Corsica or Lake Garda?

On Corsica the beaches are the main event. The far south has Palombaggia, Santa Giulia and Rondinara, all pale sand on clear sea, and the Agriates hide Saleccia and Lotu at the end of a boat ride or a long track. It is real seaside swimming in salt water that stays warm into October.

Garda offers lake bathing: warm water in midsummer, but pebble shores, grassy lidos and swimming platforms at Lazise, Bardolino or below Sirmione's rock shelves. It is pleasant for a dip between other plans. It is not a sand-and-sea vacation.

Both are good places to eat if you leave the waterfront, but they cook from different larders. Corsica's table is mountain food: free-range charcuterie, brocciu, wild boar and chestnut flour, with Patrimonio wines. At Garda you get lake fish, risotto and the lake's own olive oil, with a stronger wine list in Bardolino, Lugana and nearby Amarone.

In both, the trick is the same: go inland, to village inns on Corsica or agriturismi in the hills above Garda, and avoid the resort harbour menus.

Corsica has a little more to see, and most of it is defensive heritage: Genoese citadels, coastal watchtowers, Bonifacio's old town on its white cliffs, and Corte, the old capital. Ajaccio adds Napoleon's birthplace and the Italian paintings of the Palais Fesch, and Filitosa's carved standing stones go back to prehistory.

Garda's sights are lighter half-days. Sirmione's moated castle and Roman villa ruins and d'Annunzio's Vittoriale with its warship in the hillside are the highlights, and in practice the greater art lies in Verona and Venice, beyond the lake.

Neither is a place for a big night out. On both, the evening is a drink by the water and a long dinner. The livelier pockets just sit in different spots: on Corsica, the open-air clubs in the hills behind Porto-Vecchio and the harbour bars of Calvi in high summer; at Garda, Desenzano's lakefront bars and the nearby clubs that draw young people from Brescia and Verona at summer weekends.

Both are outstanding outdoor destinations of a different shape. Corsica is a whole mountain range rising from the sea, with the GR20 along its spine, the red rocks of Piana, the Bavella needles, canyoning rivers and diving off Scandola and the Lavezzi islands. It gives slightly wilder and more varied ground, by land and by sea.

Garda's outdoor life is concentrated in the narrow north. Arco's climbing walls, via ferrate, mountain-bike trails, the cable car up Monte Baldo and Torbole's dependable wind for windsurfing all lie close together, so you can do a great deal from one base.

Garda is far better for outings because the main Milan to Venice railway runs along its southern shore. Verona is under an hour away, Venice about an hour and a half, and Vicenza, Padua, Mantua and Bergamo's upper town are all easy days out.

Corsica's day trips are to other villages and towns on the island: Sartène, the Balagne hill villages, Cap Corse, or the ferry to Sardinia from Bonifacio. Slow mountain roads mean each base has only a handful of trips within reach.

Garda is clearly the easier family choice. The south-east shore near Peschiera has Gardaland, an aquarium, water parks and the Parco Natura Viva safari park, and lidos with grass and shade plus short ferry rides keep younger children happy. Older children can bike or try windsurfing in the north.

Corsica works for a family who want nothing more than a calm beach, such as Santa Giulia, with a campsite pool and some river swimming. There are no big attractions for children, and the twisting drives tire small passengers quickly.

Neither is easy without a car, but Garda gives you more alternatives. Ferries and hydrofoils link the lake towns, trains reach Peschiera and Desenzano, and buses follow the shore, so staying in one town and using the boats works well. The catch is summer traffic and parking.

On Corsica you really need a car, and the winding roads make every journey longer than the map suggests. The narrow-gauge railway between Ajaccio, Corte, Bastia and Calvi is a lovely ride, but it never reaches the south.

Neither is somewhere to go for the shopping, and from both the best things to take home are mostly edible. Corsica's are the more distinctive: the island's own charcuterie and sheep cheeses from the morning markets, and hand-forged knives and craft pieces you will not find anywhere else.

Garda's shopping is more of an outing, with weekly market days that fill the lakefronts of Desenzano and Lazise with stalls. The real difference is what lies beyond the shore. The train from the south of the lake puts the shops of Verona, and of Milan further on, within a day out, and on Corsica there is no city of that kind to fall back on.

Both cost a lot in summer, but Corsica costs more. Ferry crossings and car hire add to the bill before you start, and rooms in Porto-Vecchio, Bonifacio and Calvi are priced for the high season. Campsites, inland villages and June or September soften it.

At Garda, the expensive part is mainly the lakefront hotels and the promenade restaurants, along with theme park tickets for a family. Staying in a hill agriturismo or a camping village back from the water saves a good deal, and you can arrive by train.

Both are thin outside summer, but Garda has the edge because of a neighbour: the opera festival in Verona's Roman arena, under an hour from the southern shore, along with concerts in the Vittoriale's open-air amphitheatre. Corsica's distinctive offer is its own: unaccompanied polyphonic singing in village churches, plus jazz in Calvi and guitar evenings among the Patrimonio vineyards.

Garda has an actual spa tradition. Warm sulphur springs rise from the lake bed off Sirmione and supply thermal pools overlooking the water, and the open-air pools in a historic park near Lazise are another reason to go. Hotel spas at Gardone and Salò add to the choice.

On Corsica, rest comes from the rhythm of the place rather than any treatment: siestas, long lunches and quiet mountain evenings. Its few inland springs, such as Pietrapola, are modest.