Miami Beach or Sarasota?

Miami Beach has the stronger beach. Its whole Atlantic shoreline is around 11km of sand, from the scene at South Beach to the quieter stretches of Mid-Beach and North Beach, with the sea warm enough to swim in all through winter. The trade-off is green-blue water and busy, noisy stretches near the action.

Sarasota's Siesta Key sand is finer and whiter, almost pure quartz, and the Gulf is shallower and calmer, with no real waves. Lido, Longboat and Anna Maria offer quieter alternatives, and Venice adds shark-tooth hunting. Against that, the winter sea is chilly and red tide can close beaches on some days.

Miami Beach eats better, mostly thanks to its Latin American roots. Cuban sandwiches and cafecito from takeaway windows, ceviche and arepas, and Little Havana just across the causeway give it a local character. The trap is Ocean Drive, where the food is ordinary and aimed at passing tourists.

Sarasota is pleasant rather than distinctive: grouper sandwiches at fish shacks on the keys, bistros on Main Street and St Armands Circle, and hearty Amish cooking and pie in Pinecraft. Both places serve stone crab in winter, but only Miami Beach is worth planning meals around.

Miami Beach has more to see, and its main sight is the streets themselves. The Art Deco Historic District and the Miami Modern hotels further north make a complete interwar resort townscape you can walk in an afternoon, with the Wolfsonian, the Bass and the Holocaust Memorial adding depth.

Sarasota's culture centres on one place: the Ringling, with its Rubens canvases, the Ca' d'Zan mansion and the circus museum, is worth a full day. After that come the scattered modernist houses of the Sarasota School and the small Burns Court district, but there is no historic district to wander.

This is the biggest gap between the two. South Beach is a world-famous party district, with clubs and guest DJs going until dawn, hotel pool parties in the afternoon, and Collins and Washington Avenues loud until the early hours. Expect door policies and table service, while Sunset Harbour suits a quieter drink.

Sarasota's evenings are a sunset beer at a beach bar in Siesta Key Village or a glass of wine on Main Street, with an older crowd and an early finish. Anyone wanting to dance has to drive to Tampa or St Petersburg.

The two are level outdoors, but in different ways. Miami Beach looks out to sea: diving and snorkelling on offshore reefs and wrecks, Biscayne National Park's keys, and the Everglades an hour away for airboats and sawgrass boardwalks.

Sarasota is better for wildlife close to town. Myakka River State Park, half an hour inland, has prairie, a treetop canopy walk and alligators, and you can paddle the mangrove tunnels off Lido Key with dolphins and manatees in the bay. Both are flat, and summer heat confines both to early mornings.

The day-trip options are broadly similar, though the trips are different in kind. From Miami Beach the best outing is a short hop to the mainland, for Vizcaya's gardens, Coral Gables, Wynwood and Little Havana, with Palm Beach to the north and Key Largo to the south.

Sarasota's trips go further, often to smaller towns: the Dalí Museum in St Petersburg over the Skyway bridge, Ybor City's cigar heritage in Tampa, Greek Tarpon Springs, and the Edison and Ford winter estates at Fort Myers. You will need a car for most trips from either base.

Sarasota is the easier family base. The very shallow water off Siesta Key and Lido Key suits toddlers, and Mote Marine Laboratory's sharks, turtles and manatees plus the Ringling's model circus are close at hand. The town is calm and safe, though theme parks are over an hour away and everything needs a car.

Miami Beach does have lifeguards along its whole shore and warm water all year, and Mid-Beach and North Beach suit families. But almost nothing on the island is built for children, the zoo and science museum are on the mainland, and South Beach is a party district.

Miami Beach is much easier without a car. South Beach is flat and compact, free trolleys and buses run up Collins Avenue, and the beachwalk is good for cycling. The difficulty comes when you leave the island, with no rail link and slow causeway traffic.

In Sarasota, downtown, St Armands Circle and Siesta Key Village are each walkable, but buses are sparse and the keys, museums and parks are spread out. Plan to hire a car, and expect traffic on the bridges in winter.

Miami Beach offers more, at both ends of the price range. Bal Harbour gathers the big European fashion houses in one open-air mall, and Lincoln Road's palm-shaded pedestrian mall is pleasant for an evening stroll, though most of its shops are international chains.

Sarasota is smaller but more independent. You can browse St Armands Circle's resort wear and galleries, the boutiques on Main Street and Palm Avenue, or the Saturday farmers' market, but there is no luxury shopping to match Bal Harbour.

Both are costly, but Sarasota is the less punishing. Its peak is January to April, and staying on the mainland instead of the keys saves a lot, though car hire adds to the bill.

Miami Beach piles on resort fees, parking charges and service charges, and South Beach cocktails and club entry are steep. Side-street hotels, North Beach and summer stays bring prices down, and here you can manage without a car.

The two are evenly matched, with different strengths. Sarasota has an unusually full set for its size: its own opera in a restored 1920s theatre, a ballet known for Ashton, a symphony orchestra and the Asolo Rep on the Ringling grounds.

Miami Beach's highlight is the New World Symphony in its Frank Gehry hall, with some concerts projected onto the outside wall for audiences on the lawn, plus Miami City Ballet. For opera and Broadway tours you have to cross to the mainland. Both seasons run from autumn to spring.

Neither place has a bathing tradition, and they come out about level. Miami Beach has the bigger resort spas, with hydrotherapy circuits, saunas and plunge pools, but you need to stay in Mid-Beach or towards Surfside to escape South Beach's noise.

In Sarasota the slow pace is the draw. Warm Mineral Springs, a natural spring-fed pool about forty minutes south, offers something Miami Beach has no equivalent for, though winter traffic on the keys can spoil the calm.