Miami or Tampa?

In Miami you can live on the beach. The hotels of South Beach, Mid-Beach and Surfside face one long strip of pale sand, and Crandon Park on Key Biscayne has calmer water for quieter days. The Atlantic stays warm enough to swim right through the winter.

Tampa's own bay shore is mostly seawall, so a beach day means a drive of up to an hour to Clearwater, St Pete Beach or Fort De Soto. The fine white Gulf sand is lovely, and Caladesi Island feels wilder than Miami's flat, built-up shore. But the water turns cool in midwinter, and anyone who wants the sea outside the window ends up sleeping on the islands.

Both cities eat Cuban, but in different ways. Miami's Cuban food is the exile cooking of the Little Havana ventanitas, surrounded by a whole Latin American and Caribbean range, from Venezuelan arepas to Haitian griot in Little Haiti. On top of that come stone crab and a serious upscale tier in Brickell and the Design District.

Tampa's Cuban tradition is older and narrower, shaped by the Spanish and Sicilian cigar workers of Ybor City. That means a Cuban sandwich with Genoa salami, deviled crab croquettes and the century-old Columbia Restaurant. Beyond that heritage, the food is solid modern American, with less at the top end.

Miami has the more memorable sights. The Art Deco Historic District has whole streets of 1930s pastel hotels along Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue, and Vizcaya's villa and gardens sit on the bay. Wynwood's murals and the Design District galleries add contemporary art.

Tampa's heritage is smaller and more focused: the brick cigar factories and Latin social clubs of Ybor City, and the silver minarets of Henry Plant's 1891 railway hotel. A couple of days covers it, and visitors in Tampa who want art usually cross the bay to St Petersburg.

Miami is far ahead for going out, because its clubs are a reason to travel in themselves. The big rooms of South Beach and downtown bring international DJs, dress codes and bottle tables, and keep going until dawn, and the March dance-music week fills the whole city. Wynwood's warehouse bars, the Brickell rooftops and salsa on Calle Ocho give you other kinds of night.

Going out in Tampa is regional in scale. There is Seventh Avenue in Ybor City for loud weekend clubs, SoHo for cocktail patios, and craft beer taprooms along the Riverwalk. Its one big night of the year is Gasparilla, the pirate-themed street party on the bayfront each winter.

Miami has the bigger natural asset on its doorstep. The Everglades are within an hour, with airboats, alligators along the Anhinga Trail and the Shark Valley cycling loop. There are also the mangroves and reefs of Biscayne National Park, and Key Largo's coral further south, which give snorkellers far more here.

Tampa's outdoors is gentler and centred on clear fresh water. You can kayak the cypress swamp in Hillsborough River State Park, watch manatees gather at Apollo Beach in winter, or head north to the spring-fed rivers at Crystal River and Weeki Wachee. In both cities the flat land and summer heat put the best outdoor days in winter and spring.

Tampa is the better base for days away. St Petersburg and its Dalí Museum are half an hour across the bay. Within about an hour you can reach the Greek sponge docks of Tarpon Springs, the Ringling estate in Sarasota and the Frank Lloyd Wright campus at Lakeland.

From Miami, Fort Lauderdale and the Gilded Age mansions of Palm Beach are pleasant, and the Upper Keys make a good seafood day. Key West, though, is too far for a comfortable day trip, so most Miami visitors spend their spare days in the Everglades instead.

Tampa is the better bet with children, mainly because Busch Gardens puts roller coasters and an African-themed animal park in the city, with a water park next door. ZooTampa and the Florida Aquarium are close by, Legoland and Orlando are within a long day's reach, and the shallow Gulf beaches suit toddlers.

In Miami the main draw for families is the calm sea, best at Key Biscayne and North Beach, with Zoo Miami and the Frost Science Museum for other days. The big theme parks are a long drive away, and South Beach's party side means families need to choose where they stay with care.

Neither city works well without wheels, but Miami gives more to the visitor who stays put. South Beach is flat and easy to walk, the free Metromover links downtown and Brickell, and Metrorail runs in from the airport, though it does not cross to Miami Beach.

Tampa's walkable core is smaller: the Riverwalk, plus the heritage-style streetcar between downtown, the Channel District and Ybor City. The beaches, Busch Gardens and every day trip are a drive away, so a hire car is close to essential from the first day.

Miami is a true luxury shopping city. The major fashion houses have flagship stores in the Design District, Bal Harbour has its exclusive open-air mall, and Aventura Mall is enormous, with outlet malls on the western edge for bargains.

Tampa has an upscale mall near the airport and the small boutiques of Hyde Park Village, about what a city of its size usually offers. Where the two do share some local character, it is in cigars: hand-rolled in small Ybor City shops, and sold alongside guayaberas in Little Havana.

Neither city is cheap, but Tampa costs less. Its hotels and meals run at ordinary American levels and summer is noticeably cheaper, though the near-essential hire car and theme park tickets weigh on a family budget.

Miami's beachfront hotels add resort fees and parking charges in the winter season, and drinks in South Beach clubs are among the dearest anywhere. In both cities, Cuban bakeries and lunch counters are the way to eat well for little. Miami's free beaches and the Metromover help too.

Miami has the edge, mainly through Miami City Ballet and the New World Symphony, whose Frank Gehry building shows outdoor screenings on the lawn, alongside opera and Broadway tours at the Adrienne Arsht Center. Its Latin music, with salsa, son and timba bands in Little Havana, is something Tampa cannot match.

Tampa's Straz Center covers similar ground with touring musicals, opera, ballet and the Florida Orchestra. The ornate 1926 Tampa Theatre, with its twinkling ceiling, is a lovely place for a film or a concert. Small rock and indie stages in Ybor City complete a dependable programme that is mostly brought in from elsewhere.

Miami offers more to someone who wants to unwind, though neither city is a retreat. The big hotels on Miami Beach and Key Biscayne have large spas with ocean views, sunrise yoga on the sand is common, and a long-established Russian and Turkish bath house has banya and cold plunges. The catch is the late-night noise of South Beach, so Key Biscayne and Surfside are the calmer bases.

Tampa has hotel spas but no bathing tradition, and the city itself is sprawling and humid. Its restful side is out on the Gulf islands, where days slow to sunsets and long lunches.