British Virgin Islands or St Barts?

The beaches are equally strong but differ in kind. The BVI spread theirs across many islands. You get the granite boulders and pools of The Baths on Virgin Gorda, the anchored boats off White Bay on Jost Van Dyke and the long, empty reef beaches of Anegada, many of them best reached by boat.

St Barts packs its beaches into one small island, all within a short drive of each other. They are small coves rather than long strands, ranging from the wild, shadeless surf beaches of Saline and Gouverneur to the reef-sheltered lagoons of Grand Cul-de-Sac. St Jean adds the odd sight of planes landing over the swimmers.

St Barts eats noticeably better. Its French side shows in morning croissants, supermarkets stocked with cheese and wine for villa cooking, long lunches on the sand and polished dinners above the Gustavia harbour. The range is narrow, though, and almost all of it is expensive.

The BVI keep things casual and West Indian: rotis and conch fritters in Road Town, lobster grilled over oil drums on Anegada's beaches, and a painkiller cocktail at a Jost Van Dyke bar. It is enjoyable, but choice thins out quickly away from Road Town.

Neither is a place for sightseeing, and each offers an afternoon at most. The BVI's relics are industrial and colonial: the roofless Cornish engine house of the Copper Mine on Virgin Gorda, a working rum distillery at Cane Garden Bay and plantation ruins in the hills. St Barts has the unusual Swedish legacy of Gustavia, with its clock tower and the small museum in the Wall House, plus the old fishing village of Corossol.

St Barts has more of a scene. From Christmas into spring, lunches at St Jean turn into afternoon parties, and the evenings move to Gustavia's harbour bars, a couple of late clubs and the decks of superyachts. It goes very quiet in late summer, when many places close.

In the BVI, going out means taking the dinghy between beach bars at Great Harbour, White Bay and the Bight at Norman Island, with full-moon parties at Trellis Bay as a highlight. There are no clubs, and most nights end early.

The BVI offer more to do outdoors, and most of it is at sea. Dozens of islands in calm water make this one of the classic places to sail. The wreck of the RMS Rhone is a well-known dive, and Norman Island's caves and Anegada's reef are good for snorkelling.

On land, Sage Mountain on Tortola rises to about 520m with short forest trails, and Anegada has flamingos on its salt ponds. St Barts gives you turtles in its marine reserve, kitesurfing on the Grand Cul-de-Sac lagoon and a cliff path to Colombier, but a few days is enough to cover it.

Both have only a few day trips, but the BVI have more choice. Ferries reach the small settlements of Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke. The best day out is across the border in the US Virgin Islands, so bring a passport: Charlotte Amalie has Danish warehouses and a fort, and St John has the ruins of the Annaberg plantation.

From St Barts there is really only the ferry to St Martin, about an hour across. There you can visit Marigot and Grand Case on the French side or the busier Philipsburg on the Dutch side.

Both work about as well for families, and neither has anything built for children, so no aquarium or park for a rainy day. In the BVI, children can snorkel over reefs a few strokes from shore, and a charter yacht makes a real adventure for older children, though boat transfers and winding roads take some managing with toddlers.

St Barts is easier with small children because the distances are tiny. A villa pool and the shallow lagoons at Grand Cul-de-Sac and Shell Beach fill the days, but the island is aimed at adults, and teenagers may get bored.

St Barts is easier to get around once you have arrived, simply because it is so small. In a hire car, every beach is minutes away, and Gustavia and St Jean are easy on foot. The roads are steep and full of hairpins, and getting there means a small plane or the ferry from St Martin.

In the BVI you have to plan more. Tortola's roads are steep and you drive on the left, ferries link only some islands, and Anegada needs a longer crossing or a short flight. That is why many visitors either charter a yacht or stay put at one resort.

St Barts is far better for shopping. Duty-free status has filled the streets around the Gustavia harbour with luxury fashion, watch and jewellery boutiques, and St Jean adds resort wear. Beyond that, it is aimed almost entirely at a well-off vacation wardrobe.

The BVI have little more than a few shops on Road Town's Main Street and marina stores selling swimwear and sailing gear. Woven baskets and island paintings make the best souvenirs.

Both are expensive, but St Barts is in a league of its own, ranking among the costliest places in the world for a vacation. Even the small-plane flight and the hire car add up, and cooking in your villa only softens the bill.

The BVI give you a little more room. Small guesthouses on Tortola and food stands in Road Town cut costs, and sharing a charter yacht among a group spreads the price of beds and transport.

Neither has a theatre or a regular concert season, but the music they do have is very different. The BVI's sound is fungi, played by scratch bands on washboards and gourds, and it peaks at the Emancipation Festival in Road Town and a beach festival at Cane Garden Bay. St Barts leans classical: each January a long-established festival brings musicians, opera singers and dancers to Gustavia's churches, and carnival before Lent adds steel bands.

The BVI are slightly better for a restful trip, mostly because of their seclusion. The resorts on Virgin Gorda's North Sound and on the private islands offer yoga on decks above the sea and days with no traffic at all.

St Barts makes up for it with well-run hotel spas and therapists who come to your villa, and the island is very quiet in spring. Around New Year, though, the harbour is full and calm is hard to find. Neither has thermal baths or a spa tradition of its own.