Sarasota or Clearwater?

Both have fine white sand and calm, shallow Gulf water that makes a beach day easy, so the choice comes down to how the beaches are laid out. Clearwater's are all close together along one barrier island and its neighbours. The crowded sand by Pier 60 has hotels, lifeguards and food right behind it, Sand Key to the south is calmer, and the undeveloped shores of Caladesi and Honeymoon Island to the north can be reached on foot, by ferry or over the causeway.

Sarasota's beaches are spread across several keys, so trying a different one usually means a drive over a bridge. In return, each has a character of its own. Siesta Key's quartz sand stays cool under bare feet, Longboat Key and Anna Maria Island are quiet and residential, and Venice's shore turns up fossil shark teeth. Red tide sometimes shuts part of Sarasota's coast or leaves the air scratchy, so look at the local reports before setting off.

Neither is a place to plan a trip around meals, and on the waterfront both serve much the same grouper sandwiches and stone crab. Sarasota has more choice beyond that: the bistros and wine bars of Main Street and St Armands Circle, good brunch places, and the Amish and Mennonite family restaurants of Pinecraft, with their pie.

Clearwater's beachfront relies on chains and tourist grills, so its better meals mean a short trip out, to the Greek tavernas of Tarpon Springs or across the bay.

Here the two are far apart. Clearwater has some early twentieth-century buildings on its downtown bluff and a restored theatre, but nothing that fills a day, and anyone interested in art goes to St Petersburg.

Sarasota has the Ringling, which is a real reason to come: Baroque paintings, John Ringling's Venetian Gothic mansion on the bay and a museum of circus history. The mid-century houses of the Sarasota School of Architecture and the 1920s buildings of Burns Court add enough for a second day between visits to the beach.

Clearwater has the livelier evenings of the two, though only by resort standards. The sunset crowd at Pier 60 moves on to tiki decks and beach bars with cover bands, and in spring a younger crowd keeps things loud for longer.

Sarasota's nights are quieter and the crowd older, centred on the wine and cocktail bars of Main Street and sunset drinks in Siesta Key Village, and most places wind down well before the small hours. From either city, a club night means driving to Tampa or St Petersburg.

The two are evenly matched outdoors. Both have the same flat, watery landscape, dolphins and manatees, and kayaking through mangroves. What differs is where the wild places lie. Clearwater's are on the coast, in the island state parks of Caladesi and Honeymoon, and the Pinellas Trail adds a long, easy cycle route along an old rail line.

Sarasota also has wild country inland. Myakka River State Park, with its prairies, treetop canopy walkway and alligators on the riverbanks, shows a different side of Florida from the beaches.

Clearwater sits closer to the rest of Tampa Bay, which makes it the better base for excursions. The Dalí Museum in St Petersburg is about forty minutes away, Ybor City is just across the bay and Tarpon Springs is next door. Orlando's theme parks can be done in a long day.

From Sarasota, St Petersburg is an hour away over the Sunshine Skyway, and Tampa is further. In return it has its own outings close by: Anna Maria Island, the 1920s planned town of Venice and the Edison and Ford winter estates in Fort Myers. Orlando, though, is out of easy reach.

Both have the calm, shallow water that small children need, but Clearwater has more to fill the days around the beach. Its marine aquarium cares for rescued dolphins and sea turtles, and pirate-themed boat trips leave from the marina. Busch Gardens, Adventure Island and the Florida Aquarium are all about forty minutes away.

In Sarasota the main attraction for children is the aquarium at Mote Marine Laboratory, and the circus museum at the Ringling is a good second. The nearest theme park is more than an hour away by car, so days there are spent mostly between the beach and the pool.

Both are car country, with slow buses and heavy traffic on the bridges and causeways to the beaches, so most visitors hire a car either way. Clearwater has the more useful option without one, on the water: a ferry and water taxi link the beach with downtown, and a trolley runs down to Sand Key.

Sarasota has three separate areas that are easy on foot, downtown, St Armands Circle and Siesta Key Village. There is also a free trolley on Siesta Key, and cycling works well on the keys and along the bayfront.

Sarasota is the better place to browse. St Armands Circle on Lido Key is a ring of galleries, jewellers and shops selling resort wear. Main Street and Palm Avenue add independent boutiques, and there is a Saturday farmers' market downtown.

Clearwater's shopping is mostly beachwear and souvenirs on the strip and malls on the mainland. The most memorable thing to take home, a natural sponge from Tarpon Springs, comes from the next town along.

Clearwater is slightly easier on the budget, though both charge the most for beachfront rooms in the late winter and spring peak. Motels and rentals on the mainland are noticeably cheaper, condos with kitchens help families, and a few days on the beach strip can be managed without a car.

In Sarasota the keys, Siesta and Longboat above all, set the price, and a hire car is close to essential, which adds to the bill. Summer and early autumn bring lower room rates in both, and staying on the mainland rather than by the sand helps in either.

This is where Sarasota stands well ahead. For a small city it has a great deal: its own opera, a ballet company known for its Ashton repertoire, a full orchestral season and the Asolo Repertory Theatre on the Ringling grounds. That makes for proper evenings at the theatre, mostly from autumn to spring.

Clearwater relies on touring shows at Ruth Eckerd Hall, smaller concerts in the restored Capitol Theatre and cover bands in the beach bars. For opera or ballet, visitors drive to Tampa.

Neither has a bathing tradition, and in both the real appeal is a slow, unhurried pace. Clearwater's spas are the treatment rooms of resort hotels, and its quietest moments are evenings in the waterfront park below the bluff or by the marina. Spring break weekends are the least restful time.

Sarasota has one thing Clearwater lacks: Warm Mineral Springs, a spring-fed pool about forty minutes south that stays warm all year. Sunrise yoga on the sand is easy to find, though winter crowds on the keys can take away some of the calm.