Ischia or Sicily?

For an island its size, Ischia has a lot of sand. Maronti is a long curve of dark volcanic sand, San Montano has sheltered shallows, and Citara is the place for a sunset swim. Everything is a short bus ride or water taxi away, and the summer sea is about as warm as Sicily's.

Sicily has the longer and more varied coast: white sand at San Vito Lo Capo, the marl cliffs of the Scala dei Turchi, the reserve beaches at Vendicari, and very clear coves on Favignana and in the Aeolian Islands. The catch is distance. It is better to choose one stretch of coast and stay there than to drive around looking for beaches.

Ischia eats well but within a narrow range. You get rabbit braised in terracotta, grilled fish in the harbours of Sant'Angelo and Forio, and Biancolella whites from the terraces on Epomeo. Many visitors are on half-board in their spa hotel, though, and the island has no street food or market life to speak of.

Sicily is one of Italy's great food regions. Palermo's Ballarò and Capo markets offer street food that Ischia has nothing to match, and pastry is part of every day, from cannoli to granita with brioche. Each area adds its own specialities, from fish couscous around Trapani to Modica chocolate and the wines of Etna.

On Ischia, the sights fit into a couple of days. The main ones are the Aragonese Castle on its causeway, Nestor's Cup from ancient Pithekoussai in the museum at Lacco Ameno, and the old lanes of Ischia Ponte and Sant'Angelo.

Sicily needs a week, and even then you leave things out. It has Doric temples at Agrigento and Segesta, Greek theatres at Syracuse and Taormina, and the Arab-Norman mosaics of Palermo and Monreale. Add the floor mosaics at Piazza Armerina and the baroque towns of the south east, and it is one of the richest places in Europe for a sightseeing trip.

Neither island is a clubbing destination, and on both an evening usually means dinner and the passeggiata. For most visitors to Ischia, that is the whole evening. There are a few wine bars and summer discos around Ischia Porto, and the harbours elsewhere go quiet after sunset drinks.

Sicily has more nights out because it has proper cities. Catania's historic centre fills with students and locals in its bars until late, and Palermo drinks in the street around the Vucciria. In summer, open-air clubs run at Mondello and below Taormina.

Ischia's landscape is one green volcano. You can walk up Monte Epomeo through chestnut woods and vineyards, follow the cliff paths around Sant'Angelo and snorkel in the Regno di Nettuno marine reserve, and a week covers all of it.

Sicily works on a much larger scale. Guided walks across Etna's lava fields and the evening climb to watch Stromboli erupt are things Ischia cannot match. On top of that there are beech forests in the Madonie and Nebrodi, the Zingaro cliff path, the basalt gorges of the Alcantara and diving around the Egadi and Aeolian Islands.

Every day trip from Ischia starts with a ferry. Procida is a short hop, Naples is about an hour away, Pozzuoli is the way into the Phlegraean Fields, and in summer boats run to Capri and Sorrento. For a small island it is a strong list, and it fills the gap left by Ischia's own short list of sights.

Sicily has more outings, and most of them are by road. From Syracuse you can reach the other baroque towns, from Catania the Etna wine villages, and from Palermo Cefalù and Erice, with ferries out to Favignana and the Aeolian Islands. The choice is wider, but most of these trips are easier with a car.

For families, both islands work best as a beach vacation, and neither has much built for children. Ischia's version is gentler and more self-contained, with calm water at San Montano and Maronti and thermal parks whose pools make easy water days. Older children may run out of things to do after a week.

Sicily gives older children more, such as Etna's lava fields, boat trips around the islands and Palermo's puppet theatre. The price is long drives, steep hill towns and fierce heat in midsummer. Families there usually base themselves in a self-catering apartment or an agriturismo with a pool.

Both islands are awkward to get around, in opposite ways. Ischia is reached by ferry from Naples or Pozzuoli. Once you are there, one coastal road and its buses reach every village, but the buses are slow and packed in summer. A car is more bother than help, so most people pick a base, walk and fill the gaps with microtaxis and water taxis.

On Sicily, a hire car is close to essential. Trains are sparse, inland roads are slow and winding, and driving in Palermo and Catania is chaotic. Without a car, Sicily shrinks to two or three city bases, while Ischia barely needs one at all.

Ischia's shopping is one evening walk along Via Roma and Corso Vittoria Colonna between Ischia Porto and Ischia Ponte. You will find linen, leather sandals and painted ceramics there, plus cosmetics made with the island's thermal water.

Sicily has more to take home and more places to find it. There are ceramics from Caltagirone, chocolate from Modica, pistachio from Bronte, coral from Trapani, and puppet makers and street markets in Palermo. For fashion, there are shopping streets in Palermo and Catania and the boutiques of Taormina.

Sicily is the cheaper of the two, although Ischia is no luxury resort. On Ischia, the family-run spa hotels with half-board and their own thermal pools are fair value, but sunbeds, thermal park entry and boat trips add up over a week. Spring and autumn are noticeably cheaper.

On Sicily, street food, pastry and simple trattorie cost little, and B&Bs and agriturismi in the cities and inland stay fairly priced even in summer. Prices rise in Taormina, on the Aeolian Islands and for hire cars in high season.

Ischia has little beyond summer. There are chamber concerts in the Mortella gardens that William Walton created, screenings and concerts at the Aragonese Castle during the film festival, and band music on saint's days. For opera, you cross to Naples.

Sicily has proper stages. Palermo's Teatro Massimo runs a full season of opera and ballet, Catania has the Teatro Bellini, and Greek tragedy is performed in the ancient theatre of Syracuse each spring and early summer. The opera dei pupi, where marionette knights fight on small stages, is the most Sicilian night out of all.

Ischia is built around its thermal waters. Dozens of hot springs feed hotel pools and the terraced thermal parks at Citara, Lacco Ameno and Casamicciola. The wilder bathing goes further than any hotel spa: the hot spring that flows into sea pools at Sorgeto and the ancient steam caves of Cavascura, with mud treatments as a local speciality.

Sicily has thermal water near Sciacca and Segesta, warm sea vents on Vulcano and a crater lake for mud bathing on Pantelleria, but no bathing culture built around them. Rest there comes from slowing down at a country agriturismo or on Salina, not from the waters.