Fort Myers or Miami Beach?

Fort Myers' beaches are on the barrier islands, a drive from town: busy Fort Myers Beach on Estero Island, quieter Lovers Key and Bonita Beach, and the shelling sands of Sanibel and Captiva. The Gulf there is very shallow and gentle, which is ideal for weak swimmers, but it is noticeably cooler in winter.

Miami Beach is one long beach, about 11km of it along the whole island. It runs from the people-watching of South Beach to the calmer stretches of Mid-Beach and North Beach. It comes out ahead because the winter sea is warmer and the sand starts right outside the hotel door, as long as you don't mind sharing the busiest stretches with music, vendors and crowds.

Fort Myers keeps it simple: grouper sandwiches, peel-and-eat shrimp and fish tacos on waterfront decks, a handful of independent places and breweries in the River District, and chain dining along the highways. Winter stone crab claws are the one dish the two places share.

Miami Beach offers more range and more of its own flavour. It has upscale chef-driven dining, Cuban sandwiches, croquetas and cafecito from takeaway windows, and ceviche and arepas from the South American communities. Avoid the tourist menus on Ocean Drive. Little Havana is only a short trip across the causeway.

Fort Myers has one real sight, the Edison and Ford Winter Estates with their riverside homes, laboratory and gardens. Add the palm-lined McGregor Boulevard and a few brick streets downtown and a day covers the lot. Miami Beach's Art Deco Historic District is on a much bigger scale, with hundreds of pastel 1930s hotels to walk past along Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue, and the Wolfsonian, the Bass and the Holocaust Memorial to round it out.

Fort Myers winds down early. The pubs and rooftop bars of the River District, the monthly art walk and the beach bars around the pier on Fort Myers Beach make for a pleasant evening, but there are few clubs and the winter crowd is older.

South Beach is one of the best-known places in the world to go out. Its guest-DJ clubs fill after midnight and run until dawn, pool parties start in the afternoon and lobby bars are built for being seen. Expect door policies, dress codes and big bills. Sunset Harbour and Mid-Beach have quieter cocktail and wine bars.

This is where Fort Myers wins, because the wildlife is right on hand. You can see roseate spoonbills and herons at Ding Darling on Sanibel, old-growth cypress at Corkscrew Swamp and manatees on the Orange River in winter, or paddle the mangroves of the Great Calusa Blueway.

Miami Beach is almost all city, so nature means getting out on the water or driving to Oleta River State Park, the Everglades or Biscayne National Park. The offshore reefs and wrecks for snorkelling and diving are the one thing Fort Myers cannot match. Neither place has hills, and in both the summer heat pushes outdoor activity into the early morning.

Both need a car for nearly every outing, but the trips are different in kind. From Fort Myers they are quiet and small-scale: the old town and pier in Naples, the island villages of Sanibel, Captiva and Boca Grande, and the Koreshan settlement. The cultural high point is Sarasota's Ringling museum and Ca' d'Zan.

Miami Beach has a big city on its doorstep instead. Little Havana, the Wynwood murals, Vizcaya and Coral Gables are just across the bay. Palm Beach's mansions lie to the north, and Key Largo, the first of the Florida Keys, to the south.

For young children the two are close, and in both places the beach does most of the work. Fort Myers is the more relaxed setting, with shallow water, shell hunting on Sanibel, dolphin trips and spring-training baseball in March, though every outing means a drive. Miami Beach has lifeguards along the whole shore and playgrounds behind the sand, but families should stay in Mid-Beach or North Beach, away from the party noise of South Beach, and the zoo and science museum are on the mainland.

Without a car Fort Myers barely works. The beaches, Sanibel and the reserves are spread across a low-density county, buses are sparse and winter traffic backs up on the bridges. Miami Beach is the opposite for a beach stay: South Beach is flat and walkable, free trolleys run up Collins Avenue and the beachwalk is made for cycling, and you only need a car once you leave the island.

Fort Myers offers suburban open-air centres and an outlet mall towards Estero, plus galleries and shell shops on Sanibel's Periwinkle Way and in the Captiva villages. Miami Beach has more worth seeking out: an evening stroll down Lincoln Road, the pedestrian mall designed by Lapidus, swimwear on Collins Avenue and the big European fashion and jewellery houses at Bal Harbour. Neither has markets or much local craft.

Fort Myers is the cheaper of the two, as long as you stay in town or near the interstate rather than on Sanibel in winter. Its beaches and nature reserves cost little, though the hire car is an extra you cannot avoid.

Miami Beach is expensive at almost every turn, with oceanfront rooms, resort fees, parking and South Beach cocktails all adding up. North Beach hotels, summer rates and Cuban takeaway windows ease the cost, and the beach itself is free.

Both have a winter season and go quiet in summer. Fort Myers relies on touring Broadway shows at the Barbara B. Mann hall, a repertory company in a restored 1908 theatre and a regional symphony.

Miami Beach is more distinctive. The New World Symphony plays in its Frank Gehry hall and some concerts are projected onto the outside wall for people on the lawn, while Miami City Ballet has its home on the island. Live music in its clubs leans towards DJs, whereas in Fort Myers it means bands in pubs and beach bars.

In Fort Myers the relaxation comes from the pace rather than pampering: Sanibel and Captiva have low buildings, bike paths and early nights, and a spa visit usually means a massage at your resort. Miami Beach has bigger resort spas with hydrotherapy circuits, saunas and plunge pools, plus sunrise yoga on the sand. For a restful stay there, pick Mid-Beach or the stretch towards Surfside, well away from the late nights of South Beach.