Halkidiki or Ios?

These are two strong beach destinations, and the difference is mostly scale and setting. Halkidiki has hundreds of kilometres of shore across its peninsulas, sand and fine pebble with pine forest coming down to the water. It runs from organised beaches with sunbeds on Kassandra to granite coves in Sithonia such as Kavourotrypes, though summer weekends bring crowds from Thessaloniki.

Ios has fewer beaches, but they are golden sand: Mylopotas is the social one, and Manganari's sheltered southern coves have very clear shallow water. The summer meltemi can make the north-facing bays rough, which matters less on Halkidiki's calmer shores.

Halkidiki eats better. Fishing villages such as Nikiti, Toroni and Ouranoupoli serve grilled fish and octopus to Greek families, there are local olives, pine honey and wine from the slopes above Neos Marmaras, and Thessaloniki's kitchens are a day trip away.

On Ios there is skotyri cheese, harbour tavernas in Yialos and a few careful cooks in Chora. In high summer much of the island feeds a crowd heading out for the night, so gyros and pizza fill more menus than they do in Halkidiki's village tavernas.

Neither is a culture trip, but Halkidiki gives you more to fill a few days. The boat along the Athos shore from Ouranoupoli shows monasteries on the cliffs, and Olynthos, ancient Stagira and the Petralona cave make good half-days.

On Ios the whitewashed lanes of Chora and its windmills are the sight in themselves. Add the Early Cycladic walls at Skarkos, the legendary tomb of Homer and Paleokastro, and you have an afternoon or two, not a programme.

Ios is the place for nightlife, and for much of its summer crowd the nights are the reason to come. Dozens of bars and a few clubs fill Chora's village lanes and square, people move between them until dawn, and Mylopotas adds afternoon beach parties. It is young, loud and cheap, not polished.

Halkidiki has a real scene too, but it is all on Kassandra: open-air clubs at Kallithea and bar strips in Pefkohori and Hanioti, livened up by Thessaloniki's weekenders. Sithonia is for quiet waterfront evenings. In both places the clubs close in winter.

Halkidiki has the greener and more varied outdoors, where pine forest meets clear water. Sithonia is the best of it, with granite headlands, islets and the slopes of Mount Itamos, plus kayaking along the coves and boat trips to the Diaporos lagoon.

Ios is bare and rocky, with no forest. Mule tracks lead to remote chapels and Profitis Ilias, there are boat trips to sea caves, and the wind makes for windsurfing at Mylopotas. In midsummer there is little shade, so walking is limited to early mornings and evenings.

Both have good day trips, but one goes by road and the other by boat. From Halkidiki you drive: Thessaloniki is about an hour away, Vergina's royal tombs and Pella make a long day, and Kavala and Amphipolis lie to the northeast.

From Ios you take the ferry, to Santorini's caldera villages and Akrotiri, Naxos old town, or the cliff-top villages of Folegandros and Sikinos. Those trips depend on the timetable, and outside summer a same-day return is not always possible.

Halkidiki is far better for children. Beaches on Kassandra and around Psakoudia stay shallow a long way out, the sea is usually calm, and large resorts are designed around families. There are no theme parks, but the beach and a boat trip fill the days.

On Ios the coves at Manganari are fine for small children. Beyond that, though, Chora's steep steps defeat a pushchair and party noise carries late into the night in July and August, so families should come in June or September and stay in the south.

Ios is the easier place to get around once you have arrived, even though arriving means a ferry, since it has no airport. Yialos, Chora and Mylopotas are linked by a frequent summer bus and an old stepped path. You only need a scooter or car for the remote eastern and northern bays.

Halkidiki is easy to reach from Thessaloniki airport, but after that you need a car. The peninsulas are long, and getting from one to the next means driving back to its base, so crossing from Kassandra to Athos takes most of a morning.

Shopping is weak in both and should not decide the trip. Halkidiki's best buys are its produce, olive oil, honey and wine, plus the icons and incense sold in Ouranoupoli. Ios has late-opening shops in Chora and a few boutiques with Greek-made clothes and ceramics. For real shopping, go to Thessaloniki from Halkidiki or to Athens from Ios.

Costs are much the same, but you save in different ways. Halkidiki's trade with Greek and Balkan families keeps plenty of simple apartments and fairly priced village tavernas, and the big Kassandra hotels are where the bill rises.

Ios still has the hostels, campsites and drinks offers of its backpacker past, but rooms with any comfort are expensive in high summer and ferry fares add up. In both places June and September give the same sea for less.

Halkidiki has at least a summer season. The Kassandra Festival stages concerts and theatre in the open-air amphitheatre at Siviri, the Sani Festival brings jazz and classical evenings, and Thessaloniki's stages are within reach.

Ios has the occasional event at the Odysseas Elytis theatre by the windmills and music at saints' day festivals. Otherwise the island's live music is what plays in its bars.

Halkidiki is the better place to rest. It has warm mineral pools above the sea at Agia Paraskevi, proper spas in the large resorts, and a slow pace in Sithonia and around Ouranoupoli, where long afternoons in the pine shade are the norm.

Ios runs on late nights in high summer. Some boutique hotels near Mylopotas offer massage and yoga, and the island only becomes calm in June or September or tucked away at Manganari.