Corsica or Ischia?

Corsica has the finer beaches. Palombaggia, Santa Giulia and Rondinara in the far south are pale sand on turquoise water, and the Agriates coves of Saleccia and Lotu, reached by boat or a long track, feel remote even in summer. Add Calvi's long bay and the granite coves of the west, and the choice is wide.

Ischia's sand is dark and volcanic, at its longest along Maronti, where hot springs steam at the Sant'Angelo end. Citara for sunsets and the calm bay of San Montano are lovely, but much of the coast is rock and small coves best reached by water taxi.

Both islands eat more from the hills than the sea, and neither offers much beyond its own cooking. Corsica's table is cured pork, brocciu, chestnut flour and wild boar, with serious wine from Patrimonio and Sartène and good morning markets in Ajaccio and Bastia.

Ischia answers with slow-braised rabbit, clams and grilled fish in harbours such as Sant'Angelo and Forio, and white wines from Epomeo's terraces. It has no real market life, though, and with many guests on hotel half-board, the best meals take more seeking out.

Corsica gives more to see, spread across a road trip. Bonifacio's old town on its white cliffs, the citadel at Calvi, Corte's upper town, Napoleon's birthplace and the Italian paintings of the Palais Fesch in Ajaccio, and the carved stones of Filitosa make a varied itinerary.

Ischia's sights fit into a couple of days: the Aragonese Castle on its rock off Ischia Ponte, and the Villa Arbusta museum at Lacco Ameno with Nestor's Cup from ancient Pithekoussai. Beyond that the pleasure is in Sant'Angelo's lanes and the Mortella gardens.

Neither island is for a big night out, and evenings on both revolve around dinner and a harbour drink. Corsica has the larger summer venues, with open-air clubs in the hills behind Porto-Vecchio and late beach bars at Calvi, and Ajaccio and Bastia keep bars open through the year.

On Ischia the life gathers around Ischia Porto's waterfront wine bars and cocktail terraces, with a couple of summer discos, while the spa crowd elsewhere is in bed early.

This is where Corsica pulls furthest ahead. It is a mountain range in the sea, with peaks above 2,700m in sight of the coast, the GR20 along its spine for serious trekkers and the gentler Mare e Monti paths for most walkers. Inland, the needles of Bavella and the glacial lakes above the Restonica gorge sit among chestnut and pine forest. On the coast, the red granite of the Calanques de Piana, the sea caves of Scandola and the diving around the Lavezzi islands are as dramatic as anything in the mountains.

Ischia's landscape is volcanic and greener than most people expect. Monte Epomeo, a modest peak at the island's centre, makes a good day's walk through chestnut woods and vineyards, with views over the whole Bay of Naples from the top. Steam vents on the south coast show the volcano is still active, and the Regno di Nettuno reserve suits snorkellers, with the odd dolphin offshore. On an island this small, though, a week covers all of it.

Corsica's days out mostly stay on the island. From the south there is the stone town of Sartène, from Calvi the craft villages of the Balagne, and from Bastia Cap Corse and the Patrimonio vineyards, while Corte can be reached by the mountain railway. Slow roads limit each base to its own few outings, and the boat from Bonifacio to Sardinia is the one real crossing.

Ischia does better because every ferry leads somewhere worth going. Procida's pastel harbour is a short hop away, and Naples, with its historic centre and archaeological museum, is about an hour off. From Pozzuoli, the Roman amphitheatre and the sunken city of Baia fill a day in the Phlegraean Fields. Summer boats reach Capri and Sorrento, and Pompeii can be done in a long day.

Both islands suit a beach-based family trip and neither has anything built for children. Corsica has the calm, shallow bay of Santa Giulia, family campsites and resort villages with pools, and river pools inland, but long twisting drives wear young passengers out.

Ischia's gentle water at San Montano and Maronti is matched by thermal parks with pools at different temperatures, which make easy water days. Its stepped villages and crowded summer buses are harder with a pushchair, and older children may want boat days to break up the week.

Ischia is far easier without a car. One coastal road loops the island, buses run both ways to every village, and microtaxis and water taxis cover the rest; a car is more hindrance than help, and Sant'Angelo is closed to traffic. The catch is that arrival always means a ferry or hydrofoil from Naples or Pozzuoli.

Corsica is close to impossible without a car. Its narrow-gauge railway between Ajaccio, Corte, Bastia and Calvi is a joy but misses the south, buses are rare, and winding roads make every journey longer than the map suggests.

Neither island is a shopping destination, but the shopping differs in kind. Corsica's is about produce and craft: charcuterie, chestnut flour and wine from the Ajaccio and Bastia markets, hand-forged knives and Balagne pottery. Ischia has one long evening stroll between Ischia Porto and Ischia Ponte, lined with resort fashion, linen and sandals, plus ceramics, limoncello and thermal cosmetics.

Corsica's costs bunch up in the places and months most people choose: the coast around Porto-Vecchio, Bonifacio and Calvi in July and August, when rooms and waterfront meals carry resort prices. On top of that you pay to get onto the island and to drive it. The way around this is timing and place: a June or September stay, a campsite, or a base in an inland village eating from the markets.

Ischia costs less overall. Its rooms are mid-range rather than luxurious, and because so many hotels have their own thermal pools, the main thing people come for is often included in the stay. Instead, the bill grows through extras over a week, such as sunbeds, thermal park days and boat trips. The beach villages fill up and get dearer in high summer, while spring and autumn bring a clear saving and the weather is still warm.

Corsica has a little more to hear, and it is its own. Polyphonic singing, unaccompanied male voices in close harmony, fills village churches in summer, alongside the jazz festival in Calvi and guitar evenings among the Patrimonio vineyards.

Ischia's offer is chamber concerts at the Mortella gardens, founded by the composer William Walton, and screenings at the castle during its summer film festival. For opera, both sets of visitors would have to leave, which from Ischia at least means only a ferry to Naples.

Ischia is built for this and Corsica is not. Dozens of hot springs feed hotel pools and the terraced thermal parks at Citara, Lacco Ameno and Casamicciola, where whole days pass between warm pools and the sea. Sorgeto's hot spring in rock pools on the shore, the steam caves of Cavascura and mud treatments add a wilder side.

Corsica's rest comes from its pace, siestas and quiet mountain evenings, with hotel spas around Porto-Vecchio and Calvi and only small, simple thermal springs such as Pietrapola inland.