Milos or Zakynthos?

Beaches are the main reason to visit either island, and both are excellent, but they feel quite different. Milos has a volcanic shore. There are the white pumice inlets of Sarakiniko and coloured sand and rock elsewhere, while the long south-coast beaches like Firiplaka and Tsigrado are often bare of sunbeds and sometimes reachable only by boat. The north wind decides each day which coast is calm.

Zakynthos is softer and more developed. The long sandy curve of Laganas Bay, Banana Beach and the shallow water at Tsilivi and Alykes are classic resort beaches, and the sunbeds fill up in high summer. Its quieter sands are the protected turtle-nesting beaches at Gerakas and Dafni. Navagio is something you look at from the clifftop or a boat, not a beach to spend the day on.

The two are broadly level: honest Greek taverna cooking, with the best meals in the villages rather than on the busy waterfronts. Milos has pitarakia cheese pies, ladenia flatbread and the morning's catch grilled in Klima, plus a few more ambitious kitchens with sunset terraces in Plaka.

Zakynthos has garlicky skordostoumbi, ladotyri cheese kept in oil, mantolato nougat and its own Verdea wine, best found in the villages around Keri. Laganas and Tsilivi serve full English breakfasts and international menus that Milos barely has.

Milos has more to see. The early Christian catacombs below Plaka, the field where the Venus de Milo was found and a marble Roman theatre lie close together. Add the Bronze Age site at Phylakopi, the castle ruins above Plaka and the boathouses at Klima, and you have a good two days of sightseeing.

On Zakynthos the 1953 earthquake took most of the Venetian capital. Today's offer is the Byzantine Museum with its Ionian school icons, the Solomos museum, Agios Dionysios and the castle on Bochali hill, which fill about half a day.

Zakynthos has a real night out, though it is all in one place. The Laganas strip runs bars, clubs and foam parties until dawn from June to September, mostly for young British groups. Outside Laganas, the rest of the island is as quiet as Milos.

On Milos an evening means the sunset from Plaka's castle hill or a terrace in Tripiti, a long dinner, then a drink on the harbour at Adamas or Pollonia. A few bars stay open late in high summer, but there is nowhere to dance.

The outdoors are evenly matched, and both are best seen from the water, but the scenery is different. Milos is pure volcano: red and yellow cliffs at Firopotamos and Papafragas, pumice ravines, and the arches and caves of Kleftiko on a sailing or kayak trip. Inland it is dry and marked by old quarries.

Zakynthos has wildlife and greenery as well. Laganas Bay is a marine park where early boats often spot loggerhead turtles. The diving is good off the Keri caves and the north. Its olive-covered hills climbing to Mount Vrachionas are kinder to walkers and cyclists than the bare interior of Milos.

On both islands, day trips depend on the ferries, and neither offers much. From Milos you can sail to other Cyclades: Kimolos is a short hop from Pollonia, and in summer Sifnos is about an hour away. The wind can disrupt the schedule.

From Zakynthos you can reach southern Kefalonia from the northern tip, or cross to the mainland at Kyllini for Chlemoutsi castle and a long but rewarding day at ancient Olympia, a bigger sight than anything near Milos.

Zakynthos is far better set up for children. The north-east coast around Tsilivi, Planos and Alykes has shallow sand, and its resort hotels have pools and kids' clubs. There is an inland water park, and children love the turtle and sea-cave boat trips.

Milos gives families simple beach days: Pollonia has a sheltered beach in the village, and Provatas and Paliochori are gentle. But there is nothing built for children, you need a car to get almost anywhere, shade is scarce and the ferry crossing can be rough.

On both islands you need a car or scooter, since buses only serve the main resorts and villages. On Milos the western half is reached on rough dirt roads that some rental agreements exclude, and getting to the island itself means a long ferry from Piraeus or a small flight from Athens.

Zakynthos has an international airport used by package flights, so arrival is simpler. Its buses link the town with Laganas, Tsilivi and Alykes, and the resort strips are walkable, but the cliffs and villages of the west need your own wheels.

Neither island is a place to shop. On Milos the boutiques in Plaka's lanes sell linen, jewellery and ceramics, and capers and honey are the things to take home. On Zakynthos there is everyday shopping on Alexandrou Roma street in town, village lace around Volimes, and mantolato and Verdea to pack.

Zakynthos is clearly cheaper. Package tourism keeps rooms in the big resorts at moderate prices even in summer, so mostly it is boat trips, car hire and sunbeds that add up.

On Milos the rooms are the problem: in July and August, Pollonia, Plaka and Adamas are costly and book out early, and boat trips to Kleftiko add more. Taverna meals are fair on both islands, and on both June and September cost noticeably less.

Neither island has a stage season, but Zakynthos has more music of its own. Small groups sing kantades and arekia serenades in the town and village tavernas, an old philharmonic band plays at feasts, and at carnival villagers perform omilies street theatre. On Milos live music means dancing to violin and lute at the summer panigyria, the village saints'-day feasts, plus the odd concert at the ancient theatre.

Milos is better for unwinding, thanks partly to its volcano. You can soak in the old baths at Lakkos in Adamas or the springs near Provatas, and at Paliochori the sand is warm underfoot. A few hotels around Pollonia and Plaka have spas.

Zakynthos has resort spas and the cool sulphur springs at Xigia. For real calm you have to choose your base, such as the villages around Keri or the Vasilikos peninsula, well away from Laganas.