Fort Lauderdale or Trinidad, Cuba?

Both have warm water and pale sand, but in Fort Lauderdale the beach is the whole point. A long, wide lifeguarded strip runs the length of the barrier island. To the north, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is quieter and you can snorkel a reef straight from the shore, while Hollywood to the south has a family promenade.

Trinidad's Caribbean is calm and very clear, but the town sits inland, so a swim means a short trip out to Playa Ancon or to the smaller shore at La Boca. It makes a good afternoon off between days in the old town, but it is not enough for a beach vacation in itself.

Neither is a place for serious eaters, but Fort Lauderdale has more range. There is grilled grouper and stone crab on docks along the Intracoastal, a row of terraces on Las Olas, and Jamaican, Haitian and Cuban cooking in the inland suburbs. Miami is close by for a bigger night out.

Trinidad serves Cuban home cooking in paladares and casas particulares, and the best meal is often your host's own dinner, with a canchanchara in a clay cup. It is pleasant, but supplies are unpredictable and the same dishes come round on every menu.

Here Trinidad is in a different league. The whole old town is a preserved sugar-era settlement of cobbles, pastel houses and church towers around the Plaza Mayor, and it is listed by UNESCO. The museums are small, but two or three days of wandering are well spent.

Fort Lauderdale is a young city. Its sights, the Bonnet House estate, the Stranahan House trading post and the NSU Art Museum, fit easily into a single day, and its character comes from the waterways rather than the buildings.

Fort Lauderdale has more places to go and more kinds of evening. There are beach bars along A1A, late bars on Himmarshee Street, wine terraces on Las Olas, and the gay bars and drag shows of Wilton Manors. Miami is near enough when you want clubs.

In Trinidad the same scene repeats every night: rum cocktails and salsa on the steps beside the Plaza Mayor, then a nightclub in a cave above the town. It is more sociable than anything on A1A, with locals and visitors mixing, but a few nights cover it.

The outdoors is different in each, and Trinidad has the edge on scenery. The Escambray mountains rise behind the town, forest trails in Topes de Collantes lead to the waterfall pool of Salto del Caburni, horse rides cross the Valle de los Ingenios, and there is a reef off Ancon.

Fort Lauderdale is flat, and its outdoors is on the water. You can kayak the canals and the Intracoastal, dive on reefs and sunk wrecks close to shore, go sport fishing, or take an airboat into the Everglades less than an hour west. In both places the dry winter months are best for walking.

Trinidad's outings have more history. The Valle de los Ingenios, with its ruined mills and the Manaca Iznaga tower, begins at the edge of town. The colonial centres of Cienfuegos and Sancti Spiritus are each about an hour and a half away, although you need a taxi, a hired car or a tour to reach them.

From Fort Lauderdale the trips are easier but more modern. You can take the fast train to Miami's Art Deco district, Wynwood and Little Havana, visit the Flagler mansion in Palm Beach, or drive to Key Largo, which is at the limit of a day out.

Fort Lauderdale is much the easier choice with children. The beach is broad and lifeguarded, with showers and parks behind it, the Museum of Discovery and Science is properly hands-on, and the city is used to young visitors, even if most outings need a car.

Trinidad welcomes children warmly, and the shallow water at Ancon makes for a good day, but there is little else for them to do. Pushchairs are almost useless on the cobbles, and the heat makes long days tiring.

Beyond the centre, neither has transport a visitor can rely on, but Trinidad's centre is where you spend most of your stay. The old town is compact, many lanes are closed to cars and everything is a short walk away, although the cobbles are rough and sloping. Beyond it you rely on taxis, bikes and tour vehicles.

In Fort Lauderdale, the walkable triangle of beach, Las Olas and the New River is linked by water taxis and free trolleys, and trains run to Miami and the Palm Beaches. The rest of the city is wide roads and slow buses, though, so most visitors hire a car.

Fort Lauderdale has far more to buy. The boutiques and resort-fashion shops of Las Olas fill an afternoon, and out in Sunrise one of the country's largest outlet malls draws bargain hunters from abroad.

Trinidad has no shops in that sense. Instead, its craft lanes sell hand embroidery and crochet from a long local tradition, and family potteries still work at the wheel. It is the better place for a handmade souvenir, though the choice is narrow.

Trinidad is the far cheaper stay. A room in a casa particular costs little, the old town is all on foot, and the music in the squares is free or nearly so. Taxis, tours and paladar meals priced for visitors are what push the bill up, and you need to carry cash.

Fort Lauderdale is expensive for most of the year. Beachfront rates peak in winter, every meal carries a tip, and a hire car comes with paid parking. Summer and self-catering a few blocks back from the sand bring the cost down.

This is a contrast between living tradition and formal stages, and Trinidad's ordinary evening is the better one. There is son, salsa and bolero every night at the Casa de la Musica and the Casa de la Trova, and Afro-Cuban drumming and rumba at the Palenque de los Congos Reales, with locals dancing alongside visitors.

Fort Lauderdale has what Trinidad entirely lacks: the Broward Center for touring musicals, ballet and comedy, the Parker Playhouse and a few rock venues. Beyond those it is mostly cover bands, and for serious classical music you go to Miami.

Fort Lauderdale is the better place to rest. Neither city has a bathing culture, but its beachfront resort spas, day spas on Las Olas and sunrise yoga on the sand are dependable. Outside spring weekends, life along the promenade is slow and easy.

Trinidad offers rocking chairs and shaded courtyards but only a few hotel massages. Its quiet is broken by roosters, horse carts on the cobbles, music until late and power cuts that stop the fans.