Miami Beach or Palm Beach?

Miami Beach is one continuous beach. Its whole eastern shore is wide, pale sand that you can walk along for its full length, with lifeguards throughout and a beachwalk behind the dunes. You can pick the mood you want, from the crowds of South Beach to the quieter sand of North Beach.

Palm Beach has clearer, bluer water because the Gulf Stream runs close to shore, but much less usable beach in town. Seawalls and private estates take up much of the shore, and some stretches shrink at high tide. Visitors mostly use the Municipal Beach or Phipps Ocean Park, or drive to Singer Island, Juno or Delray for wider sand.

Miami Beach has more variety and more Latin flavour. Cuban sandwiches and cafecito come from takeaway windows, Venezuelan and Peruvian communities bring arepas and ceviche, and stone crabs have been a winter ritual here for about a century. The thing to avoid is the tourist menus on Ocean Drive. The side streets and North Beach are better value.

Palm Beach eats formally and well, but predictably: Italian and French dining rooms, long terrace lunches off Worth Avenue and grouper with Key lime pie. For anything casual you cross to West Palm Beach, for Cuban bakeries, Caribbean takeaways and the weekend green market.

Both are resort towns whose main sight is their architecture, but from different eras. Miami Beach has the more striking ensemble: hundreds of 1930s Art Deco hotels in pastel stucco, which you can see on an easy walk, plus the Wolfsonian, the Bass and the Holocaust Memorial.

Palm Beach is Gilded Age and Mediterranean Revival. Its highlights are Flagler's marble Whitehall mansion, Mizner's tiled vias and a drive past the oceanfront estates. The Norton Museum across the lagoon is its strongest collection. Two or three days covers either place.

There is no real contest here. South Beach is a world name for going out, with guest-DJ clubs that fill after midnight, afternoon pool parties and lobby bars built for being seen. It is glamorous and expensive, with strict doors. Sunset Harbour offers quieter cocktail bars.

In Palm Beach an evening means dinner and a hotel bar, and much of the social life happens in private clubs. For a livelier night you cross to Clematis Street in West Palm Beach, which is fine for a night or two but small.

Palm Beach has the edge outdoors, mainly underwater. Reefs lie close to shore along the Gulf Stream, and divers know the shallow site under the Blue Heron Bridge for its seahorses and octopus. On land, the Lake Trail is a lovely ride under banyans, Loxahatchee has alligators on its boardwalks, and turtles nest on the beaches in summer.

Miami Beach is more built up, and its outdoor life is mostly paddling on the bay, boat trips and reef snorkelling offshore. It is closer to the heart of the Everglades and to Biscayne National Park, and Oleta River State Park offers mangrove trails a short drive north.

The two are evenly matched here and largely face each other. Miami Beach's best outings are across the bay to Vizcaya, Coral Gables and Little Havana, or south to Key Largo for a first taste of the Keys. Palm Beach is within reach to the north.

From Palm Beach, Miami is the big trip, and the fast train means you don't have to drive. Nearer outings are the smaller kind: Delray's main street, Mizner buildings in Boca Raton and Jupiter's lighthouse. Neither has much older heritage close by.

Families do about equally well, in different ways. In Miami Beach the day revolves around the sea, with gentle water, lifeguards and playgrounds behind the sand in Mid-Beach and North Beach. The zoo and museums are a long trip to the mainland, and South Beach is too rowdy for small children.

Palm Beach itself feels adult and formal, but the children's attractions are just over the bridge: the zoo, the science centre and aquarium, Manatee Lagoon in winter and a drive-through safari park. Peanut Island's shallow lagoon is ideal for small swimmers, though you will need a car.

Miami Beach is far easier without a car. South Beach is flat and compact, free trolleys and buses run up Collins Avenue, and bike share makes the beachwalk easy. You only really need wheels to leave the island, and the causeways are often jammed.

In Palm Beach, only the area around Worth Avenue and downtown West Palm Beach works on foot or by bike. The zoo, the reserves and the better beaches are spread out, and buses are slow and infrequent. The one strong link is the fast train to Miami from West Palm Beach.

Palm Beach is the shopping destination. Worth Avenue gathers the luxury houses and jewellers among palm-shaded courtyards, with independent designers along the narrow vias, and the consignment shops are known for resale designer clothes. Antique Row in West Palm Beach is a serious hunting ground for furniture and decorative art.

Miami Beach's Lincoln Road is pleasant for an evening stroll, but its shops are mostly chains you could find at home. Its luxury shopping is concentrated in the Bal Harbour mall at the island's northern tip.

Both are expensive, and Palm Beach is the steeper of the two. Its island hotels and restaurants are priced for very wealthy winter residents, and the usual way to save is to sleep in West Palm Beach and drive over.

Miami Beach has more ways to keep costs down without leaving the island: cheaper hotels on the side streets and in North Beach, Cuban takeaway windows and free trolleys. Watch out for resort fees and South Beach cocktail bills, though. In both places, summer rates fall sharply in exchange for heat and storms.

Miami Beach has the more distinctive arts scene on its own doorstep. The New World Symphony plays in Frank Gehry's hall, and some concerts are projected onto its outside wall for audiences on the lawn. Miami City Ballet is based on the island, and the Colony and Jackie Gleason theatres add touring and smaller shows.

Palm Beach's arts life centres on the Kravis Center across the water, which hosts Broadway tours, visiting orchestras and the opera's short winter season. Dramaworks and the Four Arts' chamber concerts complete the picture. The calendar is thin outside winter.

Palm Beach is the more restful place overall. The whole island is slow and manicured, with lagoon walks and early sea swims, and its large oceanfront resort spas form the core of a quiet stay.

Miami Beach has plenty of spas too, several with saunas and plunge pools, and sunrise yoga on the sand. Calm depends on where you stay, though. Mid-Beach and the stretch towards Surfside are made for slow pool days, while South Beach is loud late into the night. Neither has a bathing tradition, and wellness costs money in both.