Panama City Beach or St. Petersburg, Florida?

These are two of the best beaches on the Gulf, but they are set up differently. Panama City Beach is one unbroken strip of about 43km of white quartz sand, lined with condo towers, so you are usually staying right on the beach. Look for quieter water at the western end, at the sheltered lagoon inside St. Andrews State Park, or on Shell Island, which you reach by boat.

St. Petersburg's downtown is on the bay, so a beach day means a short trip west to the barrier islands. The payoff is variety: the old village feel of Pass-a-Grille, the wilder park beaches at Fort De Soto, and Caladesi Island, which you can only reach by ferry. The hazards differ too. Rip currents and the flag system matter most at Panama City Beach, and occasional red tide is the thing to watch at St. Petersburg.

Both cities eat Gulf seafood casually, but St. Petersburg has much more choice. Along Central Avenue and in the Grand Central and Edge districts you'll find modern American kitchens, brunch places and a few ambitious chef-led restaurants. There are also many small breweries, and Tampa's Cuban and Spanish cooking is close by.

In Panama City Beach, a good meal means fried or blackened grouper and local oysters at a dockside deck. Beyond that, the chains and big themed restaurants on Front Beach Road take over.

The gap here is wide. St. Petersburg has the largest Dalí collection outside Spain in its glass-bubble building on the waterfront. The Museum of Fine Arts, the Chihuly glass collection and an Arts and Crafts museum are close by, and murals cover the walls of the Central Arts District. Together they make two or three days of sightseeing.

Panama City Beach was mostly built after the mid-twentieth century. Apart from the small Man in the Sea Museum on diving history, anyone who wants history or museums has to drive away.

St. Petersburg offers a proper night out without being a party town. Cocktail bars, rooftop terraces and taprooms sit close together on Central Avenue, and if you want to dance until late, Ybor City is about 40 minutes away.

Panama City Beach's evenings mostly happen at beach bars and tiki huts, often with a cover band. In March, spring break makes the strip loud and rowdy. For much of the rest of the year the town is quiet by mid-evening.

Both are flat and built around water, and St. Petersburg has a little more variety. Its mangrove backwaters at Weedon Island and Shell Key are excellent for kayaking among dolphins, rays and wading birds, with manatees in winter. The paved Pinellas Trail makes cycling easy.

Panama City Beach is better for dunes and open water. St. Andrews State Park has tall white dunes, Camp Helen has a rare coastal dune lake, and divers can explore wrecks and artificial reefs offshore.

St. Petersburg has more distinct places within reach. Tampa's Ybor City and the old Tampa Bay Hotel are across the bay, the Ringling mansion and museums are at Sarasota, and the Greek sponge docks of Tarpon Springs are to the north. Orlando is also within a long day.

Panama City Beach's best outings are the pastel planned towns along Scenic Highway 30A and the old oyster port of Apalachicola. They make a pleasant handful of drives, but the choice runs out sooner.

Families do well in both, in different ways. Panama City Beach keeps everything on one road: a water park, a marine park with dolphin shows, mini-golf and go-karts, plus condos with pools and the calm lagoon at St. Andrews for first snorkels. The main thing to avoid is March, when spring break takes over.

St. Petersburg spreads its family attractions further out. Great Explorations is in the city, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium is to the north, and Busch Gardens and the Florida Aquarium are in Tampa. That means more driving, but more to choose from.

Neither works well without a car, but St. Petersburg at least has a centre you can walk. The waterfront parks, the pier, the museums and Central Avenue are close together, a trolley loops downtown, and a rapid bus runs to St. Pete Beach.

Panama City Beach is about 43km of beach road and highway with patchy pavements and a slow trolley-bus network. Outside the beach itself, almost every trip is a drive, often in heavy summer traffic.

St. Petersburg is the more interesting place to shop. Central Avenue has vintage and record shops, local boutiques and galleries selling local glass and prints, and the Saturday Morning Market runs in winter.

Panama City Beach has Pier Park's chain stores and a department store, plus the giant souvenir warehouses with shark-mouth entrances. For anything more individual, head to the boutiques in the 30A towns.

Panama City Beach is the cheaper of the two. Condos with kitchens are the normal way to stay, prices drop sharply once summer and spring break are over, and long winter stays are especially good value.

St. Petersburg charges its highest hotel rates from February to April, which is exactly when its weather is best, and beach parking adds to the bill. Summer is cheaper but hot and stormy.

St. Petersburg has a small but real arts scene. The Florida Orchestra and touring shows play the Mahaffey Theater, and there is a professional regional theatre company plus a former church used as a concert hall. Tampa's larger arts centre handles opera and ballet.

In Panama City Beach, live performance mostly means cover bands on restaurant decks. The restored historic theatre across the bay in Panama City has a modest season.

Neither has a spa tradition, but St. Petersburg relaxes more easily. The large historic beach hotels have resort spas, downtown has yoga studios, and Pass-a-Grille's sleepy streets and the banyan-shaded parks are easy places to slow down, especially in its mild winter.

Panama City Beach has a few resort and day spas. Its calm comes when the crowds leave from autumn to spring, though the beach is then cooler and better for walking than lying on the sand.