Miami or St. Petersburg, Florida?

Both are true beach cities, and the main difference is the water. Miami Beach is one long, built-up strip of pale sand on the Atlantic, where the sea is warm enough to swim in every month. Crandon Park and Bill Baggs on Key Biscayne have calmer water.

St. Petersburg's Gulf beaches, from Pass-a-Grille to Fort De Soto and Caladesi Island, are whiter, shallower and wilder in places. But the sea turns cool in midwinter, and downtown sits on the bay, so every beach day starts with a short trip west. Miami's occasional problem is sargassum seaweed, and the Gulf's is red tide.

Miami eats far better. Cuban food is at its core, from cafecito at ventanita windows to slow-cooked lechon on Calle Ocho. Around it you find Haitian, Venezuelan, Peruvian and Nicaraguan cooking, and Brickell and the Design District have serious chef-led restaurants.

St. Petersburg is pleasant and easygoing. Expect grouper sandwiches and smoked fish spread in Pass-a-Grille's fish shacks, brunch along Central Avenue, and a craft beer scene Miami does not match. For Cuban food it relies on Ybor City across the bay.

Neither city is a cultural heavyweight, and a few days covers either, but they offer different things. Miami's strength is its streets: the pastel Art Deco blocks of Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue, the Vizcaya villa and gardens on the bay, and the murals of Wynwood.

St. Petersburg is the museum town. The Dalí collection in its glass-bubble building, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Chihuly glass all sit close together on the waterfront. Its older buildings are 1920s Mediterranean Revival, like the pink Don CeSar hotel.

This is the widest gap between the two. Miami goes out late and on a big scale, with the South Beach and Park West clubs, international DJs and dawn finishes. It also has Wynwood's warehouse bars and salsa nights on Calle Ocho.

In St. Petersburg, an evening means walking between cocktail bars, rooftops and taprooms on Central Avenue, or a tiki bar on the beach at sunset. Anyone who wants to dance has to cross to Ybor City in Tampa.

Miami has the edge thanks to the Everglades. Within an hour you can take an airboat, see alligators on the Anhinga Trail or cycle the Shark Valley loop, and there is reef snorkelling in Biscayne National Park and off Key Largo.

St. Petersburg is gentler and better for paddling. Kayak trails run through the mangroves of Weedon Island and Shell Key, where dolphins and, in winter, manatees are common. Fort De Soto is good for birding, and the long, paved Pinellas Trail is easy cycling. Both cities are flat and best for the outdoors in winter.

St. Petersburg has more places worth going to. Ybor City's cigar-factory streets in Tampa, the Ringling in Sarasota and the Greek sponge docks of Tarpon Springs are all within about an hour, and each feels quite different.

From Miami, Fort Lauderdale and the Gilded Age mansions of Palm Beach are pleasant, and the Upper Keys make a good day of seafood. Key West, though, really needs an overnight stay, so most Miami visitors spend their spare days at the beach or in the Everglades instead.

St. Petersburg is the easier base for a family. Its shallow Gulf water suits toddlers, and the Great Explorations children's museum is in town. Busch Gardens, the Florida Aquarium and the Clearwater dolphins are close, and Orlando's parks are within reach for a long day.

Miami has calm water on Key Biscayne, Zoo Miami and the aquarium at the Frost Science Museum. But outings are spread out, Orlando is too far for a day, and the late-night side of South Beach is not the setting most parents want.

Both are car country with one area you can easily walk. In Miami it is South Beach, which is flat and easy by bike, and the free elevated Metromover links downtown and Brickell, though the Metrorail never reaches the beach.

In St. Petersburg the walkable part is the compact downtown, with the pier, the museums and Central Avenue close together, and a rapid bus runs to St. Pete Beach. Everywhere else, in both cities, you need a hire car or ride-hailing.

Miami is in a different league. The Design District's fashion flagships, the exclusive Bal Harbour mall and the enormous Aventura Mall serve luxury shoppers, and outlet malls on the western edge draw bargain hunters.

St. Petersburg has no luxury street or department store. Its shopping is independent: vintage and record shops on Central Avenue, glass and prints by local artists, and the Saturday Morning Market in winter. For brand names you drive to Tampa.

Neither city is cheap, but Miami costs more. Beach hotels add resort fees and parking charges, drinks in the South Beach clubs are among the costliest anywhere, and a hire car or regular ride-hailing adds up. The Cuban lunch counters and the free Metromover help a little.

St. Petersburg is somewhat easier on the budget. Its beaches, parks and waterfront are free and summers are cheaper, though a hire car and beach parking are hard to avoid.

Miami has more to see on stage. The Adrienne Arsht Center hosts Florida Grand Opera and touring Broadway shows, and Miami City Ballet is a company of real standing. The New World Symphony plays in its Gehry building, with screenings on the lawn outside, and Little Havana adds salsa and timba bands.

In St. Petersburg, the Mahaffey Theater, which the Florida Orchestra shares with the rest of the bay area, and a regional theatre company are enough to fill an evening. For opera or ballet, though, people cross to Tampa.

In both cities wellness means resort spas rather than a bathing tradition, so the real difference is the pace. Miami has a long-established Russian and Turkish bath house in Miami Beach, but the city around it is loud, and finding calm means going to Key Biscayne or Surfside.

St. Petersburg is sleepier by nature. It has the quiet streets of Pass-a-Grille, sunset on the beach every evening and the shaded parks downtown, all at their most restful on dry winter days.