Costa Brava or Formentera?

Both are beach destinations first, but Formentera's sand and water are a step above. The white spit of Ses Illetes has clear turquoise shallows on both sides, Migjorn has kilometres of dune-backed sand, and the sea is a little warmer for longer. Nothing on the mainland coast quite matches that.

The Costa Brava has more variety instead. There are pine-framed coves with green water over sand and rock around Begur and Calella de Palafrugell, and long open sand in the Bay of Roses and at Pals. The tramontana can stir up its northern beaches for days, and the small coves fill early in August.

For eating, the Costa Brava is in another league. Empordà cooking pairs seafood with meat in mar i muntanya dishes and makes black rice and suquet stew. The coast has red prawns from Palamós and anchovies from L'Escala, local wine on every table, and fine dining around Girona that people travel just to taste.

Formentera's food is a long lunch of grilled fish above the beach, with island touches such as sun-dried peix sec in the ensalada payesa and flaó for dessert. Beyond that there are only a few good places in Sant Francesc and Es Pujols, no market or wine culture, and many kitchens close out of season.

The Costa Brava has real heritage, though it is spread out. There is the Dalí triangle of Figueres, Portlligat and Púbol, Girona's Gothic cathedral and riverside houses, Greek and Roman Empúries beside the sea, walled Tossa de Mar and the monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes above Cap de Creus. You need a car and several days to see it.

Formentera has a fortified church in Sant Francesc, two lighthouses, some watchtowers and a small Bronze Age tomb. All of it fits into one day between swims.

Nights out on the Costa Brava depend on where you stay. Lloret de Mar and Platja d'Aro have big clubs and late bars full of young crowds all summer, while Cadaqués and the Begur coves are quiet by midnight.

Formentera has sunset drinks on the west coast and a short strip of bars in Es Pujols with a modest club or two. Anyone who wants serious clubbing has to take the ferry to Ibiza and plan the night around the boat back.

The Costa Brava has the richer outdoors. The Camí de Ronda runs along the cliffs between Calella, Llafranc and Tamariu, Cap de Creus is wild and wind-carved, and the Medes Islands reserve offers some of Spain's best diving. Inland there are the Garrotxa volcanoes, cycling around Girona and the Pyrenees about two hours away.

Formentera's landscape is low and dry, with salt pans, juniper scrub and flamingos on the Ses Salines lagoons. Its seagrass meadows make for excellent snorkelling and paddleboarding, and the cliff walk at La Mola is fine, but the island has far less range.

From the Costa Brava you can reach a lot. Barcelona is under an hour from Girona by high-speed train, and Collioure and Perpignan are just over the French border. Romanesque Besalú, Vic's market square, the Empordà wine villages and Montserrat are all within reach of a base near Girona or Palafrugell.

Formentera has one real outing, the fast ferry to Ibiza for the walled Dalt Vila and the island's villages, plus a boat to the islet of Espalmador. After that there is nowhere else to go.

The Costa Brava has been built around family summers for generations. It has campsites and resorts behind the shallow bays of Roses, Pals and L'Estartit, water parks near Lloret and Roses, glass-bottom boats to the Medes Islands and cliff-top gardens in Blanes for children to explore.

Formentera's calm, shallow water at Ses Illetes and flat cycle routes work well for children who are happy on the beach. But there is nothing built for children, little shade, and the flight to Ibiza plus a ferry adds a tiring extra leg.

Both work best with your own wheels, but the wheels are different. The Costa Brava needs a car: towns are up to an hour apart, buses only link the bigger resorts, and the roads down to the coves near Begur and Cadaqués clog in August.

Formentera is about 20km end to end and flat, so a bicycle, e-bike or scooter covers almost everything on quiet roads. The catch is getting there, since every arrival comes by ferry from Ibiza.

Neither place is for serious shopping, but the Costa Brava has a little more. There are pottery workshops lining the main street of La Bisbal d'Empordà, weekly markets with local cheese and olive oil, and independent shops in Girona.

Formentera has linen and beachwear boutiques in Sant Francesc and the artisans' market at El Pilar de La Mola, which sells handmade leather, silver and ceramics. For anything more you go to Barcelona from one and to Ibiza from the other.

The Costa Brava is by far the easier place to keep costs down. It is upmarket in Begur and Cadaqués, but Lloret and the big campsites around Roses and L'Estartit are much cheaper, and village set lunches are good value. A hire car and parking do add to the bill.

Formentera is expensive across the board in summer. Rooms are few, beach restaurants charge resort prices, and the ferry and bike or scooter hire come on top. Coming in May, June or late September is the main way to soften the cost.

Only the Costa Brava has a real summer programme. There is opera and ballet in the castle grounds at Peralada, big-name concerts in the Cap Roig garden, and havaneres sea songs sung in harbours, most famously on one July night at Calella de Palafrugell. Girona's auditorium carries on outside summer.

Formentera has musicians at the La Mola market and sunset sets at beach bars, and no venue of any kind.

For rest, the two are fairly even, and both rely more on slowing down than on spas. The Costa Brava has one thing the island lacks: the old spa town of Caldes de Malavella, with mineral springs and Roman baths. Its quiet is in the farmhouses and coves of June and September, not in a busy August.

Formentera's calm covers the whole island, which is low-rise with no big resorts, and yoga and massage are easy to find in summer. It has no thermal water, so serious spa-goers will find the offer thin.