Orlando or Savannah?

Neither city is on the sea. From Orlando the Atlantic at Cocoa Beach or New Smyrna is about an hour's drive, and the clearer Gulf water around Clearwater is nearer two, so the coast usually becomes a single day out. Most swimming happens in hotel pools and water parks.

Savannah's beach is much easier to reach. Tybee Island is about half an hour away, close enough for an afternoon on the wide, flat sand or a paddle with the children. The water is tinted by the marshes rather than clear, and the town is low-key, but it fits easily into an ordinary day.

Savannah eats better and more distinctively. Shrimp and grits, she-crab soup, Lowcountry boil and oyster roasts give it a regional cuisine of its own, served in family-style dining rooms and a small group of chef-led restaurants in restored townhouses, nearly all within walking distance.

Orlando's meals are mostly chains, park counters and themed dining, with Epcot's World Showcase the most interesting place to graze. Better cooking does exist, in the Vietnamese kitchens of Mills 50 and the chef-led places in Winter Park, but reaching it usually means getting in the car.

Savannah is far ahead for sightseeing. Orlando grew out of citrus groves and theme parks, so it has little old architecture to show. Its one real highlight is the Morse Museum in Winter Park, which holds the Tiffany chapel made for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. The museums in Loch Haven Park and the history centre downtown fill a slow afternoon, and that is about all.

In Savannah the city itself is what you come to see. Oglethorpe's grid of garden squares, the Federal and Greek Revival houses, Factors Walk, the Telfair Museums and Bonaventure Cemetery make one or two full days of history on foot. Orlando has nothing like that sense of place.

Savannah makes the easier night out. Drinks in to-go cups let you wander between River Street's cobbled bars, the taverns around City Market and quiet cocktail rooms in old townhouses, and St Patrick's Day turns the whole place into a street party. It does wind down before the early hours.

In Orlando, going out is split between themed bars at Disney Springs and CityWalk, which close early, and the student-heavy bars and clubs of downtown Orange Avenue, which stay busy late on weekends. Getting to the downtown bars means a drive, which makes them hard to fit around early park days.

Both are flat, watery landscapes and offer about the same amount, but the water is different. Around Orlando it is fresh: clear springs such as Wekiwa for kayaking, manatees at Blue Spring in winter, and airboats past alligators, with Merritt Island's birdlife towards the coast.

Savannah's outdoors is tidal salt marsh. Paddling the creeks at high tide, dolphin-spotting trips and the oak avenue at Wormsloe are the highlights. Both cities are hard work outdoors in midsummer.

The day trips are about equally strong, and both need a car. Orlando's best is the Kennedy Space Center, with the Saturn V and sometimes a launch to watch, plus St Augustine's Spanish fort, Tampa and St Petersburg further afield.

Savannah's trips lean towards history and islands: Charleston is the big one, with Beaufort, Hilton Head, Fort Pulaski and Jekyll Island closer by.

Orlando is in a league of its own here. Walt Disney World, Universal, SeaWorld and Legoland can fill a week or more, and the hotels are designed for families, from character breakfasts to bunk-room suites. The main things to plan around are heat, queues and the sheer size of it all.

Savannah copes well enough with children, thanks to shady squares, trolley tours, the free ferry, the forts and the turtle centre on Tybee. With no theme park, zoo or aquarium, though, it works better for a few days than for a whole family trip.

Savannah's historic district is flat, compact and easy to cover on foot, with a free shuttle and a river ferry for the gaps. You only need a car for places like Bonaventure, Wormsloe or Tybee.

Orlando is the opposite. Parks, hotel zones and downtown are spread along Interstate 4, the buses are of little use to visitors, and you rarely see anyone walking between areas. A car is close to essential, unless you stay inside the Disney or Universal resorts and use their monorail, boats and buses.

Orlando is the stronger shopping destination. Its premium outlets on International Drive and Vineland Avenue, along with the Mall at Millenia, draw visitors who come specifically for American and designer brands, and Park Avenue in Winter Park adds a street of boutiques.

Savannah offers character rather than volume: Broughton Street's restored shopfronts, work by art students and graduates, antique shops and bookshops. River Street mostly sells pralines and souvenirs, and there is no luxury shopping.

Neither is cheap, and the money goes in different places. In Orlando, rooms off-site in Kissimmee or along International Drive are fairly priced, but multi-day park tickets, express passes, car hire and parking quickly add up.

In Savannah the main cost is the room, since inns in the historic district are priced as weekend getaways. Most of what you come to see, though, including the squares, Forsyth Park, the riverfront and the cemeteries, costs nothing.

The two are evenly matched, but in different ways. Orlando has year-round stages: touring Broadway shows and the Orlando Philharmonic at the Dr. Phillips Center, Orlando Shakespeare Theater and the spring Fringe festival, plus polished shows and fireworks inside the parks.

Savannah's offering depends on the season. The spring Savannah Music Festival fills historic theatres and churches with chamber music, jazz and blues, but come at another time and there may be little to see.

Savannah is the more restful choice, mostly because of its pace. A bench under the oaks in a quiet square or the porch of an old inn makes doing nothing easy, at least away from River Street at weekends.

Orlando has more resort spas, lazy rivers and landscaped pools, especially around Lake Buena Vista, but a stay there means early starts and long days on foot. Those pools are where you recover between park days rather than a reason to go, and Winter Park is the calmer place to stay.