Fort Lauderdale or Palm Beach?

Both towns sit on the same warm Gulf Stream water, so the difference is the shore itself. Fort Lauderdale has a long, wide public strip along A1A with lifeguard towers the whole way, and a reef you can snorkel from the beach at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.

On Palm Beach much of the shore lies behind seawalls and estates and narrows at high tide. Swimmers mostly use the Municipal Beach and Phipps Ocean Park, or drive to Singer Island or Jupiter. The consolation is Peanut Island, with calm, shallow water inside the inlet.

Neither is a food destination, but the two eat in opposite styles. Fort Lauderdale is casual: grouper and mahi on a dock by the Intracoastal, brunch on Las Olas, and jerk chicken and oxtail from the Jamaican and Haitian neighbourhoods out west.

Palm Beach dresses up for dinner, with French and Italian dining rooms and long terrace lunches off Worth Avenue where dress codes count. For something looser you cross to West Palm Beach for Cuban bakeries and the waterfront green market.

Palm Beach has the clearer story to tell. Flagler's Whitehall, Mizner's Mediterranean Revival vias and the estates along South Ocean Boulevard make the Gilded Age visible on foot or by bike. The Norton Museum across the lagoon is a serious collection worth half a day.

Fort Lauderdale is a younger city with a shorter list: the Bonnet House in its gardens, the Stranahan House on the New River and the NSU Art Museum. A day covers it, and many visitors end up driving north to the Flagler Museum anyway.

Fort Lauderdale is the place for a night out. The beach bars on A1A fill from late afternoon, Himmarshee Street runs late for a younger crowd, and Wilton Manors is one of the country's best-known gay neighbourhoods, with drag shows along Wilton Drive.

Palm Beach island is quiet by eleven, and much of its social life happens in private clubs. Clematis Street and Rosemary Square in West Palm Beach have rooftops and a couple of dance floors, which is enough for a night or two.

Both are flat coasts where the best of the outdoors is on or under the water, but the emphasis differs. Fort Lauderdale is about exploring the canals and the Intracoastal by kayak or boat, diving the wrecks offshore and taking an airboat into the Everglades, less than an hour west.

Palm Beach suits divers who like slow, close-up looking: the shallow site under the Blue Heron Bridge is known for octopus and seahorses. On land it has the Lake Trail by bike, boardwalks at Loxahatchee, turtles nesting in summer and manatees in winter.

The two share a coast, so the day trips overlap: Miami, Delray Beach and Boca Raton work from either. Fort Lauderdale is closer to Miami and has Key Largo just within reach, which makes it the better base for heading south.

Palm Beach looks north instead, to Jupiter's red-brick lighthouse and the river town of Stuart for an easy half-day. From both, the trips are mostly to resort towns that resemble each other, with little older heritage nearby.

Both work well with children, in different ways. Fort Lauderdale keeps it simple: the broad, lifeguarded beach is the centre of the day, with the hands-on Museum of Discovery and Science downtown and an Everglades airboat ride as extras.

Palm Beach island is built for adults, and its formal restaurants can feel stiff with young children. Across the bridge, though, the zoo, the science centre, Manatee Lagoon and a drive-through safari park give plenty of outings, and Peanut Island's shallow lagoon suits small swimmers.

Both expect a car once you leave a small core. In Fort Lauderdale that core is the triangle of beach, Las Olas and the New River, linked by water taxis on the canals and free trolleys, which makes even getting from place to place a pleasure.

Palm Beach is best seen by bike, flat and quiet along the Lake Trail, and downtown West Palm Beach has a free trolley loop. Both are on the fast train to Miami. The ride is just shorter from Fort Lauderdale.

Worth Avenue puts Palm Beach well ahead. It is a real luxury street of major fashion houses and jewellers set among Mizner's courtyards, and around it are consignment shops selling designer pieces from local wardrobes. Across the water, the dealers of Antique Row in West Palm Beach add more.

Fort Lauderdale's Las Olas is pleasant for an afternoon of swimwear and resort fashion, but there is not much to it. The city's real strength is bargains, at the vast outlet mall in Sunrise out west.

Fort Lauderdale is not a cheap beach town, but it has a middle layer that Palm Beach lacks: modest places to stay within walking distance of the sand, and casual fish places on the Intracoastal where a meal is priced like anywhere else in Florida. The island at Palm Beach has no such tier. Its hotels and restaurants are pitched at wealthy residents, so the usual way to save there is to sleep in West Palm Beach and drive over, something you rarely need to do in Fort Lauderdale.

In other respects the two cost much the same. Both are at their dearest in the winter season and get much cheaper in the hot, stormy summer, and both expect a hired car and paid parking near the beach. In both, the best things are free: the sand and the sea, a walk on the A1A promenade or a ride along the Lake Trail.

Each relies on one big hall for touring Broadway shows, ballet and concerts: the Broward Center on the New River in Fort Lauderdale and the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. What differs is the depth of the programme and when it runs.

Palm Beach adds a short winter opera season, serious plays at Palm Beach Dramaworks and chamber music at the Society of the Four Arts, but much of it thins out from late spring. Fort Lauderdale has more rock and indie gigs and bar bands, with Miami's arts centre nearby for classical evenings.

Palm Beach is the more restful place. The island is quiet and manicured, with walks along the lagoon and few crowds outside winter. Its oceanfront resorts have large spas with salt-water pools, enough to carry a whole wellness stay.

Fort Lauderdale has resort spas, day spas on Las Olas and sunrise yoga on the sand, much like any American beach town. Its easygoing pace is real away from spring weekends, but the beach-bar scene makes it less of a retreat.