Miami Beach or St. Augustine?

Miami Beach is built around its beach. About 11km of pale sand run the length of the island, so most hotels sit right on the shore, and you can choose between the crowds of South Beach and the quieter stretches of Mid-Beach and North Beach. The water is warm in every season, and a paved beachwalk links it all.

St. Augustine's beaches are good but take a little more effort. Anastasia State Park, St. Augustine Beach and Crescent Beach are a short drive across the Bridge of Lions from the old town, and swimming is easy from late spring to autumn. In winter the water turns cold and the sand is for walks. Neither city has clear Caribbean water.

Miami Beach has more range and more depth. The Latin American influence is strong, from Cuban sandwiches and cafecito at takeaway windows to South American ceviche and arepas, and winter brings Florida stone crabs. The upscale hotel and chef-driven dining adds weight, and Little Havana is just across the causeway.

St. Augustine's table is smaller but has a flavour of its own: the Minorcan datil pepper in hot sauces, a spicy clam chowder and pilau, with shrimp and oysters by the marsh creeks. Both towns have a weak tourist strip to avoid, Ocean Drive in one and St. George Street in the other.

St. Augustine has more history to walk through. Founded by the Spanish in 1565, it has the coquina-stone Castillo de San Marcos, balconied lanes and the old city gate, and then a second, Gilded Age layer in Flagler College and the Lightner Museum. Even the lighthouse and Fort Matanzas fit the story.

Miami Beach's culture is newer and narrower. Its strength is the 1930s Art Deco district and the Miami Modern hotels further north, a superb set of buildings to see on foot, backed by the Wolfsonian, the Bass and the Holocaust Memorial. For major museums you cross to the mainland.

This is where the two cities differ most. South Beach is a famous party district, with afternoon pool parties, clubs with guest DJs that fill after midnight and run until dawn, dress codes and table service, and quieter cocktail bars in Sunset Harbour for a calmer night.

St. Augustine offers a relaxed evening instead. Pubs, taverns and patio bars around St. George Street and the bayfront draw a cheerful weekend crowd, but there are hardly any clubs and most places close well before the small hours.

Both are flat coastal places where the outdoors means water, and they are broadly level. The difference is in kind. Miami Beach looks out to sea, with snorkelling and diving on offshore reefs and wrecks, Biscayne National Park nearby and the Everglades' sawgrass and alligators about an hour away.

St. Augustine's setting is salt marsh and dunes. Kayak trips through the creeks meet dolphins and ospreys, and the Guana Tolomato Matanzas reserve has long marsh walks for birders. In both places summer heat pushes activity into the early morning.

Miami Beach has slightly better trips within easy reach. Mainland Miami is right across the bay, with Vizcaya's villa and gardens, Coral Gables and the Wynwood murals, and Palm Beach or Key Largo are about an hour and a half by car.

St. Augustine's list is more spread out: Jacksonville and its Cummer gardens close by, Victorian Fernandina Beach, and long days out to Kennedy Space Center or the Orlando parks. Both towns need a car or a tour for nearly all of these.

The two are about level for families, but children spend their days differently. In Miami Beach the attraction is the sea itself, warm and gentle with lifeguards along the shore, plus resort pools in Mid-Beach and North Beach. Zoos and museums are on the mainland, and South Beach is best avoided at weekends.

St. Augustine gives children more to do on land: the Alligator Farm with its zipline, cannon-firing at the Castillo, the lighthouse climb and pirate museums, all in a compact, safe old town. The summer surf on Anastasia Island is gentle too.

Miami Beach is easier to manage without a car. South Beach is compact and walkable, free trolleys and buses run up Collins Avenue to the quieter neighbourhoods, and bike share works well along the beachwalk. The weak point is leaving the island, with no rail link and slow buses over the causeways.

In St. Augustine the historic district is a pleasure on foot, with the fort, Flagler College and the bayfront minutes apart. Beyond it local buses are of little use, so even the beach needs a car, a bike or a taxi.

Miami Beach is the place for shopping. Bal Harbour at the north end of the island gathers the big European fashion and jewellery houses, and Lincoln Road's palm-shaded pedestrian mall is a pleasant evening stroll past international chains and swimwear shops.

St. Augustine is about small purchases. St. George Street sells fudge and pirate souvenirs, while Aviles Street has galleries, antique dealers and craft shops, and datil-pepper sauce makes a good gift to take home. An outlet mall by the interstate covers the mainstream brands.

Neither town is cheap, but St. Augustine is easier on the budget. Miami Beach is one of the costlier stays on this coast, with oceanfront rooms in winter, resort fees, parking and South Beach cocktails all adding up. Staying in North Beach or coming in the stormy summer helps.

In St. Augustine the historic inns and old-town hotels climb at weekends and in spring and summer, but chain motels by the highway or on the island and a midweek visit keep costs down. The old streets and beaches cost nothing.

Miami Beach has the stronger arts calendar, and it leans classical. The New World Symphony plays in its Frank Gehry hall on 17th Street, with some concerts projected onto the outside wall for people on the lawn, and Miami City Ballet and the Colony Theatre add dance and smaller productions from autumn to spring.

St. Augustine's stage is the open-air Amphitheatre in the woods on Anastasia Island, for touring rock, country and folk acts, with cover bands on bar patios most nights. For orchestra or opera, it is a drive to Jacksonville.

For pampering, Miami Beach has much more. Its large resort spas offer hydrotherapy circuits, saunas and plunge pools, and there is sunrise yoga on the sand. To make it a restful week, stay in Mid-Beach or towards Surfside rather than in loud South Beach.

St. Augustine has few spas, and its calm comes from the pace of the town: a quiet B&B veranda, a courtyard garden, an unhurried evening walk along the bayfront seawall. It is best midweek.