Sarasota or Varadero?

Both have pale sand and calm, shallow water at the shore, so for small children there is little to choose between them. Sarasota's beaches are spread across separate keys, each with its own character: the cool quartz sand of Siesta Key, Lido Key close to downtown, quieter Longboat Key and Anna Maria, and shark teeth on the shore at Venice. On some days red tide closes them, and in winter the Gulf is too cool for many swimmers.

Varadero has the edge because its beach is one continuous strip of about 20km on turquoise water that is warm all year. It runs from the public town stretches shared with Cuban families to the empty coves near the tip. Winter cold fronts bring the odd red-flag day, but a swim in January is a pleasure here rather than a test.

Neither is a place to plan a trip around meals, but Sarasota gives you far more choice. There are grouper sandwiches and stone crab at the fish shacks on the keys, bistros and wine bars along Main Street and St Armands Circle, and the hearty Amish cooking and pie of Pinecraft.

In Varadero most meals come from the resort buffet. The private restaurants in town keep to a short list of Cuban staples, and what they serve depends on which ingredients can be found. A well-made mojito and a strong Cuban coffee are the high points.

Sarasota has one major sight that Varadero cannot match. The Ringling, with its Baroque collection, Ca' d'Zan on the bay and the circus museum, is worth a full day. The mid-century houses of the Sarasota School and the 1920s buildings of Burns Court add a few more outings for anyone interested in architecture.

Varadero's sights take a few hours in all: the Du Pont family's Xanadu Mansion on its headland, a small museum in an old wooden summer house, and pre-Columbian drawings in the Cueva de Ambrosio. For Cuba's colonial history you have to leave the peninsula.

Sarasota's evenings are spent over a glass of wine, while Varadero's are spent dancing. In Sarasota that means the wine bars and pubs of Main Street or sunset drinks at the open-air bars of Siesta Key Village, with an older crowd. Most places are quiet long before the small hours, and anyone who wants clubs drives to Tampa or St Petersburg.

In Varadero's town there are salsa clubs where locals dance with real skill, a disco set inside a limestone cave, and Cuban weekend visitors who liven things up. Few nights run until dawn, though. Most guests stay with the lobby bar and the evening show at their resort.

Both are flat, and in both the best outdoor moments happen on or near the water. Sarasota has more within easy reach. Myakka River State Park, half an hour inland, has prairies, alligators and a canopy walkway. You can also kayak through the mangroves off Lido Key and watch dolphins and manatees in the bay.

Varadero's land is a narrow strip of scrub and mangrove, with short trails in the Varahicacos reserve and a cave cenote at Cueva de Saturno. Its strength is offshore: snorkelling and diving on reefs and wrecks, and catamaran trips to the cays. The Zapata wetlands take a long day.

Each has one standout outing, and the choice is really between two kinds of city. From Sarasota you can cross the Sunshine Skyway to the Dalí Museum in St Petersburg and Ybor City in Tampa, or head south to the winter estates of Edison and Ford at Fort Myers. All of these are easy with a hire car.

From Varadero the draw is Havana, a long day of Old Havana and the Malecón that many visitors wish had been longer. Matanzas, the colonial streets of Cárdenas and the Bay of Pigs fill other days. Getting to any of them means a tour or a pre-booked driver rather than setting off on your own.

Both work well for young children on the beach, with gentle, shallow water at the edge. Sarasota offers more beyond the sand: the sharks and manatees at Mote Marine Laboratory's aquarium, the giant circus model at the Ringling, and rental houses with pools in a safe, easy town. There is no theme park close by, though, and you will drive everywhere.

Varadero's all-inclusive resorts make the days simple, with kids' clubs and children's pools. Outside them there is only a dolphin centre, boat trips and the rowing lake at Josone Park. Medical care is basic, so bring nappies, medicines and any special foods from home.

Neither is easy without transport laid on, but they get you about in different ways. In Sarasota you hire a car, because the buses are slow, and only downtown, St Armands Circle and Siesta Key Village are pleasant on foot. Winter traffic on the bridges to the keys is the main frustration.

In Varadero nobody expects you to drive. An open-top tourist bus runs the length of the peninsula, taxis, horse carriages and coco-taxis fill the gaps, and bikes work well on the flat roads. The old town grid is easy to walk, but any trip off the peninsula needs a transfer or a driver.

Sarasota is no shopping destination, but it makes for pleasant browsing: galleries and resort wear around St Armands Circle, independent boutiques on Main Street and Palm Avenue, and a large mall for the chain brands.

Varadero's choice is much narrower. There are craft markets with carvings and crochet on the main avenue, and the things worth buying are rum and cigars from official shops. Pack your everyday items, because they can be hard to find there.

Varadero is the cheaper vacation if you book an all-inclusive and stay put. Once you add taxis, excursions and private restaurants, it comes closer to middling.

Sarasota charges full US resort prices, with tax and tips on every meal and a hire car on top, and the keys cost most from January to April. You can save by going in summer or early autumn, staying on the mainland and making use of the free public beaches and cheap state parks.

Sarasota is far ahead here. For a small city it has opera in a restored 1920s theatre, a ballet company known for its Ashton repertoire, a full orchestral season and the Asolo Repertory Theatre on the Ringling grounds, mostly from autumn to spring.

Varadero has music all around but no stage to speak of. You will hear son and salsa trios in hotel lobbies, good bands in the dance clubs and feathered cabaret shows at the resorts. For ballet or serious Cuban music, go to Havana.

At heart both offer the same thing, resort spas and long, slow days, and neither has a bathing tradition of its own. Sarasota adds sunrise yoga on the sand and Warm Mineral Springs, a spring-fed pool about forty minutes south that stays warm all year. Winter crowds on the keys can break the calm, though.

In Varadero, treatments often take place in open-air cabins by the sea, though standards vary. The quietest stretch is towards the eastern tip, where the resorts leave you with nothing to organise.