Capri or Lake Como?

Neither place has a sandy beach, so this comes down to the water, and Capri's is much the better. You swim from pebble coves at the marinas, from ladders off the rocks below the Punta Carena lighthouse or from a boat moored under the Faraglioni, in deep blue sea that stays warm from June into early October.

Lake Como offers lidos at Bellagio, Lenno and Menaggio and longer open shores around Domaso and Gravedona. It is a pleasant dip between ferries rather than a reason to come, and the water is cool below the surface and warm for only about ten weeks.

Both kitchens are narrow and both lakefronts and marinas charge for the view, but Lake Como gives more to explore. Its perch fried in butter and sage on risotto, the dried missoltini, polenta and game from the valleys and Valtellina Nebbiolo are best found in hill-village trattorias and the rock-cut crotti.

Capri's short list is famous: caprese salad, ravioli capresi, torta caprese and lemons turned into limoncello and granita, with seafood on most menus. Beyond the trattorias of Anacapri there is little to seek out.

Both are known for villas, but of very different kinds. Lake Como's are four centuries of aristocratic houses and gardens, Villa Carlotta, Balbianello and Melzi among them, mostly reached by boat. Como town adds a marble cathedral, the Romanesque churches of Sant'Abbondio and San Fedele, and Terragni's 1930s rationalist buildings.

Capri's heritage is older but thinner: Tiberius's Villa Jovis on its headland, Villa San Michele in Anacapri and the Certosa di San Giacomo, with the Gardens of Augustus and the whitewashed lanes. Two days see it all, where the lake fills a week.

Neither suits a party trip, but Capri's evenings have more spark. After the last ferry the Piazzetta fills with dressed-up aperitivo crowds, and the piano taverns keep Neapolitan songs and table-top dancing going into the small hours through the summer.

On Lake Como a night out means dinner and a drink on a terrace. Como town has some wine and cocktail bars, but Bellagio and Varenna go quiet once the boats stop, and real nightlife means the train to Milan.

Lake Como works on a far larger scale. It is a deep glacial lake with mountains climbing to over 2,000m straight from the shore, walked on the Sentiero del Viandante and the Grigna massif. On the upper lake the afternoon breva wind draws windsurfers and kitesurfers, and paragliding and sailing are well established.

Capri's scenery is just as famous but compact: the Faraglioni, the Arco Naturale and sheer limestone cliffs, Monte Solaro at 589m and the Sentiero dei Fortini. Its strength is the sea, with sea caves and snorkelling, but a few days cover it.

Both are well placed, and Lake Como has the edge because its outings run by train and work in any season. Milan, Bergamo's walled upper town and Lugano across the Swiss border are each about an hour away, and the Valtellina vineyards lie to the north.

Capri has the whole Bay of Naples within reach: Sorrento, Naples, Positano, Amalfi, Ischia and, with a long day, Pompeii. Every trip depends on the boats, though, and rough seas or the end of the season can cancel them.

Neither is made for children, but Lake Como is the easier of the two. Boat rides, the funicular up to Brunate, a summer lido and gelato on the waterfront fill gentle days, and the campsites and flatter shores of the upper lake make a practical base.

Capri asks more of a family. Its swimming means ladders into deep water and its lanes are all steps, so it suits older children who swim well, for the boat trip, the Blue Grotto and the chairlift, rather than toddlers.

A compact island and a long, spread-out lake call for different ways of moving around. Capri is small enough to cover in short hops by funicular from Marina Grande, by little orange bus to Anacapri or by open taxi. You will not need a car. The effort comes from the steep walking and the summer queues.

Lake Como depends on its ferries, which cross the central triangle between Bellagio, Varenna and Menaggio in minutes. Sailing the full length takes most of a day, though. Trains only run up the eastern shore, and driving the narrow shore roads with their tunnels is hard work.

Capri is much the stronger place to shop for something so small. Via Camerelle and Via Vittorio Emanuele are packed with luxury labels and resort fashion, and the island's own crafts, sandals made to measure while you wait, local perfumes and lemon soaps, are worth taking home.

Lake Como has one real speciality, silk from Como's mills, sold in town and at outlets and explained in the Silk Museum. Beyond that there are pleasant independent shops, and serious fashion shopping means Milan.

Both are expensive, but Capri is in a class of its own, with few rooms and summer rates among the Mediterranean's highest. Staying in Sorrento or Naples to save money means missing the island's evenings.

Lake Como is costly around Bellagio, Tremezzo and Cernobbio, but there are real alternatives. Como town and Lecco have ordinary hotels and cheaper meals, the upper lake has campsites and guesthouses, and spring and autumn ease the bills.

Lake Como has a proper stage where Capri has none. Como's early nineteenth-century Teatro Sociale runs a season of opera, concerts and theatre, summer concerts fill villas and churches, and La Scala in Milan is close enough for an evening.

On Capri, music means occasional summer concerts in the Certosa cloisters or at Villa San Michele and late-night Neapolitan song in the taverns. For opera, you take the boat to Naples.

Lake Como is the more restful of the two. Days drift between terrace, garden and ferry, the smaller villages are quiet, and the grand villa hotels have serious spas with pools set over the water.

Capri can be peaceful too, but only in the early morning and evening, once the midday day-trippers have gone. It is best with several nights in Anacapri. Neither has thermal baths of its own, and from Capri the springs of Ischia are just across the bay.