Gulf Shores or Sarasota?

Both have the same fine white quartz sand and warm Gulf water, so the choice is about layout and feel rather than quality. Gulf Shores is one long, unbroken beach from Fort Morgan to the Florida line, with condo towers on the busy stretches and low dunes in Gulf State Park. Rip currents are a real danger there, so watch the warning flags.

Sarasota's beaches are spread over a string of keys, each with its own character. Siesta Key slopes gently into shallow, calm water, Lido Key is close to downtown, Longboat Key and Anna Maria Island are quieter, and at Venice you can hunt for fossilised shark teeth. The thing to watch for there is the occasional red tide rather than the surf.

Neither is worth planning a trip around meals, but Sarasota has a little more variety. Gulf Shores keeps to casual Gulf seafood with a Louisiana accent: Royal Red shrimp, chargrilled oysters and gumbo at open-air shacks, or shrimp from the seafood market cooked in your own condo.

Sarasota adds bistros and wine bars along Main Street and St Armands Circle, stone crab claws in season, farmers' markets and good brunch places. It also has an unusual extra in Pinecraft, where Amish and Mennonite family restaurants serve hearty cooking and pie.

Sarasota is the clear choice if you want sights between beach days. The Ringling alone takes a full day, with its Baroque paintings and Rubens canvases, the Ca' d'Zan mansion on the bay and the circus museum. The mid-century houses of the Sarasota School of Architecture give design lovers more to look for.

Gulf Shores has Fort Morgan, the brick star fort that played a part in the Battle of Mobile Bay, and very little else, so anyone who wants history has to drive out for the day.

Neither is the place for a big night out, and the difference is in the mood. In Gulf Shores you go out in flip-flops to sandy open-air decks. The famous roadhouse on the state line stays loud late, and spring break brings in a younger crowd.

Sarasota is more grown-up, with wine and cocktail bars on Main Street and sunset drinks in Siesta Key Village. The crowd is older and heads home early, and people who want clubs drive up to Tampa.

Both are flat and humid, and on both coasts outdoor plans work best on the water early in the day, but the wildlife and activities differ. Gulf Shores suits cyclists, birdwatchers and anglers. It has paved trails through the maritime forest of Gulf State Park, migrating birds on the western peninsula, deep-sea fishing from Orange Beach and the huge Mobile-Tensaw Delta to explore by kayak.

Sarasota is better for seeing animals up close. Myakka River State Park has alligators on the riverbanks and a canopy walk through the treetops, you can paddle through mangrove tunnels off Lido Key, and dolphins and manatees are common in the bay.

From Gulf Shores the outings are to quieter Southern towns, pleasant rather than famous. Mobile has ironwork balconies, live oaks and the battleship USS Alabama on the bay, Fairhope is a small bayside town of gardens and a long pier, and Pensacola has its historic district and naval aviation museum. You can also take the car ferry from Fort Morgan across to Dauphin Island. All of them are within about an hour, but only by car.

Sarasota's day trips lean towards bigger cities, their museums and their neighbourhoods. The Sunshine Skyway takes you to the Dalí Museum in St Petersburg, with Tampa's old cigar-making district of Ybor City and the Greek sponge-diving town of Tarpon Springs further on. The Edison and Ford winter estates at Fort Myers are a little over an hour south. Orlando's theme parks are too far away for an easy day out, though.

Gulf Shores is built around families and has more to fill the days. Condos with pools and kitchens are the normal place to stay, and when the beach gets too much there is a water park, a small hands-on zoo, the Ferris wheel in Orange Beach and a theme park in nearby Foley. The catch is the rip currents, so children need close watching in the surf.

Sarasota has the gentler sea, shallow and calm off Siesta Key and Lido Key, and the Mote Marine Laboratory aquarium is a real draw. Apart from that and the circus museum there is less made for children, and the nearest big theme park is in Tampa.

You will need a car in both, but Sarasota depends on one a little less. Downtown, St Armands Circle and Siesta Key Village are each easy to walk around, a free trolley runs along Siesta Key, and the drives between beaches, museums and parks are short.

Gulf Shores stretches for miles along a single beach road, with everything else on highways inland, so on foot you rarely get beyond your own stretch of sand. Bikes are useful only inside Gulf State Park.

Sarasota is the better place for browsing. St Armands Circle has a ring of shops selling resort wear and jewellery, along with art galleries, and Main Street and Palm Avenue add independent boutiques.

Gulf Shores sticks to beachwear and souvenir emporiums and surf and fishing shops. Its one real draw is the big outlet mall in Foley, where many visitors spend a rainy day.

Gulf Shores is easier on the wallet, especially outside June and July, when condo prices fall sharply and long winter stays become common. A condo kitchen and fresh shrimp from the market also keep food costs down.

Sarasota costs more, and it is most expensive from January to April, which is also when its weather is at its best. Summer is cheaper, and staying on the mainland rather than on the keys helps.

On the stage, Sarasota is far ahead. It has an opera company in a restored 1920s theatre, a ballet known for its Frederick Ashton repertoire, a full orchestra season and the Asolo Repertory Theatre on the Ringling grounds, with most performances between autumn and spring.

Gulf Shores has bands and singer-songwriters on beach-bar stages, the November songwriters' festival at the state-line roadhouse, and touring country and rock acts at the Orange Beach amphitheatre in the warmer months. For classical music or theatre you have to drive an hour to Mobile.

Both offer a slow pace rather than a spa culture, but Sarasota has more to go with it: resort spas on Longboat Key and Lido Key, sunrise yoga on the sand, and the warm, spring-fed pool at Warm Mineral Springs about forty minutes south. Gulf Shores has a few resort and day spas and quiet sunsets from a condo balcony, and it is calmest outside summer weekends.