Fort Lauderdale or St. Petersburg, Florida?

These are two of Florida's strongest beach bases, but on different seas. Fort Lauderdale's sand runs right along the city's barrier island beside the A1A promenade, with lifeguard towers, clear Atlantic water and a reef within snorkelling reach at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. Because the water stays warm all winter, it is the better choice for swimming between December and March.

St. Petersburg's beaches lie on the Gulf islands a short drive west of downtown, with finer white sand and calmer, shallower water at St. Pete Beach and Pass-a-Grille. Fort De Soto and ferry-only Caladesi Island feel wilder than anything near Fort Lauderdale. The trade-offs are cool winter water and the occasional red tide, where the Atlantic side has to put up with summer seaweed.

Neither is a place to travel for the food, and they come out about even. Fort Lauderdale's best eating is fish on a dock along the Intracoastal and, further inland, the Jamaican, Haitian and Cuban cooking of Broward's western suburbs, which takes a drive to find.

St. Petersburg keeps its good eating closer to the visitor, with grouper sandwiches in Pass-a-Grille's shacks and a run of chef-led kitchens along Central Avenue. Its craft breweries are a real draw. When a better meal is called for, Fort Lauderdale looks south to Miami and St. Petersburg looks across the bay to Ybor City.

St. Petersburg is well ahead here. The Dalí Museum's collection is a reason to visit in its own right, and the Museum of Fine Arts, the James Museum of Western art and the Chihuly glass are a short walk away on the same waterfront. Add the murals of the Central Arts District and the pink Don CeSar, and a visitor can fill several days.

Fort Lauderdale has a few pleasant visits, chiefly the Bonnet House estate in its gardens and the pioneer Stranahan House on the New River, but a single day covers them.

Fort Lauderdale has the bigger night out of the two, though it is loud and casual rather than polished, and neither city is much good for clubbing. A night here can move around: drinks on the A1A beachfront from late afternoon, then downtown to Himmarshee Street, where the bars keep a younger crowd out well past midnight, and on to Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors, a gay neighbourhood known far beyond Florida for its bars and drag shows. Couples after something calmer have the wine bars and terraces of Las Olas.

St. Petersburg's evenings are slower and stay in one place. Going out mostly means a single walkable stretch of Central Avenue, where a taproom, a rooftop terrace and a cocktail bar can sit on the same block. Out on the Gulf islands, drinking happens in open-air bars and starts early. It suits a couple who want a good drink and a late dinner, while anyone hoping to stay out into the small hours will find more to do on the Atlantic coast.

Both are flat and the outdoors is mostly on the water, so the choice depends on what you want to do there. Fort Lauderdale is for boats and diving: canal and Intracoastal paddling past waterfront mansions, reef and wreck dives offshore, sailfish trips, and the Everglades with its airboats and alligators less than an hour west.

St. Petersburg is quieter and wilder at water level. Mangrove paddling trails at Weedon Island and Shell Key bring dolphins, rays and, in winter, manatees, Fort De Soto is good for birding, and the long, paved Pinellas Trail makes cycling easy in a way Fort Lauderdale's wide roads do not.

The day trips are about as good from each city, but they are different kinds of outing. From Fort Lauderdale, the big one is Miami: Art Deco South Beach, Wynwood's murals and Little Havana, all in one full day. Palm Beach's Flagler mansion and Key Largo at the top of the Keys complete the list.

St. Petersburg has a wider spread of smaller places: Ybor City's old cigar streets in Tampa, the Ringling estate in Sarasota, and the Greek sponge docks of Tarpon Springs, which feel like nowhere else in the state. In both cases a week uses up the distinct options.

The two are close for families, and St. Petersburg has a slight edge. Fort Lauderdale's draws are a lifeguarded beach with water warm enough for children in any month, the hands-on Museum of Discovery and Science and an Everglades airboat ride, but Orlando is out of range.

St. Petersburg has shallower, gentler Gulf water for toddlers and more within a drive: the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, plus Busch Gardens, ZooTampa and the Florida Aquarium across the bay. Orlando's parks can just be managed in a long day. In both places, summer middays and the reliance on a car are the hard part.

Both cities are built around the car, and they are equally manageable without one if you keep to the centre. Fort Lauderdale's walkable triangle of beach, Las Olas and downtown is linked by canal water taxis and trolleys, and fast trains to Miami make that day trip easy without a car.

In St. Petersburg the walkable part is downtown itself, with the museums, pier and Central Avenue close together. A rapid bus reaches St. Pete Beach and the Pinellas Trail suits bikes. Elsewhere in either city, buses are slow and most visitors drive.

Fort Lauderdale is the better place to shop. Las Olas Boulevard makes for an easy afternoon among swimwear and resort-fashion boutiques, the vast outlet mall in Sunrise draws bargain hunters from abroad, and Palm Beach and Miami supply luxury nearby.

St. Petersburg's shopping is smaller and more personal: vintage and record shops in the Grand Central District, local glass and prints, and the Saturday Morning Market in winter. Anyone after brand names has to drive to Tampa's malls.

Both are pricey American beach towns, and neither will stretch a budget much further than the other. In Fort Lauderdale, rates peak through the long winter season and the festive weeks. Self-catering or older motels a few blocks back from the sand are the usual savings, and staying in the central triangle can spare the cost of a hire car.

In St. Petersburg the steepest rates fall between February and April. Staying downtown or inland is cheaper, but that puts the beach a drive or bus ride away. In both cities, summer brings the lowest prices along with the heat and storms.

The two scenes are a match in size but lean different ways. Fort Lauderdale's Broward Center is where touring Broadway musicals, ballet and comedy come, while classical music means a trip to Miami.

St. Petersburg is the reverse. The Florida Orchestra plays at the Mahaffey Theater, and a regional theatre company and a former church turned concert hall add intimate evenings, but big Broadway tours and opera are across the bay in Tampa.

Neither has a spa or bathing tradition beyond resort spas and yoga classes, so the appeal is the slow pace, which both offer equally. The difference is the time of day: on Fort Lauderdale's east-facing shore the ritual is a sunrise walk or yoga session on the sand, with the warmer winter of the two.

St. Petersburg's beaches face west, so the day winds down with the sunset, and Pass-a-Grille's sleepy streets and the banyan-shaded parks downtown are made for doing very little.