Fort Lauderdale or Wilmington?

Fort Lauderdale's beach is in town. The pale sand runs the length of the barrier island beside the A1A promenade, lifeguards are on duty all year, the water is often clear, and quieter stretches with reef snorkelling lie just to the north. You can swim on almost any day of the year.

Wilmington's beaches are good but take more effort. Wrightsville, Carolina and Kure Beach each have a different character, from polished to quiet, but they are a drive from the river city, crowded with cars on summer weekends, guarded only in season, and too cold to swim for half the year.

The two eat at much the same level, and neither is a reason to make the trip, but the flavours differ. In Fort Lauderdale the best meals are grilled grouper and stone crab on a dock by the Intracoastal, or the Jamaican, Haitian and Cuban cooking of the inland suburbs.

Wilmington is more firmly Southern: local shrimp and oysters, shrimp and grits, vinegar-sauced whole-hog barbecue and a cluster of craft breweries in the north end of downtown.

Wilmington has much more to see. Its riverside historic district of Victorian and antebellum houses under live oaks is an attraction in its own right, the Bellamy Mansion and Burgwin-Wright House are frank about the old port's reliance on enslaved labour, and the Second World War battleship moored across the river gives the city a sight of real weight.

Fort Lauderdale is a much younger city. The Bonnet House gardens, the Stranahan trading post and the NSU Art Museum are pleasant, but together they take a single day.

Evenings in Fort Lauderdale have more range. There are rowdy beach bars along A1A, late bars on Himmarshee Street and quieter wine terraces on Las Olas. Wilton Manors, with its row of gay bars and drag shows, has no counterpart in Wilmington.

Wilmington's nights centre on Front Street's pubs and rooftop bars, which are busy with students at weekends but quiet on weeknights outside summer. Neither city has much of a club scene, but from Fort Lauderdale, Miami is close enough for a big night out.

There is little in it, and both landscapes are flat and watery, but the experiences differ. Fort Lauderdale's outdoors is about boats and diving: paddling the canals, scuba on the offshore reefs and sunken wrecks, sport fishing, and airboats among the alligators at the edge of the Everglades.

Wilmington is wilder close to town. You can kayak out to the undeveloped Masonboro Island, surf off Wrightsville, or walk the pine savanna trails in Carolina Beach State Park, where the Venus flytrap grows wild.

Fort Lauderdale has the stronger list because Miami is so close, with the Art Deco district, Wynwood and Little Havana under an hour away by train. Palm Beach's Flagler Museum lies to the north, and a long day can stretch down to Key Largo.

Wilmington's outings are smaller and slower. You can drive to the riverside town of Southport and take the ferry to car-free Bald Head Island, stopping at Fort Fisher and Brunswick Town on the way. New Bern and Beaufort are each a two-hour drive.

Both work well with children, but in different seasons. Fort Lauderdale's gentle, warm water means a family can come over the winter school vacation, and the Museum of Discovery and Science and an Everglades airboat ride fill the gaps.

Wilmington is a summer trip with a more old-fashioned feel: boardwalk rides and arcades at Carolina Beach, the aquarium at Fort Fisher, and the battleship's decks to climb. Rental houses near the sand suit large families.

Both cities are built around the car, and most visitors will need one in either. Fort Lauderdale has more ways to get by without one: water taxis and free trolleys link the beach, Las Olas and downtown, and fast trains run to Miami and the Palm Beaches.

Wilmington's walkable part is the compact historic district along the riverwalk. Its beaches are 15km or more away, and the buses are of little use to visitors.

Fort Lauderdale is the better place to shop. Las Olas Boulevard is good for swimwear, resort fashion and galleries, and the huge outlet mall in Sunrise draws shoppers from abroad. Palm Beach and Miami are close for luxury.

Wilmington's shopping is small and independent: bookshops, antique dealers and boutiques along Front Street and in the Cotton Exchange, plus surf wear in the beach towns. It is fine for browsing but not worth planning a day around.

Wilmington is the less expensive of the two, though neither is cheap. Their low seasons fall at opposite times of year. Fort Lauderdale is at its dearest in the winter sun season and cheaper in its stormy summer. In Wilmington, beach rentals peak in summer, and city hotels are reasonable the rest of the year.

In both you will pay American menu prices plus tax and tip, and most visitors also pay for a hire car. Fort Lauderdale's beach bars and resort hotels make it easier to overspend.

The two are close, and each has one main stage. Fort Lauderdale's Broward Center brings touring Broadway musicals, ballet and big concerts, and Miami's arts centre is within reach for an evening.

Wilmington's scene is more local. There is theatre and music in the restored 19th-century Thalian Hall, a community symphony, and summer concerts outdoors by Greenfield Lake and the river, along with long-running jazz and blues festivals.

Neither city has a bathing culture, and the spas in both are standard American resort and day spas. Fort Lauderdale relaxes better because of its climate: sunrise yoga on the sand and long, dry winter mornings on the promenade are exactly why northerners come in winter.

Wilmington's calm comes from its slower pace, with quiet evenings on the riverfront and an easy feel outside summer weekends. In the cool months, though, it is a place for a gentle stroll rather than lounging by the sea.