Galveston or St. Pete Beach?

Both towns have a long run of Gulf sand on a barrier island, but the experience is quite different. Galveston's 50km of beach is wide and flat, from the busy Seawall to Stewart Beach and the quieter West End. The water is warm but brown-green with river silt, sargassum can pile up in summer, and rip currents form near the jetties.

St. Pete Beach has fine, pale quartz sand and calm, shallow water that rarely breaks, which makes it far more pleasant for swimming. Pass-a-Grille faces the sunset, and the undeveloped shores of Fort De Soto and Shell Key give it a wilder side that Galveston's busy beachfront does not have.

Neither is a food destination, and both are best for simple seafood by the water. Galveston leans towards Texas and Louisiana, with chargrilled oysters, gumbo, po'boys, Tex-Mex and barbecue, and its more interesting independent places are around the Strand.

St. Pete Beach is Florida beach food: grouper sandwiches, smoked fish spread and stone crab claws in season, ideally eaten on a deck at sunset. Anyone wanting more ambitious cooking drives over to St. Petersburg.

Galveston was once the richest port in Texas, and you can still see it on the Strand and Postoffice Street, lined with iron-fronted Victorian buildings. Bishop's Palace and the Moody Mansion are open to visit, the Elissa is moored at the Texas Seaport Museum, and the Great Storm of 1900 gives the island a strong sense of its own story.

St. Pete Beach has a few things to see: the pink Don CeSar hotel, the old cottages and small museum in Pass-a-Grille, and the batteries at Fort De Soto. For galleries and serious museums you go to St. Petersburg.

Evenings are quiet in both places. Most nights end with a drink by the water, and neither has real club life. Galveston's bars are in the old Victorian buildings downtown and on the Seawall patios, and Mardi Gras brings two weekends of parades and street parties to the island.

At St. Pete Beach the evening centres on sunset at the tiki decks of Gulf Boulevard and Pass-a-Grille, often with a cover band. Downtown St. Petersburg, about half an hour away, is close enough for a later night.

St. Pete Beach has more variety on the water. You can kayak and paddleboard through the mangrove channels at Fort De Soto and Shell Key, spot dolphins from boats easily, and see manatees enter the bay in the cooler months. Seagrass flats and pelicans add to it.

Galveston's strength is birds. It sits on a major migration flyway, and in spring Bolivar Flats and High Island draw birdwatchers in large numbers. Beyond that, the island offers marsh trails in the state park and plenty of fishing. Neither has hills or real hiking, and on both coasts summer heat pushes outings into the early morning.

St. Pete Beach has more within easy reach. St. Petersburg's Dalí Museum is half an hour away, Tampa's Ybor City under an hour, and Tarpon Springs, Dunedin and Sarasota's Ringling estate are all comfortable outings. Orlando is possible on a long day.

From Galveston, nearly every outing heads to the Houston area. Space Center Houston is the highlight, Houston's Museum District and the Rothko Chapel make a strong art day, and Kemah and the San Jacinto Monument are on the way. Beyond these, the coastal plain has little to see.

Both work well with children, in different ways. Galveston has more built attractions on the island itself: the Moody Gardens pyramids with their aquarium and rainforest, a large waterpark, and the funfair on the Seawall pier, which help on scorching or wet days.

St. Pete Beach's advantage is the beach itself, where calm, shallow water and soft sand suit toddlers better than Galveston's rip-prone surf. Shelling trips and dolphin boats fill the days, and the aquariums and Busch Gardens are an hour's drive. On both coasts you will need a car.

Both are long, narrow strips where a car makes life much easier. Galveston's Strand district is the more rewarding place to walk, and a heritage trolley links it with parts of the Seawall. Reaching the island from Houston's airports takes a long drive.

St. Pete Beach has a beach trolley running the length of Gulf Boulevard, and Pass-a-Grille and Corey Avenue are easy on foot or by bike. Tampa's airport is about 45 minutes away by road.

Galveston is the more interesting place to browse. Antique shops, galleries and sweet shops fill the Victorian storefronts of the Strand, and the downtown art walks add to them. St. Pete Beach is mostly swimwear and souvenirs, with a handful of boutiques on Corey Avenue and craft shops in Pass-a-Grille. For malls and fashion, you go to Houston from one and Tampa from the other.

Galveston is the easier place on the wallet. Motels, mid-range hotels and rental beach houses keep a stay affordable, although Seawall rooms climb on summer weekends and during Mardi Gras.

St. Pete Beach is expensive, with beachfront resorts that cost most from February to April. Older motels a block back from the sand and the quieter late summer bring costs down. In both places you pay full American prices and tips when eating out, plus the cost of a hire car.

Galveston has a proper stage on the island in the Grand 1894 Opera House, a restored Victorian theatre that hosts touring musicals, comedians and the Galveston Symphony Orchestra's community concerts. It is enough for an evening or two.

St. Pete Beach offers little more than cover bands and acoustic sets in its beach bars. For the Florida Orchestra or touring opera, you drive to St. Petersburg or Tampa.

St. Pete Beach is the better place to unwind. Its larger resorts have full-service spas, and the days settle into an unhurried pattern of morning walks, long afternoons on the sand and a sunset worth stopping for, especially in Pass-a-Grille.

Galveston has no spa culture beyond a massage at a resort hotel or a day spa downtown. Its calm comes from bike rides along the Seawall and quiet evenings on the porch-lined streets of the East End.