St. Augustine or St. Pete Beach?

St. Augustine has a fine Atlantic shoreline on Anastasia Island. Wide, flat sand runs from the state park's dunes down to quiet Crescent Beach, and the surf is easy. The water is usually greenish and churned, though, and the real advantage is that the beach is only ten to fifteen minutes from the old town.

St. Pete Beach is the stronger beach destination. Its pale quartz sand meets calm, shallow Gulf water that has almost no surf and warms a little more in summer. Pass-a-Grille faces west into the sunset, and Fort De Soto and the undeveloped sands of Shell Key give you room to spread out.

Neither is a place to travel for the food. Both run mostly on casual seafood by the water, but the flavour differs. St. Augustine has its Minorcan heritage: fiery datil pepper in hot sauces, a spicy tomato clam chowder and pilau, plus a few chef-led places around the old town and San Marco.

St. Pete Beach is pure Gulf coast: grouper sandwiches, smoked fish spread, stone crab in season and dinner on a deck at sunset. Chains along Gulf Boulevard thin out the choice, but St. Petersburg's more ambitious kitchens are only half an hour away. From St. Augustine, the nearest wider choice is in Jacksonville.

This is where the two differ most. St. Augustine was founded by the Spanish in 1565 and still has the star-shaped Castillo de San Marcos, balconied lanes behind the old city gate and Flagler's Spanish Renaissance revival hotels with their Tiffany glass. Together with the Cathedral Basilica, the lighthouse and Fort Matanzas, that makes several full days of sightseeing.

St. Pete Beach has the pink Don CeSar hotel, Pass-a-Grille's old cottages and the batteries at Fort De Soto, and not much else. For real museums you cross the bay to St. Petersburg.

Both are places for a drink rather than a late night, and neither has clubs to speak of. St. Augustine's evenings happen in pubs and cocktail bars with courtyard seating around St. George Street and Hypolita Street, all within walking distance of each other, with Flagler College students adding some life in term time.

St. Pete Beach does its socialising at sunset, on tiki decks along Gulf Boulevard and at Pass-a-Grille, and most people call it a night soon after dark. A later night means the half-hour drive to downtown St. Petersburg.

Both are flat, watery coasts, and St. Pete Beach has a little more to offer on the water. You can paddle the mangrove trails at Fort De Soto and Shell Key, see manatees in the bay in cooler months, watch roseate spoonbills and fish from the piers or a charter boat.

St. Augustine's outdoors are more about walking. There are long trails through the salt marsh in the Guana Tolomato Matanzas reserve, dune paths and lagoon paddleboarding in Anastasia State Park, and kayak trips in the creeks where you often see dolphins.

St. Pete Beach has more within easy reach. St. Petersburg, with the Dalí Museum, is half an hour away, Tampa's Ybor City is under an hour, and the Greek sponge docks of Tarpon Springs and Sarasota's Ringling estate are close enough for a relaxed day out.

From St. Augustine, the choices are further apart. Jacksonville is about forty-five minutes away, and Fernandina Beach's Victorian streets take about an hour and a half. From either town, Orlando's parks are a long drive of about two hours, and from St. Augustine so is Kennedy Space Center.

St. Augustine works well for children who enjoy a story. The Alligator Farm has every kind of crocodilian, the Castillo has cannon firing and ramparts to climb, and there are pirate museums and a lighthouse to go up. The historic centre is compact and safe, which helps.

St. Pete Beach is easier for younger children. The shallow, calm water and soft sand need less watching than Atlantic surf, and many Gulf Boulevard hotels have both a pool and the beach on the doorstep. Clearwater's marine aquarium, Tampa's science centre and Busch Gardens are all within an hour's drive.

St. Augustine is the easier of the two without a car, at least within the old town. The fort, St. George Street, Flagler College and the bayfront are a few minutes' walk apart on flat streets, and sightseeing trolleys loop past them. The beaches, the lighthouse and any day out still mean driving, cycling or a taxi, and the local buses are little help.

St. Pete Beach stretches along Gulf Boulevard as one long, thin strip, with a beach trolley running its length. Pass-a-Grille and Corey Avenue are pleasant to walk or cycle, but Fort De Soto and every outing beyond it mean a drive, and buses to the mainland are slow.

Neither is a shopping destination, but St. Augustine gives you more to browse. Past the fudge and pirate souvenirs on St. George Street, Aviles Street has galleries, antique dealers and craft shops. There are datil-pepper sauces to take home, and the outlet mall by the interstate covers the big brands.

St. Pete Beach sells mostly swimwear and beach gear, with a few boutiques on Corey Avenue and craft shops in Pass-a-Grille. For anything more, you go inland to St. Petersburg or Tampa.

Expect American tourist-town prices in either town, with tips on top. What differs is where the money goes. In St. Augustine, rooms at the historic inns and anywhere within walking distance of the old town cost the most, especially at weekends. Chain motels by the highway and midweek stays bring costs down.

At St. Pete Beach, beachfront resorts peak from February to April, and most visitors need a hire car as well. Motels a block back from the sand and the quieter late summer make it cheaper. In both towns the beaches are free, apart from parking.

St. Augustine has a real venue of its own. The amphitheatre in the woods on Anastasia Island brings touring rock, country and folk acts for much of the year, and a community theatre and a small classical series add to it.

At St. Pete Beach, live music means cover bands at the beach bars. It does have the better options nearby, though: the Florida Orchestra in St. Petersburg and touring musicals and opera at Tampa's large performing arts centre, both a short drive away.

Neither has a bathing tradition, but St. Pete Beach is the easier place to switch off. The larger resorts have full-service spas, and the days drift from a morning walk on the sand to the sunset everyone stops to watch, slowest of all at Pass-a-Grille.

In St. Augustine, relaxing means a quiet B&B veranda, a courtyard garden and an evening walk along the bayfront seawall. The spas are limited to hotel treatment rooms and a few day spas, and the town is calmest midweek.