Florianopolis or Paraty?

Florianopolis is a beach destination first, and its range is wider. Sheltered, warmer bays line the north shore at Jurere and Daniela, long surf beaches with stronger currents run along the east at Joaquina and Mole, and wild coves such as Lagoinha do Leste in the south can only be reached on foot or by boat. Wherever you stay, good sand is close by.

Paraty's own town beaches are poor, so the swimming there comes by schooner to small, forest-backed island coves in a calm, warmer bay, or by road to Trindade's open-sea beaches and the clear rock pool at Cachadaço. It is lovely, but more of it has to be reached by boat or trail.

Both kitchens rest on seafood, but Florianopolis eats better. Its farmed oysters, served at waterfront tables in Santo Antonio de Lisboa and Ribeirao da Ilha, and the long run of shrimp dishes in a sequencia de camarao are real reasons to book a table. The Mercado Publico adds a lively spot for a cold chope among the fishmongers.

Paraty has its blue-green azul marinho stew and a few ambitious candlelit dining rooms in the old town, but much of the centre's cooking is aimed at visitors and there is no market. Its stronger card is cachaça, tasted at small distilleries in the hills.

In Paraty, the colonial centre is the attraction. It is an intact grid of 18th and 19th century whitewashed houses on big stones, with the baroque Santa Rita church on the waterfront, and the whole setting of town, forest and bay is listed by UNESCO. It fills one unhurried day of walking, and a memorable one.

Florianopolis has more heritage than you might expect, but it is scattered: the Hercilio Luz bridge, the pink palace on Praca XV, the Azorean villages with their whitewashed churches and the old fortresses around the bay. It makes a good afternoon away from the beach rather than the point of the trip.

In season Florianopolis is a real party island. Jurere Internacional's beach clubs run from afternoon into the night, big-name DJs play in high season and Carnival, and younger crowds drink in the street around Lagoa da Conceicao. In winter it shrinks to bars.

Paraty has no clubs to speak of. Its evenings are a long dinner and caipirinhas to live guitar in the old town, with beach parties at Trindade for backpackers, and outside busy weekends it goes quiet early.

Both have Atlantic forest meeting the sea, but Paraty's setting is more dramatic. The Serra do Mar rises straight from the bay into the Serra da Bocaina national park, with cobbled Gold Trail paths, waterfalls and swimming holes. Out on the water, the bay's islands and the fjord-like Saco do Mamanguá make superb country for kayaking and snorkelling.

Florianopolis answers with sport. It has consistent surf on the east coast, kitesurfing and windsurfing on the Lagoa da Conceicao, sandboarding on the Joaquina dunes and trail walks to Lagoinha do Leste. From July to November, southern right whales calve off the coast to the south.

Florianopolis has more to choose from on the mainland. You can visit the German-settled towns of Blumenau and Pomerode about two hours inland, the high-rise beach city of Balneario Camboriu, surf towns such as Praia do Rosa and the colonial centre of Laguna.

Paraty is somewhere to stay put. Trindade is the easy outing and the pottery town of Cunha is a pleasant drive over the mountains. Ilha Grande needs a night of its own, though, and Rio is too far for a day.

Florianopolis is easier with children. The northern beaches at Canasvieiras and Daniela have shallow, gentle water and room to spread out, older children can sandboard at Joaquina, and the Beto Carrero World theme park is within a day's reach to the north. Summer traffic between beaches is the main drawback.

Paraty works for families who enjoy simple outdoor days, such as boat trips with swimming stops, Trindade's rock pools and the natural waterfall slide. Nothing there is built for children, though, and the old town's rounded stones are hard on pushchairs.

Paraty is the easier place to manage without a car, at least in town. The car-free historic centre takes ten minutes to cross, even if the stones slow you down, and boats leave from the quay for the bay beaches. Only the waterfalls, distilleries and Mamanguá call for a taxi or a tour.

Florianopolis spreads its beaches along some 50km of narrow island roads. The hub-based buses make short hops slow, and in summer, traffic jams clog the bridges and the roads to Lagoa and the north. Choose a base close to the beaches you want and plan on a hire car or ride-hailing.

Neither is a shopping destination, and what differs is the kind of browsing. Paraty's colonial shopfronts hold galleries, linen clothing, handmade jewellery and craft such as indigenous basketry, painted wooden boats and hand-labelled cachaça, which makes for a pleasant evening stroll.

Florianopolis has large air-conditioned malls for Brazilian fashion and swimwear, plus surf boutiques in Jurere and Lagoa. Its own souvenir is the bobbin lace made in the Azorean villages.

Costs are much alike. Both are pricey by Brazilian standards but moderate for most foreign visitors, and in each the simple fish restaurants and local buses are good value.

The pressure points differ. On the island, summer rooms climb steeply and Jurere Internacional is priced as a luxury enclave, while the months outside December to March bring real savings. In Paraty the old-town pousadas cost most, long weekends and the literary festival push rates up, and staying just outside the centre is noticeably cheaper.

Neither is a place to plan a trip around performances. Florianopolis has formal stages, the 19th-century Teatro Alvaro de Carvalho and the Centro Integrado de Cultura, which host touring Brazilian artists, plus samba and MPB in the bars at Lagoa. Paraty's music is informal, with bossa nova and samba in old-town restaurants, and its puppet theatre tradition and festival concerts add colour.

Both offer calm more than treatments, and both are best for it out of season. Florianopolis has the only proper bathing option of the two, the warm mineral springs at Santo Amaro da Imperatriz and Aguas Mornas, under an hour inland, as well as yoga studios for the surf crowd.

Paraty's version is slow mornings in the car-free old town, garden pousadas with hammocks and pools, and small retreats in the forest or on the bay for switching off completely.