Marco Island or New Orleans?

This is the clearest difference between the two. Marco Island's western shore is one continuous stretch of fine sand on the Gulf, with shallow, calm water that is very warm in late summer, good shelling, and the sandbar at Tigertail. Keewaydin Island is a short boat ride away if you want undeveloped beach.

New Orleans sits on a river and a lake, and nobody swims in either. The nearest sand is on the Mississippi coast more than an hour's drive away, where the water is murky, so most visitors here swim only in a hotel pool.

New Orleans has one of the most distinctive cuisines in the country. There is Creole cooking in century-old French Quarter dining rooms, Cajun dishes from the bayous, crawfish boils in spring, and cocktails such as the Sazerac that were invented here. Beignets by Jackson Square and po'boys in Mid-City make even a cheap lunch memorable.

On Marco Island, meals are simple Gulf seafood eaten by the water: grouper, shrimp, and stone crab in winter, with the most relaxed atmosphere on the docks at Goodland. It is pleasant, but there isn't much choice, and for an ambitious dinner people drive to Naples.

New Orleans has the French Quarter, one of the most complete colonial old towns in the United States. Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral and the Cabildo, where Louisiana was handed over in 1803, are at its centre. Add the Garden District mansions, the above-ground tombs and the National WWII Museum, and there are days of sightseeing.

Marco Island was mostly built from the 1960s onwards. Its main cultural stop is the historical museum, which covers the Calusa people and the carved wooden figures found on the island. After that, sightseeing means canals and condominiums.

Nights in New Orleans have no fixed end. With no closing time and drinks allowed on the street, you can go from the neon balconies of Bourbon Street to the music bars of Frenchmen Street and the dive bars of the Bywater, all on foot. It is sociable and centred on bars rather than clubs.

On Marco Island the evening peaks with sunset drinks on a deck. A few marina bars and resort lounges stay open for a while, and Goodland's dockside bars are busy on winter weekend afternoons. The island is quiet by late evening.

Both cities sit in flat, watery country, but Marco Island puts it right outside the door. The mangrove keys of the Ten Thousand Islands, the Rookery Bay estuaries, the manatees in the canals and some of Florida's best inshore fishing are all close by. Everglades National Park and Big Cypress are within an hour's drive.

From New Orleans, the bayous and the Barataria Preserve are worth a half-day trip for alligators and herons. Within the city, the live oaks of City Park and the Mississippi levee give you room to walk or cycle. It is a good extra on a city trip rather than a reason to come.

New Orleans has the stronger set of outings, and they are more varied. The River Road leads to the plantations, where the Whitney is a sobering visit to set against the grand avenue of oaks at Oak Alley. Baton Rouge has its capitol tower, and the Cajun prairie towns are further west.

Marco Island's list is mostly towns that are pleasant without being memorable. Naples is the closest, with Everglades City and Chokoloskee a little further, and the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers are the main historic stop. Its best excursions are out on the water and in the swamps.

Both work for children, but in different ways. Marco Island is about calm, shallow water, soft sand, shelling and dolphin-spotting trips, with resort pools and kids' clubs for the rest of the day.

New Orleans gives children things to do: Audubon Zoo, the riverfront aquarium, the carousel and children's museum in City Park, and streetcar rides. The trade-off is that parents have to choose carefully where they walk after dark.

New Orleans is much easier without a car. The French Quarter, the Marigny and the Warehouse District can all be walked, and the green St. Charles streetcars run slowly to the Garden District. Ride-hailing covers what the streetcars and buses don't reach.

Marco Island is fine by bicycle on its flat cycle paths, but that only covers the island itself. Getting from the airport, to Naples or into the Everglades really requires a hire car.

New Orleans is more fun to shop in. Royal Street has antique dealers selling chandeliers and estate jewellery, Magazine Street runs for miles past independent and vintage shops, and the French Market sells hot sauces and pralines. Mardi Gras masks are the souvenir only this city can offer.

Marco Island has small plazas selling resort wear and shell décor. For boutiques and department stores, people drive to Fifth Avenue South in Naples.

Neither is a cheap destination, but New Orleans is easier on the budget. Po'boys, neighbourhood bars, streetcar rides and free street music keep daily spending down, and the main costs are hotel rooms in the Quarter and the big festival weekends.

On Marco Island almost everything costs more in winter, from beachfront rooms to waterfront dinners, and a hire car comes on top. Visiting in summer or renting a condo with a kitchen helps, but it is rarely cheap.

New Orleans is where jazz was born, and music is a major reason to go. On any night you can hear brass bands, zydeco and traditional jazz on Frenchmen Street and in Tremé, and second-line parades move through the neighbourhoods on Sundays. Jazz Fest is held in spring.

Marco Island has a community theatre and a guitarist in a resort bar during the season. For an orchestra, you would drive to the performing arts centre in Naples.

Marco Island is the better place for genuine rest. The pace is unhurried, the big beachfront resorts have full spas facing the Gulf, and there are yoga classes in the island plazas.

New Orleans has hotel day spas and a few quiet pleasures, such as a courtyard breakfast or a slow ride under the oaks on St. Charles Avenue. Still, most visitors spend their energy on late nights rather than recovering from them.