Amalfi Coast or Lake Garda?

Both offer pebbles rather than sand, but the Amalfi Coast gives the better swimming. The water is clear and deep at the foot of the cliffs, the coves are dramatic, from Positano's Spiaggia Grande to the fjord at Furore, and on a hired boat you can drop anchor below the rock. Sunbeds crowd the small beaches, though, and only Maiori and Minori offer real room.

Lake Garda's bathing is a lido culture of lawns, jetties and loungers along the south and east shores, at Sirmione, Lazise, Bardolino and the Valtenesi bays. It is warm in high summer but has a shorter season than the sea, and it is cooler and windier in the north.

The Amalfi Coast eats better, built on the sea and its lemons: scialatielli with clams, fish baked in lemon leaves, Cetara's cured anchovies and colatura, and Conca dei Marini's sfogliatella. Skip the day-tripper menus on the Positano and Amalfi waterfronts by walking uphill or moving one town along.

Garda's lake fish, polenta and bigoli with lake sardines are plainer, and its strength lies in the glass, with Bardolino, Chiaretto and Lugana, and Amarone just beyond. The best meals are in hill agriturismi rather than on the harbour fronts.

The Amalfi Coast has more history to show. Amalfi's striped cathedral and Cloister of Paradise recall its days as a maritime republic, Ravello's Villa Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone have their gardens, and the whole cliff landscape is UNESCO-listed. Neither destination has major museums.

Garda's sights are a round of castle towns, led by Sirmione's moated Scaliger fortress and the Roman villa ruins at its tip, along with d'Annunzio's eccentric Vittoriale. They make good half-days rather than a reason to come.

Neither is a place for a big night out, and both run on aperitivo, dinner and a stroll. The difference is in kind. The Amalfi Coast offers a few cocktail bars in Positano and café tables in Amalfi's cathedral square, aimed at couples. Desenzano on Garda's southern shore draws students and has large clubs nearby that fill on summer weekends.

Lake Garda has the edge for active travellers, thanks to its narrow northern end. The cable car from Malcesine climbs Monte Baldo, Arco's limestone draws climbers, via ferrate and bike trails fill the valleys, and Torbole's steady afternoon wind makes it a windsurfing classic.

The Amalfi Coast's strength is one superb kind of walk, along the Path of the Gods and the old mule tracks between lemon terraces. It adds sea caves, the Grotta dello Smeraldo and snorkelling around Punta Campanella and the Li Galli islets.

Both are excellent bases, but they reach different worlds. From the Amalfi Coast you go to the ancient south: Pompeii, Herculaneum, Paestum's Greek temples, Naples and Capri, often by ferry because the road is slow. From Garda, the railway at Peschiera and Desenzano runs to Verona, Venice, Vicenza and Padua, with Mantua and Bergamo also in reach.

This is where the two differ most. Garda's south-east shore is built for children, with Gardaland, water slides, Parco Natura Viva and resort campsites that have pools and entertainment. The shallow lidos, gelato and ferry rides keep things easy.

The Amalfi Coast is vertical, short of pavements and has no attractions made for children. Families who go anyway should stay in flatter Maiori or Minori and plan around boat trips and the emerald grotto.

Both destinations push their traffic onto shore roads that clog in summer, and on both the boats are often the better way to hop between towns. On the Amalfi Coast, though, the cliff road is the only one, with blind bends, tour coaches and buses already full when they reach your stop. Once you arrive in a town, every errand means stairs.

Lake Garda is the easier of the two. Its southern shore has a railway at Peschiera and Desenzano, so you can arrive and leave without a car, and the lakeside towns are compact enough to cross on foot without much climbing. Driving round the whole shore is slow, but if you pick one base and use the ferries, getting about takes little effort.

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

Garda's shopping comes down to lakefront market days in Desenzano, Lazise and Bardolino, plus olive oil, wine and outdoor gear in Riva and Arco.

Lake Garda is clearly the cheaper of the two. Campsites, hill agriturismi and Valtenesi villages bring costs down a long way, though lakefront hotels in Sirmione or Limone and theme-park days still add up.

The Amalfi Coast in high season is priced for honeymooners, from sea-view rooms in Positano to sunbeds and private boats. Staying in Atrani or Agerola and coming in late September helps, but only so much.

Both are summer-only affairs, and the best stage differs. The Amalfi Coast's is at home in Ravello, where orchestras play on a platform built out over the cliff in Villa Rufolo's gardens, with chamber concerts on many evenings. Garda's big night is the opera in Verona's Roman arena, under an hour away, with the Vittoriale's amphitheatre as the local venue.

Lake Garda has a real bathing tradition. Sirmione's warm sulphur springs feed thermal pools overlooking the lake, and the open-air pools in a historic villa park near Lazise sit among old trees.

The Amalfi Coast has no springs of its own, only spas in its luxury hotels. Its calm comes from pace and setting instead, best found in Ravello, Atrani or Praiano outside July and August.