Miami or Orlando?

Here the gap is as wide as it gets. Miami Beach is one unbroken strip of pale sand from South Beach up to Surfside. Key Biscayne has shallower water at Crandon Park and Bill Baggs for calmer swims, and the sea is warm enough to swim in every month.

Orlando is inland. Cocoa Beach and New Smyrna Beach are fine, wide Atlantic beaches about an hour east, and the Gulf around Clearwater is nearer two hours, so most swimming happens in hotel pools and water parks. Miami's drawbacks are summer seaweed and storms, not distance.

Miami's cooking has a strong identity. There is Cuban cafecito and croquetas from ventanita windows in Little Havana, Haitian griot, Peruvian ceviche and stone crab in winter, and an upscale tier in Brickell and the Design District.

Orlando eats mostly at chains and in the parks, and Epcot's World Showcase is the most interesting place to graze. The city does better than its reputation in the Vietnamese kitchens of Mills 50 and the chef-led restaurants of Winter Park, but you will usually have to drive to reach them.

Neither is a heritage city, but Miami has more to show. The Art Deco district along Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue is a real architectural sight, and Vizcaya adds an Italianate villa with gardens on the bay. The Perez, the Wolfsonian and Wynwood's murals fill out a few days.

Orlando's cultural highlight is one museum: the Morse in Winter Park, with its Tiffany collection and chapel. Beyond that, the small museums in Loch Haven Park make an afternoon, not a trip.

Miami goes out late and takes it seriously. There are big South Beach clubs with international DJs and dress codes, downtown venues open until dawn, rooftop bars in Brickell and Latin dance on Calle Ocho. It suits people with money and energy to spend.

Orlando's nights are gentler. Disney Springs and CityWalk have easy themed bars that close early, and downtown around Orange Avenue fills with a student crowd at weekends, but most visitors are in bed early before the next park day.

Both sit on flat, watery ground, and Miami has the richer landscape close at hand. The Everglades start at its western edge, with the Anhinga Trail and Shark Valley, and Biscayne National Park and Key Largo add snorkelling on coral reefs, which inland Orlando cannot offer.

Orlando's outdoors is quieter: kayaking in the clear water of Wekiwa Springs, manatees at Blue Spring in winter and birdwatching on Merritt Island. In both cities, summer heat pushes activity into the early morning.

This is one area where Orlando pulls ahead. The Kennedy Space Center is about an hour away and St Augustine's Spanish fort and old streets under two. To the west, Tampa's Ybor City or the Dalí Museum in St Petersburg make a full day.

From Miami the choices are milder: Fort Lauderdale's canals, the Flagler Museum and mansions of Palm Beach, or seafood in Key Largo and Islamorada. Key West is the famous one, but it is too far to go there and back in a day. From either city you will need a car.

Orlando is built around children more completely than almost anywhere. Disney World's four parks, Universal, SeaWorld and Legoland come with resorts that take care of stroller rental, bunk rooms and transport, so the main planning left is beating the queues.

Miami works well for a family beach vacation, with quieter sand at North Beach and Key Biscayne, plus Zoo Miami and the Frost Science Museum. It asks more of parents, though: long drives, few outings without a car, and a South Beach party scene that most parents would rather avoid.

Neither city is easy without a car, but Miami at least has walkable pockets. South Beach is flat for walking and cycling, the free Metromover links downtown and Brickell, and ride-hailing covers Wynwood or Little Havana.

Orlando spreads along Interstate 4 and its toll roads, with little room for pedestrians, so a car is close to essential. The exception is staying inside Disney or Universal, where monorails, boats and gondolas handle everything.

Miami is the stronger place for luxury shopping. Nothing in central Florida matches the Design District's fashion flagships or Bal Harbour's exclusive open-air mall, and Lincoln Road is a pedestrian street for browsing.

Orlando is about bargains rather than prestige: two premium outlet centres on International Drive and Vineland Avenue, the Mall at Millenia and park merchandise. Park Avenue in Winter Park is its pleasant boutique street. Neither city has much in the way of local crafts or markets.

Both are costly, but Orlando is somewhat easier on the budget. Off-site hotels along International Drive and in Kissimmee are fairly priced, and condos let families cook for themselves. The real cost is park tickets, express passes and parking.

In Miami, beachfront hotels, resort fees and South Beach drinks push bills higher. The free beaches, cheap Cuban counters and a base on the mainland help, and room rates drop in summer, in exchange for heat and storms.

Miami has the stronger performing arts. The Arsht Center hosts Florida Grand Opera and touring Broadway shows, Miami City Ballet is a company of standing, and the New World Symphony plays in its Gehry building. Salsa and timba bands in Little Havana give the city a sound of its own.

In Orlando, the Dr. Phillips Center and Orlando Shakespeare Theater carry the serious programme, with the Orlando Fringe in spring. Many visitors experience performance mainly through polished park shows, fireworks and dinner theatre.

Of the two, only Miami has anything like a bathing tradition: a long-established Russian and Turkish bath house on Miami Beach, with banya, steam rooms and cold plunges. Add the ocean-view spa floors of the big hotels and sunrise yoga on the sand, and a slow day is easy to put together. The catch is location, because South Beach stays loud late, so base yourself in Surfside or on Key Biscayne.

Orlando's resort spas, landscaped pools and lazy rivers around Lake Buena Vista are for recovering between early park starts, not a reason to book the trip. Couples who want real quiet do best in Winter Park, among its lakes and tree-lined streets.