goes quiet outside summer and spring break.

St. Louis spreads its bars across separate districts: blues taverns in Soulard, dance bars on Washington Avenue, the LGBTQ+ strip of the Grove and student haunts on the Delmar Loop. It runs all year but needs taxis between areas.

Destin has the edge, and almost all of it is on the water. Deep-sea charters, dolphins in the pass, snorkelling along the jetties and paddling on calm Choctawhatchee Bay are the draws, with high white dunes and rare coastal dune lakes in the state parks to the east.

St. Louis is a land-based alternative: the woods and lakes of Forest Park, river bluffs and caves at Castlewood and Meramec within an hour, the Katy Trail for cyclists and wintering bald eagles near Alton. The rolling Ozark foothills are pleasant rather than dramatic.

St. Louis has more worth driving to. Cahokia Mounds, the UNESCO-listed site of the largest pre-Columbian city north of Mexico, is twenty minutes away, and French colonial Ste. Genevieve, the German wine towns of Hermann and Augusta, Twain's Hannibal and Lincoln's Springfield are all within reach.

From Destin the good outings are fewer. The planned pastel towns of Seaside, Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach make a pleasant half-day along 30A, and Pensacola, an hour west, adds a colonial historic district, a naval aviation museum and brick forts.

Both work well with children, in very different ways. Destin is a beach-and-pool vacation: soft sand, gentle water on calm days, condos with kitchens, a marine park with dolphin shows, a water park, go-karts and pirate-ship cruises. Rip currents and summer storms are the things to watch.

St. Louis suits families who like doing rather than lounging. The climbable maze of the City Museum, the free zoo and Science Center in Forest Park, the Magic House and the tram pods up the Arch fill several days, with baseball for an evening out.

Both need a car, but St. Louis is the easier of the two. MetroLink connects the airport, the Central West End, Forest Park and downtown, the roads are uncongested and parking is simple, even if Soulard, the Hill and the day trips still mean driving.

Destin strings out along one coastal highway that clogs in summer, with few safe crossings on foot and almost no public transport. Only the harbour boardwalk and the 30A bike trail are pleasant without wheels.

Destin has a slight lead for people who shop for brands. The large outlet centre near Miramar Beach and an open-air mall cover the big names, and the 30A towns add stylish boutiques and home-décor shops.

St. Louis is better for browsing with character: antiques, vintage and record shops on Cherokee Street, independent stores on the Delmar Loop and galleries in the Central West End, with the big-name fashion out in suburban malls.

St. Louis is the cheaper stay. Hotels cost noticeably less than in coastal cities, the zoo and the main museums in Forest Park are free, and barbecue and Bosnian grills keep meals inexpensive, though a hire car adds up.

Destin is expensive in the season you would actually want to go, with resort-coast rates for beachfront condos, waterfront dining, parking and charter fishing. Winter brings rental prices down sharply, but the sea is then too cold for swimming.

St. Louis is in another league here. The Saint Louis Symphony, founded in 1880, plays in the ornate Powell Hall, touring Broadway shows fill the Fabulous Fox, and the Muny stages summer musicals outdoors in Forest Park. The city of Chuck Berry and the "St. Louis Blues" also keeps live blues and jazz going in Soulard and downtown, with the National Blues Museum to explain it.

In Destin, live performance means cover bands on bar decks and summer lawn concerts in the 30A towns, with the regional symphony across the bay in Niceville.

Neither has a spa tradition, but Destin is the more restful choice. The big golf and beach resorts around Sandestin and Miramar Beach have proper spas, and early walks on empty sand and quiet balcony afternoons suit spring and autumn, before summer traffic takes the calm away.

St. Louis offers hotel and day spas in Clayton and the Central West End, while its easiest calm is a slow morning in the Japanese garden of the Missouri Botanical Garden.