Gulf Shores or Savannah?

This is where Gulf Shores is in a different league, because the beach is the town. Fine white quartz sand runs without a break from Fort Morgan to the Florida line, with low dunes in Gulf State Park, and on calm summer days the water is clear and green. Rip currents are the one real caveat.

Savannah has no beach of its own. Tybee Island, half an hour's drive away, has wide, flat sand and warm summer water, but the marshes tint the sea greenish-brown and the town is low-key. It makes a good day out rather than a place to base yourself.

Savannah eats better, with a stronger sense of place. Shrimp and grits, she-crab soup, family-style platters passed down long tables and a small group of chef-led restaurants in restored townhouses give it a real Lowcountry identity, even if there is little beyond Southern cooking.

Gulf Shores keeps it simple, with fried or grilled shrimp, Royal Reds, oysters and gumbo at open-air shacks and big beach-bar restaurants. It is honest seafood with a water view, and many visitors end up cooking shrimp from the seafood markets in their condo kitchens.

Here the two barely compare. Gulf Shores has Fort Morgan, a brick star fort tied to the Battle of Mobile Bay, and a small local museum. That is about all, so curious visitors drive to Mobile or Pensacola.

In Savannah the town plan is the attraction: Oglethorpe's grid of garden squares under moss-hung oaks, framed by Federal and Greek Revival houses. The Telfair Museums, the Owens-Thomas House and Bonaventure Cemetery add depth. It is more about atmosphere than great collections, but there is easily two days' worth.

Savannah offers more of an evening out. Because the historic district allows to-go cups, you can wander between River Street's cobbled bars, the taverns around City Market and quieter cocktail rooms, and art students keep a few dive bars and dance nights going. St Patrick's Day turns the city into a famous street party.

In Gulf Shores you go out on beach-bar decks in flip-flops, and the legendary roadhouse on the Florida line is the loudest late spot. Outside summer and spring break it is a family town that goes to bed early.

Both sit in flat, watery country with no hills, so the difference lies in what you do outdoors. Gulf Shores leans towards open water and trails: deep-sea fishing from Orange Beach, the paved paths of Gulf State Park through maritime forest, spring and autumn bird migration on the western peninsula, and the river swamps of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta inland.

Savannah's country is salt marsh and tidal creek, best seen by kayak or paddleboard at high tide, with Wormsloe's avenue of oaks and the Skidaway Island trails for gentler outings. In both places the summer heat pushes outdoor time into early mornings, spring and autumn.

Savannah has the stronger outings. The best is Charleston, about two hours north, and Beaufort, Hilton Head, Fort Pulaski and the Georgia islands of Jekyll and St Simons are all within easy reach.

From Gulf Shores the options are pleasant rather than famous: Mobile's ironwork balconies and the USS Alabama, bayside Fairhope, Pensacola's naval aviation museum and the car ferry from Fort Morgan to Dauphin Island. Plan on a car for all of these from either city.

Gulf Shores is set up for families from top to bottom. Beachfront condos with pools and kitchens, soft sand, a water park, a small hands-on zoo, the Ferris wheel in Orange Beach and the theme park in Foley mean there is always something to fall back on when an afternoon is too hot or wet for the beach.

Savannah works with children rather than for them. Forsyth Park, the trolley tours, the free river ferry and the birthplace of the Girl Scouts' founder are good outings. But nothing big is aimed at children, and long, hot walks soon wear out small legs.

Savannah's historic district is flat, compact and easy to walk, and a free shuttle and a small river ferry cover the gaps. Tybee and Wormsloe still need wheels.

Gulf Shores stretches for miles along one beach road and the highways inland, and public transport is minimal. Apart from cycling in Gulf State Park you will drive everywhere, and the bridges clog on summer weekends.

Neither city is a shopping destination, but Savannah makes for a better browse. It has the restored storefronts of Broughton Street, shops selling work by art school students and graduates, and antique dealers and bookshops around the squares further south.

In Gulf Shores, shopping means beachwear emporiums, surf and fishing shops and a few boutiques in Orange Beach. The big outlet mall in Foley is where people go on a rainy day.

Gulf Shores tends to cost a little less. A condo kitchen cuts food bills, and rentals drop sharply in winter and the shoulder months, though June and July on the beachfront are another matter. The beaches and park trails are free.

Savannah's historic-district inns are priced for weekend crowds, and eating out adds up. The best of the city costs nothing, from the squares and Forsyth Park to the cemeteries. Midweek stays or highway motels help, but then you need a car.

Savannah has a real calendar to plan around. The Savannah Music Festival fills historic theatres and churches each spring, there are the restored Lucas and Trustees theatres and a philharmonic, and an autumn jazz festival takes over Forsyth Park. Outside those dates it is quiet.

Gulf Shores has beach-bar bands every day, the state-line roadhouse's songwriters' festival in November and touring country and rock acts at the Orange Beach amphitheatre. For classical music or theatre you would drive an hour to Mobile.

Neither city has a spa or bathing tradition worth travelling for, so rest comes from the pace. Savannah does it with more charm: a bench in a shaded square, or a porch or courtyard at an old inn on one of the quiet southern squares, ideally midweek in spring or autumn.

Gulf Shores offers a simpler kind of calm, a slow week of sunsets from a condo balcony, which is exactly what many visitors want. Summer weekends there are anything but quiet.