Honolulu or Key West?

Honolulu is far stronger for days on the sand. Waikiki's reef-sheltered water suits easy swimming and first surf lessons. The soft white sand of Kailua and Lanikai and the reef bowl of Hanauma Bay are close by, though on exposed coasts it is safest to swim where there are lifeguards.

Key West's sea is warmer in late summer and just as calm, but the town beaches are small: imported sand at Smathers and coral rubble at Fort Zachary Taylor. Seagrass and seaweed make the island better for floating and snorkelling than for long swims. For a proper beach day you drive an hour to Bahia Honda.

Both towns eat best casually, but Honolulu has far more range. Its cooking draws on Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino and Portuguese traditions, so a week can take in poke, plate lunch, ramen, Chinatown dim sum and kalua pig. Locals eat in Kaimuki and Kapahulu.

Key West does a few things well: pink shrimp, grouper, conch fritters, Cuban sandwiches with café con leche and the much-argued-over Key lime pie. Beyond the fish shacks of the Historic Seaport and Bahama Village the choice narrows quickly, and Duval Street is mostly bar food.

Honolulu has the weightier sights. Iolani Palace, the only royal palace on American soil, the Polynesian collections of the Bishop Museum and the Pearl Harbor memorials together tell the story of a kingdom and then a war. Beyond these, the city is mostly modern towers.

Key West works the other way round. Its museums are modest, among them the Hemingway Home and the Truman Little White House, but its Old Town of conch cottages and verandaed mansions is a pleasure to wander in its own right.

Key West is the place to stay out. Duval Street's open-sided bars and rooftop decks run into the small hours, people carry their drinks from one to the next, and the upper end has a long-established gay scene. It is boozy rather than stylish and has few real clubs.

Evenings in Honolulu are gentler and end earlier. There is a mai tai at sunset in Waikiki, cocktail and dive bars in Chinatown and breweries in Kakaako, and most people head to bed in time for an early swim.

Honolulu offers both mountains and sea. Diamond Head, the rainforest walk to Manoa Falls and the fluted ridges of the Koolau range are minutes from the beach, and offshore there are turtles over the reefs, surf breaks and humpback whales in winter.

Key West is flat, and nearly all its outdoors is on the water. Boats go out to the Florida Reef, kayaks explore the mangrove backcountry, anglers fish for tarpon and bonefish, and the Dry Tortugas have clear water and good birdwatching. There is nowhere to hike.

Neither city is a base for touring, because each sits at the edge of things. Honolulu does a little better because you can loop the whole of Oahu in a day, taking in the surf town of Haleiwa, Kailua's beaches, the Byodo-In temple and the Polynesian Cultural Center.

From Key West the one standout is the ferry to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas. Otherwise you drive up the Overseas Highway, across the Seven Mile Bridge, to the marinas of Marathon or Islamorada.

Honolulu is much the easier place with children. It has warm, reef-protected water, the calm lagoons of Ko Olina, the zoo and aquarium at the quiet end of Waikiki and resort kids' clubs, while older children have surf lessons and the Pearl Harbor ships.

Key West can work for a family that loves the water, with snorkelling boats, the butterfly conservatory and the Hemingway cats. But the drinking on Duval starts early, and the town is built around adults.

Key West is the simpler place to get around. Old Town is compact and flat, nearly everything is a short walk or bike ride from Duval Street, and a car is more trouble than it is worth. You only need wheels for Bahia Honda and the rest of the Keys.

Waikiki is easy on foot, and TheBus covers all of Oahu. But Honolulu's beaches and trailheads are spread out and the longer bus rides are slow, so most visitors hire a car for a day or two.

Honolulu is a real shopping destination, with luxury fashion houses along Kalakaua Avenue, the open-air Ala Moana Center, and aloha shirts, koa bowls and ukuleles in Kakaako and Kaimuki. In Key West the shopping is souvenirs, Old Town art galleries and hand-rolled cigars, pleasant to browse on an evening walk but not a reason to come.

Both are expensive, for different reasons. Almost everything in Honolulu is shipped in, while Key West has little land and strict limits on building. In both, rooms, drinks and tours add up fast.

The ways to save differ. In Honolulu, plate-lunch and poke counters feed you well for less, and the bus, the beaches and most hikes cost little. In Key West you walk or cycle everywhere, eat at Cuban takeaway windows and fish shacks, and pay least in the hot, stormy late summer.

Neither has much of a formal stage, so the difference is in style. Honolulu's own art is Hawaiian music and hula: free shows at Kuhio Beach, slack-key guitar in hotel courtyards and short symphony and opera seasons. Key West offers bar bands every night on Duval, drag cabaret, the street performers at sunset on Mallory Square and plays at the Tennessee Williams Theatre.

Honolulu is better for a restful stay. It has lomilomi massage, resort spas with open-air treatment rooms and yoga on the sand at dawn, and Kahala, Ko Olina and the windward side for real quiet. Key West's Old Town guesthouses built around small pools are calming, but the party on Duval is never far away, especially at weekends.