Amalfi Coast or Ischia?

Ischia has the edge for a beach stay because it has real sand. Maronti is a long curve of dark volcanic sand with hot springs at one end, San Montano is a calm, shallow bay, and Citara faces the sunset.

The Amalfi Coast offers deep, clear water under the cliffs, but the beaches are small grey-pebble coves crowded with sunbeds. Maiori is the only roomy sandy stretch, and the best swimming is from a hired boat. The water is equally warm at both through the summer.

The Amalfi Coast eats better and more widely. There is seafood pasta and fish baked in lemon leaves, Cetara's cured anchovies and colatura, the Sfusato lemons, and Conca dei Marini's sfogliatella. Meals range from village trattorias in Minori to grand hotel terraces in Ravello.

Ischia's cooking is more rustic and focused on the hills. Its signature dish is rabbit braised in terracotta, alongside harbour seafood and white wines from the slopes of Epomeo. With so many guests on half-board in spa hotels and little street food, the good meals have to be sought out in the hill villages.

The Amalfi Coast offers more to see. Amalfi's striped Arab-Norman cathedral and Cloister of Paradise recall its days as a maritime republic, and Ravello's Villa Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone add gardens with views. The UNESCO-listed coastline of pastel towns is a sight in its own right.

Ischia has one great sight, the Aragonese Castle on its causeway, plus a real treasure in Nestor's Cup at the Villa Arbusta museum. Beyond these, a couple of days covers it. For major collections, both send you to Naples.

Neither is a place for going out, and on both the evening centres on a long dinner. The difference is in where the life is. On the Amalfi Coast it is a cocktail bar in Positano or café tables on Amalfi's cathedral square until about midnight. On Ischia it is the waterfront at Ischia Porto, where wine bars and a couple of disco venues stay open late in July and August.

The Amalfi Coast is the more dramatic landscape. The Lattari mountains fall straight to the sea, the Path of the Gods runs high above Positano with Capri in view, and the Valle delle Ferriere hides waterfalls in a shaded gorge. Below, kayaks nose into sea caves and the Grotta dello Smeraldo.

Ischia's nature is volcanic and smaller in scale. There are chestnut woods and vineyards up Monte Epomeo, steam vents on the south coast, and the Regno di Nettuno marine reserve for snorkelling, with the chance of dolphins. A week covers the island's landscapes, while the Amalfi Coast's trails last longer.

From the Amalfi Coast, the big names are close. Pompeii and Herculaneum are a little over an hour away, Paestum's Greek temples lie to the south, and ferries go to Capri, Sorrento and Salerno. Vietri's ceramic workshops are just along the coast.

Ischia's outings all begin with a ferry. Procida is a short hop, Naples is about an hour by fast boat, and Pozzuoli leads to the Phlegraean Fields and sunken Baia. Pompeii, though, takes a long day from Ischia.

Ischia is the easier island with children. San Montano's shallow bay and the sand at Maronti suit young swimmers, and the thermal parks with their warm pools in gardens make easy days out.

The Amalfi Coast is vertical, with stairways between road, hotel and sea, pebble beaches and stretches of road without pavements. Families there are best based in flatter Maiori or Minori. Neither has attractions built for children.

Ischia is somewhat easier to get around once you are there. One loop road with buses in both directions reaches every village, and microtaxis and water taxis fill the gaps. The catch is that every arrival and departure is by ferry or hydrofoil.

The Amalfi Coast's single cliff road jams for hours in summer and has little parking. The ferries between Positano, Amalfi, Minori and Maiori are the sensible alternative from spring to autumn.

The Amalfi Coast has more worth buying. Positano has linen boutiques and sandal makers who fit a pair while you wait, Amalfi sells paper from its old mills, and Vietri sul Mare makes hand-painted majolica.

Ischia's shopping is mostly one evening walk along Via Roma and Corso Vittoria Colonna, with resort fashion and jewellery. The one thing it has of its own is the cosmetics made with its thermal waters.

Ischia is much the easier on the wallet. It is priced as an ordinary Italian resort, with hundreds of family-run spa hotels selling half-board stays that include thermal pools, and fairly priced trattorias away from the harbours.

The Amalfi Coast, especially Positano and Ravello, is among the most expensive coasts in Europe, and sunbeds, boats and coast-road taxis add up fast. Basing yourself in Atrani or Agerola helps, but it does not close the gap.

Ravello gives the Amalfi Coast the better summer evenings. Its festival puts orchestras on a stage built out over the cliff at Villa Rufolo, and a chamber series fills its churches and halls through the warm months.

Ischia's offering is slighter: chamber concerts in the Mortella gardens that the composer William Walton created, and screenings and concerts at the Aragonese Castle during the summer film festival. Outside summer, both go quiet.

This is where Ischia stands apart. Most hotels pipe hot-spring water into their own pools, and the thermal parks at Citara, Lacco Ameno and Casamicciola fill whole days. Sorgeto's sea pools stay warm even on winter evenings, and the Cavascura gorge has ancient steam caves.

The Amalfi Coast has no bathing tradition of its own. Its restful side lies in the luxury hotel spas and in quiet bases such as Ravello and Praiano, and the nearest serious thermal waters are Ischia's own, a long ferry day away.