Hvar or Ischia?

Both islands are made for summer swimming, with clear water at about 25°C in August, so the real difference is what lies underfoot. Hvar is pebble and rock almost everywhere, with flat stone ledges, pine-backed bays on the Pakleni Islands and remote south-coast coves reached by steep tracks or by boat.

Ischia has the sand that Hvar lacks: the long dark volcanic curve of Maronti, the sunset beach at Citara and the sheltered shallows of San Montano. Both get crowded in high summer, with yachts anchored in Hvar's bays and rows of sunbeds on Ischia's beaches.

Neither island is a major food destination, and on both the best meals are up in the hills rather than on the harbours. Hvar's strength is its wine, Plavac Mali from the slopes around Ivan Dolac and white Bogdanjuša from behind Stari Grad. Inland konobas serve peka-cooked lamb and gregada.

Ischia's signature dish is rabbit braised in terracotta. Its fishing harbours serve clams and grilled fish, and Biancolella whites come from the terraces on Epomeo. Its weakness is that so many visitors take half-board in the spa hotels, which leaves the island short of street food and markets.

The two are evenly matched in modest heritage, enough for two or three days on either, but the history is different. Hvar's is Venetian and Greek: the white-stone square and cathedral of Hvar Town, the 1612 theatre above the Arsenal, and the UNESCO-listed Stari Grad Plain, where the fields still follow the boundaries the Greeks laid out.

Ischia's main sight is the Aragonese Castle on its rock at the end of a causeway. The Pithekoussai finds at Lacco Ameno add depth, including Nestor's Cup with one of the earliest known Greek inscriptions. Anyone wanting more history than that will end up crossing to the mainland.

Hvar Town is a real party destination in July and August. Evenings start with sundowners on the waterfront, move to the harbour cocktail bars and carry on at the beach clubs on the Pakleni Islands, reached by taxi boat. It is loud, crowded and expensive, and Jelsa and Stari Grad are the quiet alternatives.

Ischia's evenings are a long dinner and a passeggiata. Ischia Porto has wine bars, cocktail terraces and a couple of summer discos, but the people who come for the thermal waters set the tone, and there is no club scene to speak of.

Each island has one good summit walk and plenty of sea, and both are best in spring and autumn. Hvar is a dry limestone ridge of terraces, maquis and lavender fields. The walk up Sveti Nikola looks out towards Korčula and Vis, and the Pakleni Islands are good for kayaking and sailing.

Ischia is volcanic and greener. Chestnut woods and vineyards cover the slopes of Monte Epomeo, the ground still steams on the south coast, and a marine protected area offers diving and snorkelling. Both islands are small, and a week covers either one's landscapes.

Ischia has the stronger list of day trips within easy reach. Procida is a short hop away and Naples about an hour, and the ferries to Pozzuoli reach the Phlegraean Fields. In summer there are boats to Capri and Sorrento, and Pompeii or Herculaneum make a long day.

Hvar's catamarans reach Split and Diocletian's Palace, Korčula and Vis, and its own towns make easy outings from one another. Every trip from either island depends on the boat timetables, and on Hvar the choice thins out outside summer.

Ischia has the edge for children, mainly because of its sand and its thermal parks. The gardens and pools at different temperatures make easy water days, San Montano and Maronti have gentle water, and southern Italian restaurants are relaxed about children.

Hvar suits families who are happy with simple seaside days in Jelsa, Stari Grad or Vrboska. The bays there are shallow and some beaches have fine gravel, though water shoes are still a good idea. Neither island has attractions built for children, and families are best to avoid Hvar Town, with its steps and its party nights.

Both islands are reached by boat and have slow, patchy buses, but they need opposite approaches. On Hvar, a car or scooter opens up the south coast, the hill villages and the eastern end, despite the narrow roads and the single-lane tunnel. Car ferries from Split land at Stari Grad.

On Ischia, a car is more trouble than it is worth, and access for visitors' cars is limited in high season. Most people choose a base and get about by the bus that loops the island, by microtaxi and by water taxi.

Hvar's shopping is what the island makes: lavender oil and sachets from the harbour stalls, olive oil, honey and wine bought straight from family cellars, and lace made by the Benedictine nuns in Hvar Town. Apart from a few resort boutiques selling linen and swimwear to the yacht crowd, there is little else to look for.

Ischia gives a shopper a bit more to browse, mostly along one evening walk, Via Roma and Corso Vittoria Colonna between Ischia Porto and Ischia Ponte, with linen, leather sandals and jewellery. Hand-painted ceramics and cosmetics made with the island's thermal waters are its own souvenirs, though on either island shopping fills an evening rather than a trip.

Ischia is the cheaper island. It is priced as an ordinary Italian resort, and its many family-run spa hotels sell half-board stays that include their own thermal pools. Sunbeds, thermal park entry and boat trips still add up over a week.

In high summer, Hvar Town is priced for the yacht crowd. Staying in Jelsa, Stari Grad or Vrboska and eating at village konobas brings costs down. On both islands, the shoulder months cost noticeably less than July and August.

Hvar's 1612 theatre above the Arsenal is one of the oldest public theatres in Europe, but it has no regular season and is a building to visit rather than a place to see a show. In summer there are classical and chamber concerts in Hvar Town's churches, the Franciscan cloister and the squares, and klapa harmony singing at village feasts.

On Ischia the summer concerts are chamber music in the Mortella gardens at Forio, created by the composer William Walton and his wife. There are also concerts and film screenings at the Aragonese Castle during the island's summer film festival. Both islands have almost nothing on outside the warm months, but from Ischia the opera house and concert halls of Naples are a ferry ride away.

This is where the two islands differ most. Ischia is built on hot springs. Its hotels pipe the water into their own pools, and there are terraced thermal parks at Citara, Lacco Ameno and Casamicciola. At Sorgeto a hot spring flows into rock pools in the sea, warm enough to use even on winter evenings, and there are also the Cavascura steam caves and mud treatments.

Hvar has no bathing tradition, only the spas of the larger hotels and some seasonal yoga and massage. Its calm comes instead from the slow days in Vrboska, Stari Grad and the hill villages, at its best in June or September.