Miami or Las Vegas?

This is the widest gap between the two. Las Vegas has no beach to speak of. Lake Mead's gravel shore at Boulder Beach is the nearest natural swimming, out in a shadeless basin, and the Strip resorts offer sand-lined wave pools and lazy rivers that are pleasant for an afternoon but not a reason to come.

In Miami the shore is the main event. Pale sand runs past the Art Deco hotels and on to quieter North Beach. Crandon Park on Key Biscayne has shallow water for children, and the Atlantic stays warm enough to swim in winter. The setting is flat and built-up, and seaweed and summer storms can spoil some days.

Both cities eat well, but in very different ways. Las Vegas brings in its quality: famous chefs' dining rooms, steakhouses and the classic buffets on the Strip. The meals worth seeking out are on Spring Mountain Road, where Sichuan, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese kitchens stay open late.

Miami's food comes from its own people. Cuban ventanita windows serve cafecito and croquetas, and you'll find Haitian griot in Little Haiti, Peruvian ceviche and stone crab claws in winter. It feels like eating in a Latin American capital rather than a resort. Neither city is much for food markets.

Miami gives a curious visitor much more to see. Its Art Deco Historic District is a real architectural landmark, best explored on foot along Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue. Vizcaya's villa and bay-side gardens, the Perez Art Museum, the Wolfsonian, the Wynwood murals and Little Havana's exile history fill several good days.

Las Vegas has spectacle rather than heritage: replica canals and skylines, the fountains and the light canopy over Fremont Street. The Neon Museum and the Mob Museum tell the city's short story well, but once you've seen those there is little else.

Las Vegas is the more relentless of the two. Casino bars never shut, you can carry a drink along the Strip, and the pool dayclubs run straight into DJ nights in the resort clubs. A Saturday at three in the morning feels much like nine in the evening. Fremont Street and the arts district offer cheaper dive bars and craft beer.

Miami is just as glossy in South Beach, with bottle tables and dress codes, but it has more variety. Brickell has rooftop bars, Wynwood has warehouse bars and breweries, and Little Havana has salsa nights that Las Vegas has nothing to match.

These are about equal, but the landscapes could hardly be more different. Around Las Vegas the outdoors is rock and height. There are the sandstone cliffs and climbing routes of Red Rock Canyon, the flame-coloured washes and petroglyphs of Valley of Fire, and the pine forest of Mount Charleston at over 3,600m.

Around Miami it is water: alligators and wading birds on the Everglades boardwalks, kayaking through the mangroves of Biscayne National Park and snorkelling on the reefs near Key Largo. Both are best in the cooler months and both need a car.

Miami has more places to go for the day. Palm Beach has Gilded Age mansions and the Flagler Museum, Fort Lauderdale has its canals, and the Upper Keys around Islamorada are good for seafood shacks. Key West needs an overnight stay.

Las Vegas really has one outing to a town or monument: Hoover Dam with Boulder City, the 1930s town built for the dam's workers. The Grand Canyon and Zion are sold as day trips but mean very long drives, so the desert's isolation limits the options.

Miami is clearly the better choice with children. The calm, warm sea is the main attraction, Key Biscayne and North Beach are quieter than South Beach, and Zoo Miami, the Frost planetarium and aquarium and the Venetian Pool in Coral Gables fill the other days. The long drives are the main drawback.

Las Vegas was not built for families. Children can walk through casino floors but cannot stop there, and the shark aquarium, indoor rides and the Discovery Children's Museum add up to a day or two. Most families treat it as a stop on the way to the national parks.

Neither city is easy without a car, and the problems are different. In Las Vegas the Strip looks walkable on a map, but the huge resorts, footbridges and casino detours turn short hops into long walks. A monorail and round-the-clock buses help.

In Miami, South Beach is flat and easy on foot or by bike, and the free Metromover links downtown with Brickell. The trouble is the causeways: the Metrorail doesn't reach the beach, so visitors use ride-hailing. Both need a hire car for the Everglades or Hoover Dam.

Miami has a slight edge for serious shopping. The Design District puts the big fashion houses' flagship stores among architect-designed buildings, Bal Harbour is very exclusive, and Lincoln Road gives you a street to stroll rather than a mall. Wynwood adds some independent streetwear.

Las Vegas keeps everything indoors in the malls attached to the resorts, such as the Roman-themed arcade at Caesars Palace and the Venetian's canal-side shops, open late after a show. Both have big outlet centres, and neither has much local craft beyond Miami's guayabera makers and cigar shops in Little Havana.

Las Vegas is the easier city to keep cheaper, mostly because of its midweek rooms. From Sunday to Thursday, hotels on and around the Strip, and downtown in particular, can be good value. Weekends and big conventions push prices up sharply, and drinks, clubs and shows are expensive everywhere.

Miami is costly through its winter peak, with beachfront rates, parking and a hire car all adding up. It does have free beaches, the free Metromover and filling Cuban lunch counters. Staying on the mainland rather than on Miami Beach saves a good deal.

Las Vegas wins clearly for shows. Dozens of productions play every night in theatres built for them, from water-based acrobatics to magicians and comedians, and major stars settle into long residencies there. The Smith Center downtown covers touring musicals and the local philharmonic.

Miami's strengths are different. The Adrienne Arsht Center is home to Florida Grand Opera, which Las Vegas has no match for. Miami City Ballet and the New World Symphony in its Gehry building add more, and the salsa and timba bands of Little Havana are the most local music either city offers.

The two are about level, and in both the noise outside the spa is the problem. In Las Vegas the resort spas are huge, with salt and ice rooms and thermal circuits. It's best to book early on a weekday at a hotel without a casino.

In Miami there are spa floors with ocean views, yoga on the sand at sunrise and a long-established Russian and Turkish bath house with a banya. Key Biscayne and Surfside are quieter places to rest.