Havana or Marco Island?

Havana's centre meets the sea with rock and the Malecón sea wall, so swimming means a taxi half an hour east to the Playas del Este. Strands such as Santa María del Mar and Guanabo have white sand and warm, clear water. Weekends there are local and noisy with music, and facilities are basic.

Marco Island is the better place for a beach vacation. Its whole western shore is a broad crescent of fine sand on a shallow, calm Gulf. Tigertail's tidal lagoon is good for wading, and Keewaydin Island's undeveloped shore is a short boat ride away. You step out of the hotel onto the sand instead of spending a day getting there.

Neither city is a place to travel for the food, and each falls short in its own way. In Havana the best of it is in the glass: daiquiris and mojitos in the old bars, aged rum and strong Cuban coffee. The best meals come from paladares in old mansions and on rooftops, but state-run kitchens are dull and menus depend on what the kitchen could get.

Marco Island keeps to Gulf seafood with a water view: grouper sandwiches, shrimp, stone crab claws in the cooler months, and fish platters by the docks in Goodland. The choice is narrow but the cooking is dependable, and Naples, half an hour away, is where you go for a more ambitious dinner.

Havana is in a different league. Habana Vieja is a UNESCO-listed grid of colonial squares, baroque churches and arcaded mansions. The Morro and La Cabaña fortresses guard the harbour mouth, and Centro and Vedado add art deco streets, the Capitolio and an excellent Cuban collection at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes.

Marco Island is a resort community built from the 1960s on, with little to see beyond canals and condominiums. Its one real cultural stop is the historical museum, which tells the story of the Calusa people and the carved wooden figures found on the island in the 1890s.

Havana's nights are about dancing and the street. Old town bars pour rum until late, locals fill the salsa clubs of Vedado and Miramar, and on warm evenings the Malecón turns into a long open-air gathering. The scene is spread out, so expect taxis between neighbourhoods.

On Marco Island the evening is a sunset drink on a waterfront deck and a late dinner, and then the island goes quiet. There are no clubs, and the liveliest moments are the dockside bars of Goodland on winter weekend afternoons.

Havana is a flat coastal city whose outdoor life mostly means walking the Malecón as waves break over it and the shade of the Almendares river park. For forest trails and river pools you need Las Terrazas, an hour west, and Viñales is three hours away.

Marco Island is far better for wildlife and water. It sits at the edge of the Ten Thousand Islands, so kayaking through mangroves, watching dolphins and manatees, birding at Rookery Bay and fishing for tarpon are all right there. Everglades National Park and Big Cypress are within an hour, though the country is flat swamp, not hills.

Neither city has an outstanding list of outings, and the two lists differ in kind. Havana's are about Cuban history and towns: Hemingway's Finca Vigía, the fishing village of Cojímar, Matanzas with its rumba tradition and the Varadero strip. Viñales and Trinidad really need an overnight stay, and without good public transport you go with a driver or on a tour.

Marco Island's outings are easy drives you make yourself. Options include Naples and its pier, the old trading post at Chokoloskee, the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers and the shell beaches of Sanibel. Most of the best ones lead into nature, not into towns.

Cubans are warmly fond of children, and the aquarium in Miramar, rides in classic cars and the cannons at the fortresses go down well. But Havana's broken pavements, heavy summer heat and patchy supplies of baby goods and medicines suit older children with an interest in music and history better than toddlers.

Marco Island is much easier with young children. The Gulf is shallow and calm, the Tigertail lagoon is good for wading, resorts have pools and children's programmes, and the island is quiet. Naples' zoo and children's museum fill a half day when the beach runs out.

Havana is the easier of the two without a car. Habana Vieja is compact and made for walking, the Malecón takes you to Vedado in under an hour, and classic cars, shared almendrones and coco-taxis cover the rest, with the fare agreed first. Watch your footing on uneven, dimly lit streets.

On Marco Island a car is essential. Cycle paths make the small, flat island pleasant to ride around in cooler months, but the bus link to Naples is limited, and the Everglades, the airport and almost everything else assume you are driving.

Neither is a shopping destination, but what you come home with differs. In Havana it is what Cuba makes: cigars, aged rum, coffee and, best of all, paintings and prints from the studios of Habana Vieja and Vedado, plus woodwork and guayaberas from the harbour craft market.

Marco Island's plazas sell resort wear, beach gear and shell décor. For serious shopping you drive to Naples, where Fifth Avenue South has upmarket boutiques and there are open-air malls with department stores, something Havana lacks entirely.

Havana is much easier on the wallet if you travel the local way. Rooms in casas particulares come with a hearty breakfast, and shared taxis, snacks, museums and live music cost little. State hotels, the smarter paladares and anything imported are dear, though, and you need to carry cash.

Marco Island never feels like a budget destination. Resort rooms and condos peak from January to April, eating out is pricey everywhere and the hire car adds to the bill. Summer rates and weekly condos with kitchens help families and groups.

Music is one of Havana's main reasons to visit. Son, bolero and rumba play to a high standard in bars and courtyards from midday, Vedado's jazz clubs host the island's best players, and the Gran Teatro is home to the Ballet Nacional de Cuba. Sunday rumba in the Callejón de Hamel and the Tropicana cabaret add a popular side.

Marco Island has a community theatre and a guitarist or band in resort bars during the winter season. For an orchestra or a touring show you drive to the Naples performing arts centre, and outside winter there is little on.

Marco Island is the better place to unwind. Its pace is slow, the big beachfront resorts have full spas and pools looking over the Gulf, and the plazas offer yoga and day spas.

Havana has few spas beyond some of the larger hotels, and its heat, noise and exhaust fumes work against rest. What it offers is a rocking chair in a colonial courtyard or a quiet guesthouse in leafy Miramar. Neither place has thermal baths or a bathing tradition.