Tampa or Wilmington?

The two are evenly matched for beaches but very different in feel. Tampa's are on the Gulf islands across the bay, at Clearwater, Pass-a-Grille and Fort De Soto, with fine white sand and gentle water that reaches about 30°C at its peak. Getting there takes up to an hour by car, so most beach days are planned outings.

Wilmington's beaches are on the Atlantic. They are closer to town and differ more from each other: Wrightsville is polished, Carolina Beach has its boardwalk and Kure is quiet. The sea is a little cooler at its height and brings surf and rip currents on some days, so it suits swimmers who like waves more than toddlers paddling at the edge.

Tampa eats better and has a more distinctive identity. The Cuban, Spanish and Sicilian heritage of Ybor City shows in its pressed Cuban sandwiches, old bakeries and café con leche, and the grouper and stone crab add a seafood side.

Wilmington's cooking comes from the Carolina coast: shrimp and grits, flounder, raw oyster bars and vinegar-sauced whole-hog barbecue. It is enjoyable for a few days, but there is less variety and fine dining is thinner.

Both have a modest set of sights you can cover in two or three days, but the history they tell is different. Tampa's is the story of immigrant cigar workers, told in Ybor City's brick factories and social clubs, plus the Moorish-looking Plant hotel. Visitors who care about art often cross the bay to St Petersburg.

Wilmington's strength is atmosphere over individual sights. Its large historic district of antebellum houses and live oaks is the main pleasure, the Bellamy Mansion deals frankly with the port's enslaved labour, and the Battleship North Carolina is moored across the river.

Tampa has the livelier and more varied night out. Seventh Avenue in Ybor City has proper dance clubs with a young weekend crowd, SoHo is the dressier cocktail strip, and the city has a serious craft beer scene. Each winter Gasparilla turns the bayfront into a huge street party.

Wilmington's evenings centre on the bars and rooftop terraces of Front Street, with beach bars added in summer. It is friendly and relaxed, but there is almost no club scene and weeknights out of season are quiet.

Both landscapes are flat and full of water, and the outdoor appeal of each is wildlife and paddling. Around Tampa the highlights are inland: cypress swamps on the Hillsborough River, wintering manatees and the clear spring-fed rivers around Crystal River, about an hour north.

Wilmington's outdoors is coastal and close to town. You can paddle out to undeveloped Masonboro Island, surf or sail off Wrightsville, fish from the piers and walk pine savanna where the Venus flytrap grows wild.

Tampa has more good days out within reach. St Petersburg's Dalí Museum is half an hour away, Sarasota has the Ringling estate, Tarpon Springs has its Greek sponge docks and Lakeland has a campus of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, so art and architecture are well covered.

Wilmington's outings are smaller and quieter. The best is the trip south to Southport, then the ferry to car-free Bald Head Island, with Fort Fisher's Civil War earthworks on the way. New Bern and Beaufort are each about two hours north.

Tampa is clearly the better place for children. Busch Gardens and its water park, ZooTampa, the Florida Aquarium and the children's museum could fill a week before you reach a beach, and the Orlando parks are close enough for a day trip.

Wilmington is a gentler summer option built around the sand. It has the old-fashioned rides on the Carolina Beach boardwalk, the aquarium at Fort Fisher, the decks of the battleship and plenty of rental houses near the beaches. Watch for rip currents on rough days.

In both cities you will want a car, but Wilmington is slightly easier to manage. Its historic district and riverwalk are compact and flat, and the beaches are a fairly short drive away.

Tampa's walkable core is linked by a heritage streetcar between downtown, the Channel District and Ybor City. Beyond it, however, the city sprawls, and the beaches, Busch Gardens and the bridges all mean longer drives through rush-hour traffic.

Tampa has more choice. A large upscale mall near the airport carries the luxury brands, Hyde Park Village is a pleasant open-air boutique district, and in Ybor City you can still watch cigars being rolled by hand.

Wilmington's shopping is small and independent: antique dealers, bookshops and galleries along Front Street and in the old Cotton Exchange, plus surf wear in the beach towns. There is no luxury street.

Costs are broadly similar, and both are moderately priced by American standards, but the cheap seasons are reversed. Tampa is cheapest in summer, when its winter and spring visitors stay away, and Cuban bakeries keep lunch cheap. The theme parks add a large cost for families.

Wilmington is good value out of season. Beachfront hotels and rental houses get expensive in summer, which is exactly when most people want to come. In both cities a hire car is a cost you cannot really avoid.

Tampa has the bigger stage. The Straz Center has its own opera company, ballet, the Florida Orchestra and touring Broadway shows, and the ornate 1926 Tampa Theatre is worth an evening in itself.

Wilmington's highlight is Thalian Hall, a restored 19th-century opera house. Beyond that the scene is local theatre, a community symphony, and in the warm months outdoor concerts by Greenfield Lake plus long-running jazz and blues festivals.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, and in both, wellness means hotel and resort spas. In Tampa, real rest comes from staying on the Gulf islands for sunsets and long lunches, away from the sprawling, humid city.

Wilmington is calmer in itself. The town moves slowly and the waterfront is peaceful in the evening, so outside summer weekends you can unwind without moving out to the beach.