Capri or Tuscany?

The swimming is about as good in both, but it is a very different experience. Capri has almost no sand. You swim from pebble coves at the marinas, from bathing-club platforms with ladders, off the rocks at Punta Carena or from a boat under the Faraglioni. The water is the deep, clear blue the island is famous for.

Tuscany has real beaches, though you have to pick your stretch of coast. Elba has sandy bays like Fetovaia, and the Maremma has strands backed by pine woods. Versilia has miles of sand lined with rows of umbrellas. From Florence, though, any of it is a long drive.

Capri's cooking is pleasant but quickly covered. There is the caprese salad, ravioli with caciotta, chocolate and almond torte and lemon everything. Many restaurants near the Piazzetta charge for the view, and the better meals are in Anacapri's trattorias.

Tuscany is a destination for eating in itself. Florence has lampredotto from street carts, the San Lorenzo and Sant'Ambrogio markets and the classics in Oltrarno. You can taste wine at the cellars of Chianti, Montalcino and Montepulciano, and eat pecorino in Pienza and truffles in San Miniato.

This is where the two differ most. Capri has a handful of fine sites: Tiberius's Villa Jovis on its headland, Villa San Michele in Anacapri and the Certosa di San Giacomo. Add the Gardens of Augustus and you have seen them.

Tuscany is one of Europe's great regions for art and architecture. Florence alone has Brunelleschi's dome, the Uffizi and Michelangelo's David. Beyond it are Siena's Campo, Pisa's marble square, Lucca's walls and Piero della Francesca's frescoes in Arezzo, along with country abbeys like San Galgano.

Capri's night out is a dressed-up aperitivo at the Piazzetta tables. After that come piano taverns with Neapolitan song, and it is all over in a night or two. There are no clubs, and the island goes quiet outside summer.

Tuscany gives you more choice, if spread thinly. Florence has students on the steps of Santo Spirito and wine bars in Oltrarno. In summer the Versilia coast has beach clubs and dance halls that run until dawn.

Capri's scenery is concentrated and dramatic. Limestone cliffs drop into the sea around the Faraglioni and the Arco Naturale, a chairlift climbs Monte Solaro, and the Sentiero dei Fortini runs along the wild west coast. Short distances mean you can cover it all in a few days.

Tuscany has much more ground and more variety. You can cycle the white roads through the Chianti and Val d'Orcia farmland, or take ridge hikes in the Apuan Alps above Carrara. There are beech forests in the Casentino, wild cattle in the Maremma park, and diving off Elba.

From Capri, every outing is a boat across the Bay of Naples. You can go to Sorrento, Naples, Ischia, or in season Positano and Amalfi, and Pompeii makes a long day by ferry and train. All of it depends on the sea, because rough weather cancels sailings.

Tuscany has far more outings, and most go by road or rail. From Florence or a base in Chianti, Siena, Lucca, Pisa, San Gimignano and Volterra are all easy, and Bologna is under an hour by fast train. From southern Tuscany you can drive to Assisi and Orvieto, and from Pisa the Cinque Terre is about an hour by train. Only the ferries to Elba and Giglio depend on the sea.

Capri is hard work with children. There are steps everywhere, there is no shallow sand, and nothing is designed for them. Only good swimmers old enough to enjoy the Blue Grotto and snorkelling really get much out of it.

Tuscany suits families far better. You can split the stay between a farmhouse with a pool and the shallow, lifeguarded beaches of Versilia, the Maremma or Elba. Add Collodi, the leaning tower and cycling on Lucca's walls, and children are welcome at dinner too.

Both are manageable, in different ways. On Capri you never need a car. A funicular, small buses and open taxis link everything in minutes, but you face steep walking and summer queues.

In Tuscany, Florence is walkable, and trains along the Pisa, Lucca and Arezzo lines work well. Chianti, the Val d'Orcia and the Maremma really need a car, and you park outside the walls of each old town.

Capri packs a lot of luxury into the lanes off the Piazzetta, Via Camerelle above all. Its own touches are sandals made to measure while you wait and perfumes made from the island's flowers. Beyond that there is little else.

Tuscany has more to discover, and it is rooted in craft. Florence has leather workshops around Santa Croce, goldsmiths on the Ponte Vecchio and bookbinders in Oltrarno. Elsewhere there is alabaster in Volterra, marble in Pietrasanta and ceramics in Montelupo, plus the large designer outlets in the Arno valley.

Neither is a bargain, but Capri is in a league of its own. It has few rooms, summer rates among the highest in the Mediterranean, and prices set for a wealthy crowd. The cheap pleasures are the buses, the walks and Anacapri's bakeries.

Tuscany gives you more room to manage costs. Lucca, Arezzo, Pistoia and the Maremma are much easier on the budget than Florence or Forte dei Marmi. Trattoria meals and wine bought at the cellar door are fair value, though car hire adds up.

Capri has almost nothing here beyond 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.

Tuscany has a real musical life. Florence has the Maggio Musicale with its own opera house, and drama at the Teatro della Pergola. Puccini's operas are staged by the lake at Torre del Lago, and Siena's Accademia Chigiana holds summer concerts in palaces.

Capri's calm comes in the early morning and the evening, when the day-trippers leave and the lanes smell of lemon and jasmine. Otherwise you have the hotel spas. There are no springs, and for thermal bathing you cross to Ischia.

Tuscany sits on its own hot springs, from the grand pump rooms of Montecatini to the free open-air terraces of Saturnia. Bagno Vignoni's steaming square and Bagni San Filippo's white pools in the woods are quieter still. A slow farmhouse stay nearby completes the rest.