New Orleans or St. Pete Beach?

There is no real contest here. New Orleans sits on a working river and a lake that nobody bathes in. The closest sand is on the Mississippi coast, over an hour away, and the water there is shallow and murky, so most visitors swim in a hotel pool.

St. Pete Beach is built on the opposite fact: a barrier island of fine, pale sand along calm, shallow Gulf water. Pass-a-Grille faces the sunset, Upham Beach is quieter, and the wilder shores of Fort De Soto and Shell Key are close by. The only catch is the odd spell of red tide.

New Orleans has one of the most distinctive kitchens in the country. It runs from Creole and Cajun classics in century-old French Quarter dining rooms to po'boy shops in Mid-City and crawfish boils in spring, along with cocktails such as the Sazerac that were invented in the city. Its weaknesses are richness and a narrow range, not quality.

St. Pete Beach eats simply and by the water, with grouper sandwiches, fried shrimp, stone crab in season and dinner timed for sunset. That is pleasant enough for a beach week, but anyone who cares about cooking will end up driving to St. Petersburg.

New Orleans gives a visitor days of looking: the iron balconies and courtyards of the French Quarter, Jackson Square and the Cabildo, the mansions of the Garden District, the above-ground tombs and the National WWII Museum.

St. Pete Beach has a pink 1920s resort hotel, the old cottages of Pass-a-Grille and the coastal batteries at Fort De Soto, and little more. Its serious museums, the Dalí among them, are across the bay.

Nights in New Orleans have no fixed end. Drinks travel in plastic cups, Bourbon Street stays loud until dawn, and locals drift between Frenchmen Street, the dive bars of the Bywater and corner bars that rarely close. Late at night, keep to the busy streets and take a taxi beyond them.

At St. Pete Beach the evening peaks at sunset on a tiki deck with a cover band, and most people have turned in soon after dark. A bigger night means a half-hour drive to downtown St. Petersburg.

Both landscapes are flat and watery, but St. Pete Beach has more of it on the doorstep. Kayak and paddleboard trails run through the mangroves at Fort De Soto and Shell Key, dolphins are an everyday sight from boats, manatees arrive in the cooler months, and roseate spoonbills draw birdwatchers.

In New Orleans the best nature needs a drive: the cypress swamps and bayous of the Barataria Preserve, with alligators and Spanish moss. In town, City Park's live oaks and the river levee are good for a walk or a ride. In both places, summer pushes outdoor activity into the early morning.

The two are fairly close here, with St. Pete Beach a little better supplied. From New Orleans the essential outing is the River Road to the old plantations, where the Whitney is the most moving. Beyond that there are Baton Rouge, the small Gulf coast towns and, at a stretch, Cajun Lafayette.

St. Pete Beach has more variety within an hour: the Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Ybor City in Tampa, Greek-rooted Tarpon Springs, the Ringling estate in Sarasota and Anna Maria Island. Orlando's theme parks are at the outer edge, and nearly everything is reached by car.

St. Pete Beach is simply easier with children. The water is calm and shallow, the sand is soft and the hotels have pools. Shelling at Shell Key and dolphin boats fill the days, and aquariums and Busch Gardens are within an hour by car.

New Orleans has more for children than its reputation suggests, from Audubon Zoo and the riverfront aquarium to the carousel and children's museum in City Park and the parades along St. Charles Avenue. Still, the heavy summer heat, Bourbon Street at night and some areas after dark all call for more care.

New Orleans is far easier without a car. The French Quarter, the Marigny and the Warehouse District can be covered on foot, and the historic St. Charles streetcar reaches the Garden District, though it is slow and ride-hailing fills the gaps.

St. Pete Beach is a single strip with a beach trolley, which is fine between Pass-a-Grille and Corey Avenue but not much further. Fort De Soto, the mainland and every day trip assume a hire car.

New Orleans offers proper browsing. Royal Street has antique dealers and galleries, Magazine Street has miles of independent and vintage shops, the French Market sells hot sauces and pralines, and the Carnival masks are found nowhere else, though designer labels are thin.

St. Pete Beach sells swimwear, beach gear and souvenirs, with a handful of boutiques on Corey Avenue. For anything more, shoppers go to St. Petersburg or Tampa.

Neither is cheap, but New Orleans is easier on the budget. Its best pleasures, street music and walking the Quarter, are free, po'boys and the streetcar are inexpensive, and staying along the streetcar lines rather than in the Quarter cuts the biggest cost.

St. Pete Beach adds high beachfront resort rates, especially from February to April, and most visitors cannot do without a hire car. Older motels a block back from the sand and the late-summer season soften the bill, and the beaches themselves are free.

Music is a reason to go to New Orleans and an afterthought at St. Pete Beach. New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz, with brass bands, zydeco and funk every night on Frenchmen Street and in Tremé, second-line parades on Sundays and Jazz Fest in spring. Its opera and orchestra are small, but they are not why people come.

St. Pete Beach offers cover bands and acoustic sets at beach bars. For more, visitors drive to the Florida Orchestra in St. Petersburg or to the touring musicals and opera in Tampa.

Neither has a spa or bathing tradition, but St. Pete Beach is the better place to unwind, with resort spas, morning walks on the sand and an unhurried Pass-a-Grille that make slowing down the default. New Orleans can be slow in a courtyard guesthouse or on a streetcar under the oaks, yet the French Quarter at night pulls the other way.