Gulf Shores or Wilmington?

Gulf Shores has the better beach. It is one continuous strand of fine, squeaky quartz sand from Fort Morgan to the Florida line, often right below where you sleep, and the water is warmer and clearer on calm days. Quieter dune-backed stretches in Gulf State Park and the western end give you room when the main public beach fills up.

Wilmington itself sits on a river, so its beaches are a drive away. In return you get three towns with different characters: polished Wrightsville with its pier, Carolina Beach with its boardwalk, and quieter Kure. Both coasts have dangerous rip currents, so watch the flags.

Wilmington eats better, though both kitchens are built on shrimp, oysters and fried seafood. Wilmington adds modern Southern restaurants in old brick buildings downtown and eastern North Carolina's vinegar-sauced whole-hog barbecue. It also has a craft brewery scene worth a slow afternoon.

Gulf Shores is simpler. You eat Royal Red shrimp, chargrilled oysters and Louisiana-style gumbo at open-air shacks and big beach-bar restaurants. Many visitors buy shrimp at the seafood markets and cook in their condo instead.

Here the two are far apart. Wilmington has one of North Carolina's largest historic districts, with antebellum and Victorian houses under live oaks. The Bellamy Mansion and Burgwin-Wright House tell the story of the old port and its enslaved labour, and the battleship sits across the river. That is enough for two or three unhurried days.

Gulf Shores has Fort Morgan, the brick star fort from the Battle of Mobile Bay, and a small local museum. For more history you need a day in Mobile.

Wilmington has more of a night out. Front Street and the blocks around it fill with pubs and rooftop terraces at weekends, and the university students keep it lively. Gulf Shores is almost entirely beach-bar decks with frozen drinks and live bands. Its big night is the legendary roadhouse on the state line at Perdido Key, and much of the resort is asleep early. Neither has a club scene.

Both are flat, watery coasts with no hills, and Wilmington has a slight edge for getting out on the water. You can kayak to undeveloped Masonboro Island, surf and paddleboard off Wrightsville, and see the Venus flytrap growing wild in Carolina Beach State Park, the only corner of the world where it does.

Gulf Shores is better for cycling, on Gulf State Park's long paved trails. It also has spring and autumn bird migration on the Fort Morgan peninsula, dolphin cruises, deep-sea fishing from Orange Beach and the great river swamp of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta inland.

Gulf Shores has more within easy reach. Mobile's ironwork balconies and the USS Alabama, bayside Fairhope, Pensacola's historic district and naval aviation museum, and the ferry to Dauphin Island are all within about an hour.

Wilmington's best day out is close by: Southport, then the ferry to car-free Bald Head Island, passing Fort Fisher on the way. After that the choices thin out. New Bern and Beaufort are around two hours' drive away.

Gulf Shores is the easier family base because the whole resort is designed for it. Condos with pools sit on the sand, and a water park, a small zoo, the Ferris wheel in Orange Beach and the theme park in Foley are close by for days off the beach.

Wilmington has the attraction Gulf Shores lacks, a proper aquarium at Fort Fisher, plus the Children's Museum and the boardwalk rides at Carolina Beach. They are spread out, though, and the beaches are a drive from town.

You need a car in both, but Wilmington gives you somewhere to leave it. Its compact, flat downtown and historic district are linked by the riverwalk and are pleasant on foot. Gulf Shores is strung for miles along one beach road with everything else on inland highways. Outside a single stretch of beach, you can only really go without the car by cycling inside Gulf State Park.

Wilmington is the better place for browsing. Front Street and the restored Cotton Exchange have independent boutiques, galleries, bookshops and antique dealers. Gulf Shores mostly sells beachwear and fishing tackle, but the big outlet mall in Foley makes a useful rainy day for anyone after brand-name bargains.

Overall costs are much the same, and both are expensive in summer once you add the unavoidable hire car. In Gulf Shores the savings come from timing. Condo rents fall sharply in winter, which is why long winter stays are common, and a condo kitchen cuts food bills all year. In Wilmington the city hotels are reasonable off-season and casual barbecue is fair value, but expect tax and a tip on every restaurant bill.

Wilmington has a real stage scene. Thalian Hall, a restored 19th-century opera house, has theatre and music, a larger arts centre takes touring musicals, and there is a community symphony. Summer brings concerts by Greenfield Lake and long-running jazz and blues festivals.

Gulf Shores is about live bands on beach-bar stages. The state-line roadhouse holds its songwriters' festival every November, and touring country and rock acts play the Orange Beach amphitheatre in the warmer months.

Neither has thermal baths or a spa tradition. The difference is in the kind of rest. In Gulf Shores it means quiet weeks of sunsets from a condo balcony and the odd resort massage. Wilmington adds yoga studios and day spas downtown, and its calm comes from slow evenings on the riverfront rather than the beach.