Costa Brava or Ibiza?

Both are cove coasts, but Ibiza has the edge for swimming. The seagrass keeps its water unusually clear and turquoise, the sea is warmer for longer, and it has a wider choice: sunset sandbars at Cala Comte, the dune beaches of Ses Salines, quiet northern calas, plus Ses Illetes on Formentera.

The Costa Brava's coves at Aiguablava, Sa Tuna and Tamariu are greener water under pine cliffs, very beautiful but fresher early in summer. Its real counterweight is the long, shallow sand of the Bay of Roses and the dunes at Pals, with far more room than Ibiza's crowded best-known coves.

The Costa Brava is much the stronger place to eat. Empordà cooking pairs seafood with meat and game, the fish auctions at Palamós and Roses supply the coast, local wine is poured by default, and Girona's countryside draws people who travel purely to eat.

Ibiza has honest island dishes such as bullit de peix and flaó, best found inland around Santa Gertrudis. Much of its coastal dining, though, is polished beach and marina eating at high cost, and there is little market culture to fall back on.

The Costa Brava has more to see, spread over a wider area: the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres and his house at Portlligat, Girona's cathedral and Jewish quarter, Greek and Roman Empúries by the sea and the walls of Tossa de Mar. You need a car and several days to cover it.

Ibiza's heritage is concentrated in Dalt Vila's Renaissance walls and the Phoenician tombs of Puig des Molins, with fortified white churches around the island. It is a fine set, but most visitors finish it in a day or two.

This is where the two part company most. Ibiza's clubs around Platja d'en Bossa and Sant Rafel run every night of the season with big-name residencies, and the night builds from sunset bars in Sant Antoni through to boat parties and dancing past sunrise.

The Costa Brava's late scene is mostly Lloret de Mar and Platja d'Aro, cheaper and rowdier, aimed at young package crowds. Elsewhere its evenings are long dinners and a drink in a village square, over by midnight in Cadaqués or Calella.

The Costa Brava offers more variety outdoors. The Camí de Ronda between Calella, Llafranc and Tamariu is classic coastal walking, Cap de Creus is wild and wind-carved, the Medes Islands give some of Spain's best diving, and the Garrotxa volcanoes and Pyrenees are within reach.

Ibiza is lower and drier, with its drama at Es Vedrà and the western cliffs. Its strength is the clear water for snorkelling and paddleboarding, while summer heat limits walking to spring and autumn.

From the mainland coast the choice of outings is far wider, though where you stay decides which ones are easy. Barcelona is about an hour and a quarter from the southern end, or under an hour by high-speed train from Girona, and Montserrat's monastery is also best reached from the south. Collioure and Perpignan, over the French border, suit a base in the northern resorts. A base near Girona or Palafrugell keeps the inland outings within comfortable reach: Besalú's Romanesque bridge, the Garrotxa volcanoes around Olot, Vic's arcaded square and the wine villages around Peralada.

Ibiza's main outing is the ferry to Formentera, a fine day of beaches by bike. After that come the white inland villages and hippy markets, and then the list stops, since Mallorca is too far for a day.

Families have spent their summers on the Costa Brava for generations, and it shows. Campsites sit behind the shallow bays of Roses, L'Estartit and Pals, there are water parks near Lloret and Roses and glass-bottom boats to the Medes Islands, and the cliff-top gardens at Blanes give children plenty to do beyond the sand.

Ibiza works for families only around the beach, at calm east coast resorts like Santa Eulària and Es Canar. There is little else made for children, and the party areas need avoiding.

Ibiza is easier without a car. It is small, buses connect the town, airport and main resorts with night buses to the clubs in summer, and water taxis link some beaches, though the remote coves still need wheels.

The Costa Brava is longer and its coastal buses sparse. High-speed trains reach Girona and Figueres but none of the beach towns, so a hire car is close to essential, and summer traffic down to the coves around Begur can be slow.

Neither is a shopping destination, and they are close. Ibiza has the more distinctive look, with white Adlib linen and boho boutiques in the marina and Santa Gertrudis plus the hippy markets of Es Canar.

The Costa Brava's finds are more practical and local: the pottery workshops of La Bisbal d'Empordà, weekly food markets and Girona's independent shops, with Barcelona close for anything serious.

The Costa Brava is far kinder to the budget. It costs roughly what an average Western European summer does, with upmarket Begur and Cadaqués balanced by campsites, cheaper resorts and inland set lunches.

Ibiza's summer is among the dearest in the Mediterranean, from rooms to club entry, sunbeds and taxis. Apartments, country restaurants and the buses soften it, as do June and late September, but it rarely feels cheap.

In July and August, festivals give the mainland coast real evenings out: opera and ballet in the castle grounds at Peralada, big-name concerts in the Cap Roig garden and havaneres sung on Calella's beach. Outside summer, Girona's theatres take over.

Ibiza's music is played by DJs in clubs. Live performance is limited to occasional flamenco, terrace jazz and village folk dances.

Ibiza is the better retreat. Its northern interior is full of farmhouse hotels among olive and almond groves, and the yoga and meditation culture of the hippy years gives it a restful side the mainland coast lacks.

The Costa Brava answers with a genuine bathing tradition at Caldes de Malavella's Roman baths and mineral springs. Otherwise rest there means a stone farmhouse in the Baix Empordà in June or September.