Naxos or Rhodes?

Both islands are built around their beaches, but the sand differs. Naxos has fine, pale sand stretching from Agios Prokopios and Plaka down to Kastraki, with clear water that stays shallow far out. The northerly meltemi can roughen the west coast for days, so Agios Georgios and the sheltered coves become the fallback.

Rhodes faces the problem from the other side. Its east coast between Faliraki and Lindos is sheltered, with bays and rocky inlets such as Anthony Quinn Bay that are better for snorkelling. The sand there is often mixed with shingle, though, and the busiest beaches fill with sunbeds in high summer.

The food is about equal in quality, but it comes from different places. Naxos grows much of what it eats. Graviera and arseniko cheeses, its well-known potatoes and kitron liqueur from Halki fill the tables in the mountain villages of Filoti, Apiranthos and Koronos.

On Rhodes the good food is a matter of escaping the buffets of the hotel belt. Try the meze places in the newer parts of Rhodes Town and the village tavernas serving pitaroudia, matsi pasta and goat. Rhodes has a little more upmarket choice around Lindos, but neither island is a fine-dining destination.

Here Rhodes is in another league. Its walled Old Town is one of the most complete medieval fortified towns in Europe, with the Street of the Knights, the Grand Master's palace, mosques and a synagogue inside the walls. Add the clifftop acropolis at Lindos and ancient Kamiros, and there is enough heritage for several full days.

Naxos has fine pieces rather than a centrepiece. The Portara frames Chora harbour, the Venetian kastro is a maze to wander, and abandoned kouroi lie in the quarries. Its Byzantine chapels in the Tragaea valley reward a slow drive.

Rhodes has a genuine party scene and Naxos does not. Faliraki's strip of bars and clubs runs until dawn in high summer. The Old Town and Mandraki add late bars, and Lindos offers rooftop drinks for an older crowd.

On Naxos, a night out means cocktails along Chora's harbourfront, sunset sessions at the Plaka beach bars and perhaps one of a couple of clubs. Most visitors are content with a long dinner instead, and anyone set on dancing takes the ferry elsewhere.

Naxos has the greener and more rugged interior. You can climb Mount Zas from Filoti, follow old mule paths through olive groves between the marble villages of the Tragaea, and find wild, empty coastline in the north and east. For a walking trip it has more character.

Rhodes is low, pine-covered hill country. Its beauty spots are shaded ones, the Valley of the Butterflies and the wooded stream at Seven Springs, and Mount Attavyros above the wine villages is the only real climb. Both are serious wind-sports islands, with Naxos centred on Mikri Vigla and Rhodes on the sandbar at Prasonisi.

Both islands are fair bases for boat trips, and what decides it is where you want to sail. From Naxos, at the heart of the Cyclades, you can reach Paros, the quiet Small Cyclades, Delos by way of Mykonos and, on a long day, Santorini.

Rhodes looks east instead. It has Symi's pastel harbour, little Halki, and a ferry to Marmaris that lets you set foot in Turkey. Both lists rely on summer sailings and calm seas.

Rhodes is the easier island with children. Large resort hotels on the east coast come with pools and kids' clubs. A water park above Faliraki and the aquarium in Rhodes Town fill the days off the beach. The bays at Tsambika and Kolymbia are calm and shallow.

Naxos has wonderfully gentle sand for toddlers and a relaxed pace, but nothing made for children beyond beach and boat. The open west coast can also be too rough for small swimmers on windy days.

On both islands the main town is easy on foot and a car is the key to the interior. Rhodes has the more useful bus line, with a good service along the east coast to Faliraki and Lindos, and better main roads. Naxos buses cover the west-coast beaches to Plaka and the main mountain villages in summer, but its roads are narrow and winding. The drive to Apollonas takes well over an hour.

Neither is a shopping destination, though Rhodes offers a bit more. Sokratous Street in the Old Town is one long souvenir lane, and the new town has high-street fashion and a few boutiques. On Naxos the best buys are things to eat: graviera, kitron, honey and thyme, plus weaving and marble work from Apiranthos and Halki.

Overall the two islands cost much the same, and the real difference is in the kind of stay that keeps the bill down. On Naxos it is the family-run studios and simple rooms in the villages. Rhodes relies on its large stock of package hotels and all-inclusive resorts along the north and east coasts, which suits travellers who would rather book everything in one go.

The costly side is different too. On Naxos it comes down to timing: in August, beachfront rooms and car hire both go up, so June and September are the better buys. On Rhodes it comes down to place. Lindos is the most expensive spot on the island to sleep and eat, and the boutique hotels inside the Old Town walls are also pricey.

Neither island has a theatre or concert season. Naxos offers the livelier tradition in its village panigyria, the saints' day festivals where violin and lute play late into the night and everyone dances. Rhodes has staged folk dance in an Old Town theatre and summer concerts in the medieval moat and the ancient stadium.

On Naxos, treatments are limited to a handful of resort hotels and small yoga retreats on the southwest coast. Rhodes has proper spas in its big resort hotels along the east coast and around Lindos, well run if lacking local character. Rest on Naxos comes from the pace of life: swim, siesta and a long dinner in the hills around Halki or on the emptier southern beaches.

Rhodes has its own version of this in the south. Villages such as Lahania, Asklipio and Gennadi have quiet church squares and kafeneia, far from the noise of the northern resort strip.