Varadero or West Palm Beach?

Varadero's beach is the whole point of going. Around 20km of unbroken pale sand runs along the Hicacos Peninsula, straight from the resorts into shallow, sheltered water. The public stretches by the numbered streets are livelier, and the eastern end is quieter, with empty coves near the tip.

West Palm Beach has soft sand and clear water too, but you cross the lagoon bridges to reach it, and it comes as separate beaches: Midtown and Phipps on Palm Beach, and the broader, quieter sands of Singer Island and Juno to the north. The open Atlantic brings seaweed and rough surf on some days, though Peanut Island's lagoon gives sheltered swimming.

Food is one of West Palm Beach's clear advantages. It has grilled grouper and snapper, stone crab claws in season, and Cuban and Haitian bakeries away from the centre. Add the terraces on Clematis Street and the formal dining rooms of Palm Beach, and you have far more range than the peninsula offers.

In Varadero most meals come from the resort buffet. The private restaurants in town serve a short list of Cuban staples, limited by what ingredients can be found. The pleasures there are a rum daiquiri, ripe tropical fruit and strong coffee, not a memorable dinner.

Neither is a great place for sightseeing, but West Palm Beach has noticeably more. The Norton Museum's paintings and Chinese art, Flagler's marble mansion Whitehall and the Mediterranean Revival streets of Palm Beach can fill two or three good days.

Varadero's sights take a few hours: the Du Pont family's Xanadu Mansion on its headland, a small museum in a wooden summer house and the cave drawings in the Cueva de Ambrosio. For real culture you have to leave the peninsula for Havana or Matanzas.

Evenings are modest in both places but feel quite different. In Varadero most nights are spent inside the resort. In town, the salsa clubs, where locals dance with real skill, and a disco in a limestone cave are about dancing with a rum in hand, and they are busiest when Cubans come in at weekends.

West Palm Beach has cocktail bars, sports bars and rooftop terraces along Clematis Street and around Rosemary Square. They fill on Fridays and Saturdays and are quiet the rest of the week. For late clubbing, people go to Miami.

Both are flat, and in both most outdoor time is spent on the water, but West Palm Beach has more variety. There is shore diving under the Blue Heron Bridge, drift diving in the Gulf Stream and kayaking on the lagoon. Inland, the boardwalks at Loxahatchee and Grassy Waters give a taste of the Everglades, and the beaches at Juno are turtle nesting grounds.

Varadero offers catamaran trips to the cays, diving on reefs and wrecks and kitesurfing in the winter winds, plus short trails and caves in the Varahicacos reserve. The Zapata wetlands are a long day away.

The day trips are just as good from either city but very different in kind. From Varadero the great outing is Havana, two hours away. Closer are Matanzas with its nineteenth-century theatre and colonial Cárdenas, and the Bay of Pigs makes a longer outing. Each of them is a real change from resort life.

From West Palm Beach, Miami is an hour away by fast train, and Fort Lauderdale, Delray Beach and Boca Raton are easy to reach. Apart from Miami, though, these are mostly more Florida coastline, not a new world.

Varadero suits young children who mostly want the sea. The water right off the sand is shallow and warm, many resorts have kids' clubs, and the all-inclusive format removes daily planning. Beyond the beach there is little for them, and parents should bring medicines, nappies and sun cream, because medical care is basic.

West Palm Beach has the edge. Peanut Island has calm lagoon swimming, and there are days out children love: the drive-through Lion Country Safari, the zoo, the science centre and the manatees in winter. The trade-offs are needing a car for almost everything and the hot, stormy summer.

Neither is easy without wheels, but West Palm Beach has a slight edge. Its compact downtown has a free trolley and a station with fast trains to Miami, though for the beaches and attractions further out most visitors rent a car or use ride-hailing.

Varadero is a single long strip. The grid of streets at the town end is pleasant on foot, but the resorts further east depend on the tourist bus, taxis and coco-taxis. Any trip off the peninsula needs a transfer, a tour or a hired car with a driver.

Shopping is one of the widest gaps between the two. West Palm Beach has Worth Avenue's luxury houses and tiled passages, consignment shops selling designer pieces, the dealers of Antique Row and the mainstream brands of Rosemary Square.

Varadero has craft markets selling carvings and crochet, resort shops and a small mall. Rum and cigars from the official shops are the only purchases worth planning around. Everyday items can be scarce, so pack well.

Varadero is by far the cheaper vacation if you book an all-inclusive and stay put. Taxis, excursions and private restaurants are priced for foreigners, though, so independent travellers will spend more.

West Palm Beach is expensive, above all from December to April. Hotel rooms on Palm Beach are among the dearest on the coast, tips add to every restaurant bill, and a hire car is close to essential. Rooms are cheaper in summer, but you get heat and storms in exchange.

West Palm Beach has a real stage culture. The Kravis Center hosts touring musicals, orchestras and the Palm Beach Opera, Palm Beach Dramaworks stages serious drama, and the Society of the Four Arts adds concerts. The season runs mainly from late autumn to spring.

Varadero has no theatre or concert hall, but its everyday music is livelier. There are son trios in hotel lobbies, strong salsa bands in the clubs and cabaret shows at the resorts. For ballet or serious Cuban music, go to Havana.

Both offer simple relaxation, and neither has a bathing or thermal-spring tradition. What differs is the setting. Varadero's resort spas have open-air cabins by the sea and quiet resorts at the eastern end, though standards vary. West Palm Beach has polished oceanfront resort spas, plenty of day spas and the manicured calm of Palm Beach, good for an early walk along the lagoon.