Kefalonia or Milos?

Both islands are first-rate for beaches, but the coastlines feel very different. Kefalonia's best known beaches are pebble and fine shingle under green hills and limestone cliffs, such as Myrtos, Petani and Antisamos. The sand is in the south at Skala and Lourdas, and at Xi on Paliki. They are spread across a large island, so you choose a coast and drive.

Milos has a volcanic shore of white pumice at Sarakiniko and coloured sand and rock along the south coast. Several coves can only be reached by boat, and many beaches have no sunbeds at all. The north wind decides each day whether you swim on the north or the south side, which matters less on Kefalonia.

Kefalonia eats a little better and with more variety. It has its own meat pie, aliada with salt cod and mandoles almonds, and there is a working wine country in the Omala valley, where you can taste Robola at the wineries. Argostoli adds a fish market and the widest choice of places to eat.

Milos keeps to Cycladic taverna cooking: pitarakia, ladenia and grilled octopus in the fishing villages, with a few more ambitious terraces in Plaka and Tripiti. There is nothing there to match a day among Kefalonia's vineyards.

Milos has the deeper heritage for its size. Near Plaka you can see the catacombs, the Roman theatre and the field where the Venus de Milo was found. Add the Venetian castle, the Bronze Age site at Phylakopi and the syrmata boathouses of Klima, and you have two full days of sightseeing.

Kefalonia lost most of its old buildings in the 1953 earthquake. Venetian Fiskardo, the fortress at Assos, the tholos tomb at Tzanata and the monastery of Agios Gerasimos make good stops on a drive, but they are scattered rather than a reason to go.

Neither island is for clubbing, and both wind down with dinner and a drink by the water. Kefalonia has more of a town evening: Argostoli's square and the Lithostroto fill up in summer, and Lassi has a strip of beach bars. On Milos the evening is built around the sunset from Plaka or Tripiti, followed by a few late bars in Adamas.

Kefalonia is the wilder and greener island. It has a national park on Mount Ainos at over 1,600m, with fir forest, semi-wild horses and walking trails. Below ground are the Melissani and Drogarati caves, and loggerhead turtles feed in Argostoli harbour.

The nature on Milos lies almost all along the coast: the coloured cliffs of Papafragas and Firopotamos and the rock towers and caves of Kleftiko, best seen from a boat or kayak. Inland it is dry, treeless and marked by old quarries, so walks there are pleasant rather than memorable.

Kefalonia has more and easier options. Ithaca is a short, reliable crossing from Sami, with Vathy, Kioni and the sites linked to Odysseus. In summer, boats also go to Zakynthos and Lefkada, and Fiskardo and Paliki make good outings within the island itself.

From Milos, quiet Kimolos is close and Sifnos is possible on a fast ferry. Everything depends on the timetable and the wind, though, so these trips need more planning.

Kefalonia is the easier choice with children. The sandy, gently shelving beaches at Skala, Lourdas and Xi can be reached by ordinary roads, and the boat ride through Melissani and spotting turtles in the harbour give children something to do besides swim.

Milos has calm sandy beaches too, and Pollonia's village beach is very easy with small children. But many of the island's best spots are down dirt tracks or only reachable by boat, there is little shade, and the long ferry from the mainland can be rough.

You need a car on both islands, but for different reasons. Kefalonia is big and mountainous, so a drive from Argostoli to Fiskardo takes about an hour and a half on winding roads. Milos is compact, with nowhere much more than forty minutes from Adamas, but its western half is reached on rough dirt roads that some rental agreements exclude. Getting to Milos is the harder part, by long ferry or a short flight from Athens.

Neither island is a shopping destination. Kefalonia has Argostoli's Lithostroto and the boutiques of Fiskardo, while Milos has the linen and ceramics shops in Plaka's lanes. The best things to bring home are edible on both: Robola and mandoles from Kefalonia, capers and sweets from Milos.

Kefalonia is clearly cheaper for most stays. The southern resorts and villages offer fairly priced apartments, and only Fiskardo and Assos charge yachting-crowd rates.

On Milos, rooms in Pollonia, Plaka and Adamas are expensive in high summer and fill early, and boat trips to Kleftiko add to the bill. On both islands, June and September are noticeably cheaper while the sea is still warm.

Kefalonia's music is mostly something you listen to: the Venetian-influenced kantades sung in harmony with guitar and mandolin, and Argostoli's philharmonic band at summer open-air concerts in the squares. On Milos the music is for dancing, at the village panigyria, where saints'-day feasts run late into the night to violin and lute. Neither island has a regular theatre or concert season to plan around.

The two islands are about level for unwinding, and neither has more than a few spas in its larger hotels. What differs is the kind of rest. Kefalonia's quiet is green and roomy: a slow lunch in a hill village, an evening on the harbour at Assos, or a few days out on the Paliki peninsula or the north-east coast, away from the main resorts.

Milos offers something Kefalonia does not: you can soak in volcanic hot springs, from the plain old bathhouse at Lakkos to the warm sand at Paliochori. Otherwise its calm is that of a small, bare island where siestas and sunsets set the pace. On both islands, June and September are the most peaceful months.