Orlando or West Palm Beach?

Orlando has no beach of its own. Cocoa Beach and New Smyrna are about an hour's drive away and the Gulf is two hours, so most swimming happens in hotel pools and water parks.

In West Palm Beach the Atlantic is just across a bridge. Midtown Beach and Phipps Ocean Park on Palm Beach, the quieter strands of Singer Island and Juno, and the sheltered lagoon at Peanut Island make the beach part of every day. The Gulf Stream keeps the water swimmable right through winter.

Neither city has a food culture people travel for, but they eat in different ways. In Orlando, meals are shaped by the parks, the chains and Epcot's country pavilions. Its best cooking is in the Vietnamese kitchens of Mills 50 and the chef-led rooms of Winter Park, and you need a car to reach them.

West Palm Beach is about plain-grilled Florida seafood and stone crab in season, eaten on waterfront terraces along Clematis Street, plus Cuban and Haitian bakeries away from the centre.

West Palm Beach has the stronger sightseeing. The Norton Museum's American, European and Chinese collections, Flagler's 1902 Whitehall mansion and the Mediterranean Revival villas and vias of Palm Beach add up to two or three good days.

Orlando grew from citrus groves and theme parks, and it has little old architecture. Its one exceptional sight is the Morse Museum's Tiffany collection in Winter Park. The Orlando Museum of Art in Loch Haven Park can fill a slow afternoon afterwards.

Both offer a reasonable night out rather than a deep scene, but the crowds differ. Orlando's nightlife runs on two tracks: themed bars at Disney Springs and CityWalk that wind down early, and a later, student-heavy downtown around Orange Avenue, where bars and clubs fill late at weekends and Ivanhoe Village has gay bars.

West Palm Beach keeps its evenings to a few walkable blocks of Clematis Street and Rosemary Square, where rooftop terraces and cocktail bars fill at weekends, while Palm Beach goes to bed early. It has fewer dance floors than downtown Orlando, so anyone set on a proper club night makes the trip south to Miami.

Both are flat and watery, but more of it is within reach in West Palm Beach. Reefs and drift dives are a short boat ride offshore, and the Blue Heron Bridge is one of the country's best-known shore snorkels. Turtles nest on the beaches at Juno and Jupiter, and Grassy Waters and Loxahatchee give a taste of the Everglades.

Orlando's outdoors is mostly freshwater: kayaking at Wekiwa Springs, manatees at Blue Spring in winter and airboats on the Kissimmee headwaters. The birdlife of Merritt Island is a drive away on the coast.

Both have good outings, but of different kinds. From Orlando you drive out for a real change of scene: the Kennedy Space Center an hour east, St Augustine's Spanish fort to the north, and Tampa and the Dalí Museum in St Petersburg to the west.

West Palm Beach's big day out is Miami by fast train, which is easy without a car. Most of its other outings, such as Delray Beach, Boca Raton and Jupiter, are coastal towns much like the one you left.

Orlando is built for families. Disney's four theme parks and two water parks, Universal for teenagers, SeaWorld and Legoland, plus character breakfasts and suites with bunk rooms, can fill a fortnight.

West Palm Beach makes an easy, relaxed family beach vacation, with calm water at Peanut Island, the drive-through Lion Country Safari and the free Manatee Lagoon centre. It suits families who want sand and a few outings rather than a week planned around the parks.

Neither city is easy without a car, but Orlando is harder. The parks, hotel zones and downtown lie miles apart along Interstate 4, and the buses are of little use to visitors. Unless you stay at a Disney or Universal resort and use its monorail, boats and buses, you will drive and sit in park traffic.

West Palm Beach at least has a compact, walkable downtown with a free trolley, and fast trains to Fort Lauderdale and Miami. You still need a car or ride-hailing for the beaches, the zoo and the safari park.

Orlando is about brands and bargains. It has two large premium outlet centres and the luxury labels of the Mall at Millenia, with Park Avenue in Winter Park for a gentler browse.

West Palm Beach has the more memorable street in Worth Avenue, with its jewellery houses and tiled vias, along with designer consignment shops and the dealers of Antique Row. Neither city has markets or local crafts.

Neither is cheap, but a bed costs less in Orlando. It has a vast supply of rooms and self-catering condos along International Drive and in Kissimmee at fair prices. Park tickets, express passes and hire cars soon eat into that saving.

West Palm Beach charges high rates from December to April, Palm Beach is among the costliest places to stay on the coast, and restaurants are priced for a comfortable crowd. The beaches and the trolley are free, and summer brings lower rates in exchange for heat and storms.

West Palm Beach has the richer stage season. The Kravis Center brings touring musicals, visiting orchestras, dance and the Palm Beach Opera, and Palm Beach Dramaworks stages serious plays. The Society of the Four Arts adds concerts, though summer is thin.

Orlando has solid offerings in the Dr. Phillips Center with its Philharmonic, the Shakespeare theatre and the spring Fringe. Most visitors, though, see performance as park stage shows, dinner shows and fireworks.

West Palm Beach is the better place to slow down. Its oceanfront resort spas, the quiet, manicured streets of Palm Beach and the lagoon promenades for an early walk all make for an unhurried pace.

In Orlando, rest is something you fit in between park days, with lazy rivers and resort spas around Lake Buena Vista, or a calmer stay in lakeside Winter Park.