Panama City Beach or Savannah?

This is Panama City Beach's strongest point. About 43km of powder-white sand runs along clear green Gulf water, with calmer swimming in the St. Andrews lagoon and empty sand on Shell Island a short boat ride away. The beach sits right outside the door, but watch the rip-current flags.

Savannah has no beach of its own. Tybee Island is about half an hour's drive away and has a wide, flat beach for walks and paddling, but the sea is tinted by the marshes and the town is plain. It makes a good day out, not the reason to go.

Savannah eats much better. Lowcountry cooking gives it a real identity: shrimp and grits, she-crab soup, oyster roasts in the cooler months and family-style dining rooms with platters passed down the table. A small group of chef-led kitchens in restored townhouses gives you a few dinners worth booking.

Panama City Beach has good fresh grouper, shrimp and oysters eaten at dockside shacks. Away from the water, though, most of the choice along Front Beach Road is chain and themed restaurants, with little to explore.

The gap here is wide. In Savannah the whole historic district is the sight: Oglethorpe's grid of moss-hung squares, Factors Walk above the river, the Cathedral of St John the Baptist, the Telfair collections and the Owens-Thomas House, with its account of enslaved lives. Bonaventure Cemetery adds a haunting afternoon.

Panama City Beach is a strip of condo towers built after the mid-20th century. Apart from the Man in the Sea Museum and a few older streets in St. Andrews across the bay, you have to drive a long way for history.

Savannah makes for a better night out. Because you can carry a drink in a to-go cup in the historic district, evenings drift from the cobbled bars of River Street to the taverns of City Market and on to quieter cocktail rooms, while art students keep the dive bars busy. St Patrick's Day turns the city into one huge street party.

In Panama City Beach, going out means tiki huts and decks on the sand at sunset, and the mood depends on the season: rowdy during spring break in March, relaxed and family-friendly in summer, quiet in winter. Neither place has much of a club scene.

The two are broadly level, and both are flat and best enjoyed from the water. The difference is the type of coast. Panama City Beach has tall white dunes, a rare coastal dune lake at Camp Helen, deep-sea fishing, and diving on offshore wrecks and artificial reefs.

Savannah's outdoors is the Lowcountry salt marsh. You can paddle tidal creeks at high tide, look for wood storks and herons, and walk under the oak avenue at Wormsloe. Midsummer heat and biting insects make it a spring and autumn landscape.

Savannah has the better day trips. Charleston is about two hours north, and the antebellum streets of Beaufort, the resort island of Hilton Head and Fort Pulaski are all closer. Jekyll and St Simons islands lie down the Georgia coast.

From Panama City Beach the best outing is along Scenic Highway 30A to the pastel planned towns of Seaside and Rosemary Beach, or east to the old oyster port of Apalachicola. Pensacola is a long drive. From either base you will need a car.

Panama City Beach is made for children. It has warm, shallow summer water, a big water park, dolphin shows, go-karts and mini-golf along the strip, and the St. Andrews lagoon, where small children can snorkel safely. A condo with a pool keeps things simple, though March is worth avoiding.

Savannah works for families but takes more planning. The squares and Forsyth Park give children room to run, and the river ferry, trolley tours and the Girl Scouts founder's birthplace are good outings. Tybee's sea-turtle centre helps, but there is no big attraction, and summer heat wears small walkers out.

Savannah is much easier without a car. Its historic core is a flat, compact grid where hotels, restaurants and sights are a few shaded blocks apart, and a free shuttle and a small ferry cover the rest. You only need wheels for Tybee, Wormsloe and Bonaventure.

Panama City Beach stretches along one road for about 43km, with gaps in the pavement, little shade and a slow, infrequent trolley-bus. Plan on driving everywhere, sometimes in heavy summer traffic.

Savannah has more to browse. Broughton Street's restored shopfronts hold boutiques and home-goods shops, art-school graduates sell their work, and antique dealers and bookshops are spread around the squares to the south.

In Panama City Beach, shopping means the chain stores of Pier Park and the shark-mouthed beachwear warehouses along the strip. For anything more individual, head west to the boutiques in the 30A towns.

Panama City Beach is usually the cheaper stay. Condos with kitchens let families cook their own meals, and outside summer and spring break the rates fall a long way, making long winter stays good value. Peak beachfront weeks are expensive, and you will be paying for a car throughout.

Savannah's historic-district inns are priced for a popular weekend destination and cost more still on spring and festival dates. The best of the city costs nothing, though: the squares, Forsyth Park, the riverfront and the cemeteries are all free to wander.

Savannah has more worth planning around, especially in spring, when the Savannah Music Festival brings chamber music, jazz, blues and Americana to old theatres and churches. The Lucas and Trustees theatres, a local philharmonic and an autumn jazz festival in Forsyth Park fill out the year, though you may find little on at random times.

In Panama City Beach, live performance mostly means cover bands on restaurant decks, plus a modest programme of touring shows at the restored historic theatre across the bay in Panama City.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, and both rely on a few resort and day spas. Savannah is the more restful place because its pace is slower. You can sit on a bench under the oaks in a quiet square, or stay at an inn with a garden courtyard, best midweek in spring or autumn.

Panama City Beach's calm depends on the season. Empty sand and long sunset walks in the cooler months give way to crowds and noise in spring break and summer.