Ischia or Puglia?

Puglia has the edge, mostly because of its sheer length and variety. The Ionian Salento has long pale sand and shallow turquoise water, the Adriatic side adds limestone platforms near Polignano and sea stacks at Torre dell'Orso, and the Gargano brings white cliffs and caves.

Ischia's beaches are good by the standards of the Bay of Naples. Maronti offers a long curve of dark volcanic sand with hot springs at one end, and San Montano is a calm, shallow bay. Beyond those it is rock and coves reached by water taxi, and it has nothing like Puglia's range.

Ischia's cooking has real character, with rabbit braised in terracotta, harbour seafood in Sant'Angelo and Forio, and Biancolella wines from Epomeo's terraces. But many visitors eat on half-board in spa hotels, and good meals take some hunting in the hill villages.

Puglia is a far stronger food destination. Fresh burrata, orecchiette, focaccia barese, Lecce's pasticciotto, grill houses where you pick the meat at the counter, and cheap, robust Primitivo and Negroamaro make every day of eating a pleasure. It also has the street food and markets Ischia lacks.

Ischia has one great sight, the Aragonese Castle on its rock off Ischia Ponte, plus the Pithekoussai finds and Nestor's Cup at Villa Arbusta. A couple of days covers it, and anyone who wants more crosses to Naples.

Puglia offers whole towns rather than single monuments. Lecce's carved baroque, the trulli districts of Alberobello, Frederick II's octagonal Castel del Monte and the seafront cathedral at Trani fill a week, though seeing them means driving from town to town.

Ischia's evenings are dinner, a passeggiata and a drink by the harbour, with a little late life around Ischia Porto in high summer. Most of the island's spa-going visitors keep early hours.

Puglia has much more going on, at least in July and August. Gallipoli turns into a party town of beach clubs, and Lecce's squares stay full late. For the rest of the year, Bari has the most nightlife, in the bars of its old town and the Umbertino district.

These two are broadly level, but the landscapes are very different. Ischia is a steep, green volcano, with chestnut woods and vineyards climbing Monte Epomeo, steam vents on the south coast and the Regno di Nettuno marine reserve for snorkelling. It is compact, and a week covers it.

Puglia is mostly gentle olive country for cycling, with its wilder side in the Gargano's Foresta Umbra, sea caves and the Tremiti islands. Its greater spread gives it a slight advantage for a longer stay.

Every outing from Ischia means a ferry, but the list across the water is impressive: Procida's pastel harbour, Naples and its archaeological museum, the Phlegraean Fields and, in summer, Capri. Pompeii is possible but makes a long day.

Puglia has more outings within an easy drive. Ostuni, Locorotondo and Martina Franca sit close together in the Valle d'Itria, the harbour towns of Trani and Monopoli line the coast, and the cave town of Matera, about an hour from Bari, is a high point that Ischia has no equal to.

Ischia works for a quiet beach-and-pool week with small children. San Montano's calm bay and the warm pools of the thermal parks are easy days out, but the stepped villages and crowded buses make it harder work, and older children may get bored.

Puglia gives families more to do. The shallow Ionian sands are ideal for toddlers, children love the trulli, and Fasano's safari park and fun park fill a day. Villas with pools make easy bases, as long as you hire a car.

Neither is effortless, and the problems are opposite. On Ischia a car is more nuisance than help, so you rely on one looping road with slow, packed summer buses, microtaxis and water taxis. You also need a ferry just to arrive.

Puglia is easier for anyone happy to drive, with good, quiet roads, though the region is long enough that seeing both ends means two bases. Without a car, the main rail line through Bari, Polignano and Lecce still makes a workable trip.

Ischia's shopping amounts to one evening stroll between Ischia Porto and Ischia Ponte, selling linen, sandals and thermal cosmetics.

Puglia offers more to take home: the ceramic quarter at Grottaglie, Lecce's papier-mache studios, embroidered textiles from the Valle d'Itria, and Bari's Via Sparano for mainstream fashion. Neither is a trip for serious shoppers.

Puglia is a little easier on the budget, mainly because eating and drinking cost so little, although car hire and high-season masserie add up. Staying inland and visiting in June or September keeps it cheaper.

Ischia is priced like an ordinary Italian resort. Half-board spa hotels make costs predictable, but sunbeds, thermal park entry and boat trips mount up over a week, and ferries are part of every outing.

Ischia has very little: summer chamber concerts in William Walton's Mortella gardens, film screenings at the castle and village saints' days. For opera you have to cross to Naples.

Puglia is in another league, with the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, the opera festival of rare works at Martina Franca, and pizzica folk dancing that peaks at the huge Notte della Taranta at Melpignano each August.

This is where Ischia leaves Puglia far behind. Dozens of hot springs feed hotel pools, terraced thermal parks step down to the sea at Citara and Lacco Ameno, and Sorgeto's hot rock pools and the Cavascura steam caves offer bathing you could plan a whole trip around.

Puglia relaxes you differently, through quiet masserie, long lunches and empty olive-grove afternoons. Its few spas, at Santa Cesarea Terme and Torre Canne, are worth a visit but are no reason to choose it.