Capri or Ischia?

Ischia is the better island for a beach vacation because it actually has beaches. Maronti on the south coast is a long curve of dark volcanic sand, San Montano at Lacco Ameno has calm, shallow water and Citara near Forio faces the sunset.

Capri has almost no sand. You swim from pebble coves at Marina Piccola and Marina Grande, from bathing-club platforms with ladders, or off the rocks at Punta Carena. The water is just as clear and warm, so for strong swimmers it is a real pleasure, but there is nowhere to stretch out on a long strand.

Ischia eats better and with more character. Rabbit braised in terracotta comes from the farming hills, the fishing harbours at Sant'Angelo and Forio grill the catch, and the white wines grown on terraces on Monte Epomeo can be tasted at small wineries.

Capri can claim insalata caprese, ravioli capresi and torta caprese, but around the Piazzetta and the marinas the restaurants are mostly selling the view. The better meals are in the Anacapri trattorias. Neither island has market life or street food, and on Ischia half-board hotel dining takes many visitors away from the villages.

The two are about even, and on either island two days covers the sights. Capri's heritage is imperial Rome and grand houses: Tiberius's Villa Jovis on its headland, Villa San Michele at Anacapri and the Certosa monastery.

Ischia goes further back and has more of a fortress. The Aragonese Castle on its rock off Ischia Ponte is the island's great sight, and the museum at Lacco Ameno holds Nestor's Cup from Greek Pithekoussai, one of the oldest Greek settlements in the West. Anyone keen on history will soon be taking the boat to the mainland from either.

Capri has the stronger evening. Once the last ferries leave, the Piazzetta fills with well-dressed people over aperitivo, and the piano taverns keep Neapolitan songs going late. It is glamorous rather than wild, and there are no clubs.

On Ischia most evenings are a long dinner and a stroll. Ischia Porto has wine bars, cocktail terraces and a couple of discos open late in July and August, while Sant'Angelo and Forio go quiet after sunset drinks. Clubbers should look elsewhere in either case.

Capri's scenery is the more dramatic and the more famous. Sheer limestone cliffs drop into the sea, the Faraglioni and the Arco Naturale stand off the coast, and the Sentiero dei Fortini runs along the wild western shore. Add the chairlift up Monte Solaro and a boat round the Blue Grotto and the sea caves, all a short distance apart.

Ischia is greener and volcanic. Monte Epomeo is higher and is climbed through chestnut woods and vineyards, and there are steam vents along the south coast. Its marine protected area also makes it the better base for diving.

Both have an equally strong choice of outings, and every one starts at the ferry quay. Capri faces the Sorrento peninsula, with Sorrento about half an hour away and summer boats to Positano and Amalfi.

Ischia looks the other way, towards little Procida and the Phlegraean Fields via Pozzuoli, where the Solfatara crater and sunken Baia are sights Capri visitors rarely reach. Naples is close to both, and Pompeii makes a long day from either.

Ischia is much the easier island with children. The sheltered water at San Montano and the long sand at Maronti suit small swimmers, and the thermal parks, with pools at different temperatures set in gardens, make easy days.

Capri has nothing made for children. Its swimming is off rocks into deep water, and its lanes and steps are hard work with a pushchair. Confident older swimmers will enjoy the Blue Grotto, the round-island boat and the Monte Solaro chairlift, but that fills a couple of days at most.

Capri is the simpler island to move around. Distances are tiny, the funicular lifts you from Marina Grande to the town in minutes, and small buses link the town, Anacapri and the marinas. The main problems are steep walking and summer queues.

Ischia is larger and spread along one coastal loop road. Its buses reach every village but are slow and crowded in summer, and cars are more trouble than they are worth. Most visitors pick one base and stay close to it, using microtaxis and water taxis for the rest.

Capri is the island that people shop on. The lanes off the Piazzetta, Via Camerelle above all, hold an unusual number of luxury boutiques for somewhere so small, alongside hand-made sandals, linen and locally made perfumes.

Ischia's shopping is one long stroll from Ischia Porto to Ischia Ponte, with resort clothes, jewellery and ceramics. The thermal cosmetics made with the island's waters are the one thing you won't find on Capri.

This is where the two islands differ most for your money. Capri is one of the dearest places to stay in Italy. Rooms are scarce, and dinner with a view, sunbeds and private boats are priced for the wealthy, so many visitors come only for the day and miss the evenings.

Ischia is priced as an ordinary resort. Family-run spa hotels sell half-board with thermal pools included, and the trattorias away from the harbours are fair. A week still adds up in high summer, but spring and autumn bring costs down while the weather stays warm.

Neither island is a place to go for performances, though Ischia has a little more. The Mortella gardens at Forio, created by William Walton and his wife, hold chamber concerts in summer, and the Aragonese Castle stages concerts and screenings during the island's film festival.

Capri has occasional summer concerts at the Certosa or Villa San Michele and Neapolitan song late in the piano taverns. For opera or a proper concert season, both send you to Naples.

Ischia is one of the great thermal islands of the Mediterranean, and Capri does not compete. Hot springs feed hotel pools and treatment rooms all over Ischia. Whole days go in the terraced parks at Citara, Lacco Ameno and Casamicciola, and you can soak in the hot sea pools at Sorgeto or the steam caves of Cavascura.

Capri's calm comes from hotel spas and from the quiet mornings and evenings once the day-trippers leave, best felt from a base in Anacapri. When Capri visitors want real thermal bathing, they take the boat to Ischia.