Corsica or Normandy?

Corsica wins easily for swimming. Its water is clear and warm enough for a season of five months, and the coast has real variety: pale sand and turquoise shallows around Porto-Vecchio and Bonifacio in the far south, remote bays in the Agriates that you reach by boat or on foot, and granite coves along the west coast from Ajaccio down to Roccapina. The best-known southern bays are crowded by mid-morning in July and August, so it pays to drive on to a smaller cove.

Normandy's coast is better for walking and the traditional seaside resort than for long swims. The Channel stays bracing even at its warmest, and you can only swim at the height of summer. The big tides change the shore by the hour. At low water the sands of Deauville and Cabourg become huge open spaces for kites and digging, while Étretat's pebbles under the chalk cliffs suit a stroll more than a dip.

Both regions eat from their farms, but Normandy has the richer table. Its Camembert and Livarot, its butter and cream sauces, Saint-Vaast oysters and Dieppe scallops, and the cider and calvados you can buy along the Pays d'Auge route make eating a reason to go. Rouen also gives it a proper restaurant city.

Corsica's cooking belongs to the mountains: cured lonzu and figatellu, brocciu, chestnut flour and boar stew, with fine wine from Patrimonio. It is at its best in inland village inns, and summer beach menus are often dull.

Normandy is far ahead for sightseeing. Mont-Saint-Michel, the landing beaches with the Caen Memorial, the tapestry and cathedral in Bayeux, and Rouen's half-timbered streets are only the start, with Le Havre's rebuilt centre and Giverny besides.

Corsica's heritage is quieter and more about atmosphere: Genoese towers, Bonifacio's old town on its cliff, Corte's upper town, Napoleon's Ajaccio and the standing stones of Filitosa. These are rewarding stops on a road trip, but there are not enough of them to fill a trip given over to sightseeing.

Neither region suits a big night out, and in both the evening usually means a long dinner. Corsica has a little more energy in July and August, with open-air clubs in the hills behind Porto-Vecchio and late beach bars in Calvi. Normandy's bars are spread more evenly through the year in the student quarters of Rouen and Caen, with Deauville's casino for a smarter evening.

Corsica is a mountain island, with peaks over 2,700m in sight of the sea. It has the GR20 and gentler Mare e Monti paths, the red rock of the Calanques de Piana, the sea caves of Scandola and glacial lakes above the Restonica gorge. Canyoning, diving and sea kayaking fill out the list.

Normandy's best scenery is coastal and softer. It has the chalk arches of Étretat, the wild headlands of Cap de la Hague and guided walks across the bay at Mont-Saint-Michel. Inland, the bocage is for cycling, and the Suisse Normande adds some climbing and kayaking.

Normandy gives far more choice from a single base. From Caen or Bayeux it is easy to reach Honfleur, the Côte Fleurie and the Pays d'Auge villages. Saint-Malo, Giverny and even Paris are within reach.

In Corsica, slow mountain roads keep each base to its own few outings: Sartène, or the ferry to Sardinia, from the south, and the Balagne villages from Calvi. The island railway to Corte is the one trip you can make from either coast.

The two are broadly level for families but offer different trips. Corsica is a beach-and-outdoors vacation, with shallow, calm bays such as Santa Giulia, campsites with pools, river swimming and boat trips to sea caves. There is almost nothing built for children, though.

Normandy has colder water, but it has more to do on a grey day: the submarine and aquariums at Cité de la Mer, the Cerza safari park, Festyland and rock pools at low tide.

Normandy is the easier region to move around. Its roads are uncrowded, and trains reach Rouen, Caen, Bayeux, Cherbourg and Deauville, although the landing beaches and Mont-Saint-Michel still need a car or a tour.

In Corsica, the narrow, winding roads make every journey slower than the map suggests, buses are sparse and the scenic railway does not reach the south. A hire car is effectively essential.

Neither is a shopping destination, and in both the best things to bring home are edible. Normandy has more to browse: Rouen's pedestrian streets, Honfleur's galleries, and crafts such as Alençon lace, Rouen faience and copper from Villedieu-les-Poêles. Corsica's highlights are its forged knives, the Ajaccio and Bastia markets and the craft villages of the Balagne.

Normandy is the cheaper trip. Countryside guest houses, set lunches in market towns and many free D-Day sites keep costs down, and only Deauville, Honfleur and the area around Mont-Saint-Michel are noticeably expensive.

Corsica is costly in the months people actually go. Resort rooms and coastal restaurants are expensive, and ferries and car hire add to the bill. Campsites, inland villages and the shoulder months bring costs down.

Both are thin, but Normandy has a little more and offers it in more months. Rouen's Théâtre des Arts has opera, ballet and an orchestral season, and the Coutances jazz festival is held in spring. Corsica's distinctive offer is polyphonic singing in village churches, along with summer jazz in Calvi. Outside summer, the island has little else on.

Normandy has a real spa culture: thalassotherapy centres along the coast from Deauville to Granville, and the belle-époque thermal town of Bagnoles-de-l'Orne.

Corsica relaxes you through its pace instead, with siestas, long lunches and silent mountain evenings. Its formal options are a few hotel spas and some simple inland springs.