Fort Lauderdale or West Palm Beach?

Fort Lauderdale has the better beach because it is part of the town. One long, wide stretch of pale sand runs along the barrier island with the A1A promenade beside it, and further north you can snorkel the reef straight from the shore at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.

West Palm Beach's beaches are good but scattered. Downtown faces a calm lagoon, so you drive or cycle over to Midtown Beach, Singer Island or Juno. What it has that Fort Lauderdale lacks is Peanut Island, where the sheltered lagoon water suits small children.

The food is much the same in both: good, simply grilled Florida seafood and stone crab in season, with the best Caribbean and Cuban cooking out in the suburbs. Fort Lauderdale's strength is the fish shack on a dock beside the Intracoastal, while West Palm Beach has the formal dining rooms of Palm Beach and the more local feel of Northwood.

West Palm Beach has far more to see. The Norton Museum is a serious collection of American, European and Chinese art, Flagler's Whitehall tells the story of the railway that built this coast, and an afternoon among the Mediterranean Revival villas of Palm Beach rounds it out.

Fort Lauderdale's sights take about a day. The Bonnet House is a charming artists' estate and the Stranahan House covers the city's pioneer years, but after that you are back on the beach or the water.

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

West Palm Beach's evenings stay on a few blocks of Clematis Street and Rosemary Square. They are busy at weekends but quiet on weeknights and in summer. In both cities, people who want a real club night drive to Miami.

In both cities the outdoors is flat, warm and mostly on the water. Fort Lauderdale is the place for kayaking its maze of canals, diving reefs and sunken wrecks, and sport fishing, with airboat rides into the Everglades within an hour.

West Palm Beach's standout is the Blue Heron Bridge shore dive, with its seahorses and octopus. It also has the Lake Trail for cycling, sea turtle nesting beaches near Juno, and river paddling at Jonathan Dickinson State Park.

Both cities have Miami as their main day out, though Fort Lauderdale is nearer to it and also within reach of Key Largo at the top of the Keys. West Palm Beach looks north and south along the coast instead, with Jupiter's lighthouse, old-fashioned Stuart and the Japanese gardens at Delray Beach. Its own island already covers the Palm Beach mansions that Fort Lauderdale visitors drive up to see.

Families do equally well in both, with warm, guarded beaches, a relaxed and safe feel and summer heat to plan around. What differs is how you fill the days off the beach. Fort Lauderdale has a strong hands-on science museum, airboat rides and canal boats, while West Palm Beach has Lion Country Safari, a zoo and manatees to watch in winter.

In both cities you need a car beyond the centre, but West Palm Beach is a little easier on foot. Its compact downtown has a free trolley, a train station for Miami, and Palm Beach is close enough to cycle over the bridges. Fort Lauderdale's walkable area is a looser triangle of beach, Las Olas and riverfront, joined by water taxis that are a pleasant way to get about.

West Palm Beach is the stronger shopping destination. Worth Avenue's luxury fashion and jewellery houses sit among tiled courtyards and vias, there are resale shops full of designer pieces, and Antique Row on South Dixie Highway is good for an afternoon of browsing.

Fort Lauderdale's Las Olas Boulevard is shallower, mostly resort wear and galleries. Its real draw is the huge outlet mall out in Sunrise, the better choice for bargains over glamour.

Neither is cheap, but Fort Lauderdale costs somewhat less. Self-catering apartments and older motels a few blocks back from the sand keep a stay affordable, and if you base yourself near the beach you may not need a car.

West Palm Beach is priced for its wealthy winter visitors, and a room on Palm Beach is among the most expensive on the coast. In both places, summer brings far lower room rates in exchange for heat and storms.

Both rely on one large arts centre for touring Broadway shows and dance, the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale and the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. The difference is in what else is on. West Palm Beach has the Palm Beach Opera, Dramaworks' serious plays and a busy winter season, while Fort Lauderdale has more year-round rock and indie gigs and a lot of live music in its beach bars.

Neither has a bathing tradition, and in both relaxing means resort spas and an easy pace. Palm Beach is quieter and more manicured, good for unhurried days at an oceanfront spa, while Fort Lauderdale offers sunrise yoga on the sand and long walks along the promenade, which gets loud on spring weekends.