Naples, Florida or St. Pete Beach?

These are two equally fine stretches of pale Gulf sand with calm, shallow water, so the choice comes down to character. Naples has the wooden pier, beach paths at the end of Old Naples streets, and wilder sand further north at Barefoot Beach and the Clam Pass mangrove boardwalk, with Marco Island close by. Its water is also a touch warmer in winter.

St. Pete Beach is a single unbroken strip along a barrier island. Pass-a-Grille is its most relaxed end, Fort De Soto's dunes and pines are a short drive south, and boats run out to the empty sands of Shell Key. Both coasts get the odd spell of red tide or algae, and in Naples it pays to shuffle your feet past the stingrays.

Both coasts serve the same Gulf staples, grouper sandwiches and stone crab claws in season, but Naples offers more choice of dining room. Its white-tablecloth restaurants and wine bars on Fifth Avenue South and Third Street suit a long dinner, and the dockside fish houses around Tin City are good for seafood.

St. Pete Beach eats more casually, at shacks, beach bars and waterfront grills, with chain restaurants along Gulf Boulevard filling the gaps. Supper on a deck at sunset is the high point, and anyone after more ambitious cooking drives across to St. Petersburg.

Neither is a sightseeing destination, but Naples gives you slightly more to fill a day: modern and American art at the Baker Museum, a serious collection of historic racing cars at the Revs Institute, and Palm Cottage and the old railway depot for early local history.

St. Pete Beach has the pink 1920s Don CeSar hotel, the beach cottages and small museum of Pass-a-Grille's historic district, and the old war batteries at Fort De Soto. That takes a morning, and the real galleries are across the bay.

St. Pete Beach is the livelier of two quiet towns. Sunset brings crowds to the tiki decks on Gulf Boulevard and at Pass-a-Grille, often with a cover band, a few bars on Corey Avenue stay busy, and downtown St. Petersburg is half an hour away for a later night.

Naples evenings are quieter and more grown-up: wine bars and piano lounges on Fifth Avenue South, an older crowd, and little open near midnight, especially in summer. For anything louder, people drive to Fort Myers Beach.

Naples is the stronger base for wild country, because it sits at the edge of the Everglades. Big Cypress, the cypress boardwalk at Corkscrew Swamp and the orchids of the Fakahatchee Strand are all within an hour, and paddling the mangrove maze of the Ten Thousand Islands is a first-rate outing.

St. Pete Beach's outdoors is gentler and almost all on the water: kayak trails at Fort De Soto and Shell Key, dolphins from the boats, manatees in the bay in winter and roseate spoonbills for birdwatchers. Both are completely flat, and summer heat confines outings to the early morning.

St. Pete Beach has the better spread of outings. St. Petersburg's Dalí Museum and waterfront are half an hour away, Tampa's Ybor City is under an hour, and the Greek sponge docks of Tarpon Springs, Dunedin and Anna Maria Island give plenty of variety. Orlando is just about possible in a day.

From Naples the choices are fewer and further apart. The Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers and the shelling islands of Sanibel and Captiva are the best of them, while Sarasota and Miami each take about two hours each way.

Both have the shallow, calm water that small children need, but St. Pete Beach does more for families beyond the sand. Hotels with pools on the beach are common, and Clearwater's marine aquarium, Tampa's aquarium and science centre, and Busch Gardens are all within an hour.

Naples keeps things smaller in scale: the zoo's boat ride past the primate islands, a children's museum for the under-tens and the botanical garden's children's corner. Orlando's parks are more than three hours away.

You will want a car in both, but St. Pete Beach is a little easier without one. A beach trolley runs the length of Gulf Boulevard, and Tampa's airport is about 45 minutes away.

Naples has the more pleasant walking core, the flat grid of Old Naples around the pier and Fifth Avenue South. Outside it, though, the city sprawls along wide roads, the buses are thin, and winter traffic adds time to every drive.

Naples is far better for shopping. Shaded Fifth Avenue South and Third Street South mix galleries, jewellers, linen and home-decor shops, an open-air mall gathers the international designer labels, and Tin City's old clam sheds sell nautical souvenirs.

St. Pete Beach offers swimwear, beach gear and a few independent boutiques on Corey Avenue and in Pass-a-Grille. For anything bigger, you drive to the malls of St. Petersburg or Tampa.

Neither is cheap, but St. Pete Beach is easier on the wallet. Older motels a block from the sand and simple seafood places allow a modest stay, and late summer is quieter and cheaper.

Naples is priced for a wealthy winter crowd, with resorts and restaurants at their dearest from January to April. Staying inland or in Fort Myers and cooking for yourself is the main way to cut costs.

Naples has a real winter season on stage, which is unusual for a town its size. The Naples Philharmonic plays in its own hall, touring Broadway shows and chamber music come through, and a professional theatre company works downtown, though summer is close to empty.

At St. Pete Beach, live performance means cover bands and acoustic sets at the beach bars. The Florida Orchestra and Tampa's large arts centre are a drive away.

Both are good places to slow down without any spa tradition of their own, and each relies on resort spas and day spas. Naples adds golf and the feel of a whole town settled into retirement pace, with large resort spas open to non-guests.

St. Pete Beach's calm is barefoot and simple, best felt in unhurried Pass-a-Grille. Avoid the spring-break weeks, when the strip gets noisier.