Brač or Umbria?

This is Brač's category by a wide margin. Zlatni Rat at Bol is a long spit of fine pebble in very clear water with pine shade behind it, and beyond it run quieter coves, while the north coast adds shallow town beaches and the rare sandy bay at Lovrečina. Water shoes are wise almost everywhere.

Umbria has no coast at all. Lake Trasimeno's lidos at Castiglione del Lago and Passignano are warm and shallow but often murky, with reeds and soft mud, and the sea is a drive of two hours or more, so most visitors swim in a farmhouse pool.

Brač eats well within narrow limits: grilled fish, octopus cooked under an iron lid, island lamb and vitalac in a konoba, best found in inland villages such as Dol rather than on Bol's waterfront. Many places close once summer ends.

Umbria has more to travel for. Black truffle over strangozzi, Norcia's pork, Castelluccio lentils and porchetta from market vans make a deeper country cuisine, and the Sagrantino estates around Montefalco and the whites of Orvieto turn wine into a reason for the trip. Fresh seafood is the one thing Brač offers that Umbria cannot.

The gap here is wide. Brač's heritage is modest and pleasant: the white stone quarried since Roman times, the cliff hermitage at Blaca, Illyrian walls at Škrip and a Tintoretto in Bol's Dominican monastery, enough for a few unhurried outings between beach days.

Umbria holds art of the first rank in town after town. Assisi's basilica with Giotto's frescoes, Orvieto's mosaic façade and Signorelli's Last Judgement, Perugia's gallery of Perugino and Piero della Francesca and the painted chapels of Spello and Montefalco could fill a fortnight.

Neither is a destination for a big night out, but the evenings differ in kind. On Brač the late hours belong to Bol in July and August, with beach bars on the path to Zlatni Rat and a few open-air dance venues, and anyone wanting more takes the catamaran to Hvar.

Umbria's after-dark life is urban and student-led. Perugia's main street, cathedral steps and wine bars in the old lanes fill on warm evenings, while Assisi and the countryside go quiet soon after dinner, and there are no clubs to speak of.

Brač's outdoors is a dry karst plateau and the sea around it: the steep climb from Bol to Vidova Gora, the cliff walk to Blaca and, above all, the reliable afternoon westerly that makes the channel off Bol a windsurfing and kitesurfing spot.

Umbria has more variety on land. Green hills and oak woods rise in the east to the Monti Sibillini above 2,000m, with the flowering Castelluccio plain, rafting and canyoning in the Valnerina, the Marmore Falls and a cycle path on the old Spoleto to Norcia railway. In both, spring and autumn are the seasons for walking.

Every outing from Brač starts with a ferry. Split and Diocletian's Palace make the obvious day, with Trogir beyond, and boats reach Hvar and Makarska, but the timetables thin out quickly after summer.

Umbria is built for day trips. From a base near Perugia or Spoleto a different hill town fills each day, from Gubbio and Todi to Spello and Norcia, and Cortona, Montepulciano, Siena and, by train from Orvieto, Rome are all within easy reach, with no sea crossing to plan around.

Brač is the easier family choice for a simple beach routine: shallow, sheltered bays at Supetar, Sutivan and Postira, apartments with kitchens and relaxed harbour evenings. The drawbacks are the quick drop-off and midday crowds at Zlatni Rat, the strong midsummer heat and no attractions built for children.

Umbria works best as a farmhouse stay with a pool and animals, with Trasimeno's warm shallows, the Marmore Falls and an amusement park near Perugia for outings. Its main sights, though, are frescoed churches and steep cobbled towns that are hard going with a pushchair.

Both call for a car, but Umbria is the smoother of the two. Roads are good and distances short, the hill towns have escalators, lifts and funiculars up from the car parks, and a rail line links Perugia, Assisi, Spello and Spoleto, with Orvieto on the Rome to Florence line.

Brač depends on ferries from Split, with long queues on summer weekends, and its buses are too infrequent to plan around. A car or scooter handles the slow, winding road over the plateau to Bol, while each harbour town is small enough to walk.

Neither is a place for fashion, but Umbria gives a shopper far more to bring home: Deruta's painted majolica, hand-loomed linen from Montefalco and Bevagna, cashmere outlets near Perugia and Norcia's hams and truffles.

Brač's offer is small: carved stone from the Pučišća workshops, olive oil, honey and lavender, plus souvenir stalls on the harbour fronts, with Split the place for anything more.

Umbria is the gentler on the wallet. Farmhouse stays and small hotels cost less than across the Tuscan border, trattoria set lunches and local wine are cheap and most churches cost little or nothing, with the hire car and truffle dishes the main extras.

Brač in July and August is priced close to Western Europe in Bol, and sunbeds and car ferry fares add up. Private rooms in north coast or inland villages, simple village konobas and a June or September visit bring it down.

Umbria has a real summer programme. Umbria Jazz fills Perugia's arena and streets in July, the Festival dei Due Mondi brings opera, theatre and dance to Spoleto's Roman theatre and opera house, and Orvieto hosts a winter jazz edition around the New Year.

Brač has no theatre or concert hall, only open-air concerts on the squares of Bol and Supetar and the occasional evening of klapa singing. For opera, visitors cross to Split's summer festival.

Brač's restfulness comes almost entirely from its pace: the quiet harbours of Milna, Povlja and Sumartin, the stone villages inland and long evenings by the water, at their calmest in June and September. Beyond that, the only spa treatments are in the larger hotels at Bol and Supetar.

Umbria pairs the same unhurried country rhythm with more to book. Many farmhouse stays add a pool, massage or yoga, Assisi and the hermitages on Monte Subasio draw people on retreat, and small historic spa towns such as San Gemini and Nocera Umbra have their mineral waters, though anyone after warm thermal pools drives over the Tuscan border.