Peloponnese or Zakynthos?

Both coasts are excellent, so the choice comes down to kind and scale. The Peloponnese spreads its beaches across a large region: the horseshoe of Voidokilia and the long sands of Messinia, the tropical-looking water of Elafonisos, pebble coves under the Mani villages and the easy, sheltered bays near Nafplio. Choosing one means committing to that corner of the region, and the reward is beaches that empty out quickly beyond July and August.

Zakynthos packs its variety into a small island. Laganas Bay gives long sand and protected turtle beaches, the north-east has shallow water, and the west has rocky swimming at inlets such as Porto Limnionas. Its most famous sights, Navagio and the Blue Caves, are boat outings rather than beaches. Resort sands are busier in summer than most of the mainland coast.

The Peloponnese is the better place to eat and drink. It is a working farm region, with olives and oil from the Kalamata groves, the Mani's cured pork, Nemea's Agiorgitiko reds and Moschofilero from the Arcadian plateau, and you can drink these wines at the source. Kalamata and Nafplio add a real choice of places to eat and a covered market.

Zakynthos has a few distinctive dishes of its own, such as skordostoumbi, ladotyri cheese and Verdea wine. The good cooking, though, is found in the inland villages, while the main resorts lean towards international menus.

Here the gap is widest. The Peloponnese holds the Bronze Age citadels of Mycenae and Tiryns, the theatre at Epidaurus, Olympia, Messene and Bassae, followed by a medieval layer at Mystras, Monemvasia and the Venetian castles of Methoni and Koroni. A culture trip could easily fill two weeks there, with Nafplio as a handsome base.

Zakynthos lost most of its old capital in the 1953 earthquake. What remains, the Byzantine Museum with its Ionian icons, the Solomos museum and the castle on Bochali hill, makes a pleasant morning. Its best link to antiquity is the long day trip by ferry to Olympia, on the mainland.

Zakynthos has more going out, but almost all of it is in one place. The Laganas strip runs through the summer as a loud, cheap party zone of clubs and late bars, mostly for young British groups. Elsewhere on the island evenings are quiet, and there is little in between for anyone wanting good cocktail bars.

The Peloponnese favours long dinners and a drink by the harbour in Nafplio or Kalamata. Its one real scene of bars and clubs is in the university city of Patras, which is far from the main beach areas.

The Peloponnese offers the bigger and wilder outdoors. Taygetos climbs to about 2,400m, the Lousios gorge links cliff monasteries with stone villages, the Menalon Trail crosses Arcadia, and the bare Mani runs down to Cape Tainaron. Add birdwatching at Gialova and winter skiing on Chelmos, and the mainland has a great deal to offer hikers.

Zakynthos keeps its best scenery at the edge. You see its white limestone cliffs from Keri or above Navagio, or from a kayak or boat, and the Laganas Bay marine park brings loggerhead turtles and good snorkelling and diving. The olive-covered interior suits gentle walks rather than serious hiking.

The Peloponnese gives far more choice. From Nafplio you can take a ferry to car-free Hydra or Spetses, drive to the Nemea wineries or go on to Athens. From the south, Monemvasia, Elafonisos and the Mani villages each make a full day out. Almost every outing needs a car.

On Zakynthos, every trip off the island depends on a ferry. Southern Kefalonia is a long summer day out, and the crossing to Kyllini leads to the castle of Chlemoutsi and, with an early start, Olympia. Most visitors settle for a round-the-island tour.

Zakynthos works a little better with children, mainly because everything is close. The north-east resorts of Tsilivi, Planos and Alykes have calm, shallow water and hotel kids' clubs. Turtle and sea-cave boat trips and the inland water park fill the days away from the beach.

The Peloponnese has fine family beaches at Tolo, in Messinia and on Elafonisos. Ancient sites like Mycenae and Olympia can thrill older children, but they have little shade and the region involves long hours in the car.

Both are places where you need your own wheels, and neither does well by bus. The difference is distance. The Peloponnese has fast motorways between its main towns, but mountain and Mani roads are slow, and moving between Nafplio, Olympia and the far south amounts to separate legs of a trip.

Zakynthos is only about 40km long, so a scooter or small car covers it easily, even though the western roads twist. Many of its beaches and caves are reached by boat rather than by road.

Neither is a shopping destination, but the Peloponnese gives a little more to browse. Nafplio's old lanes mix jewellery, worry beads and ceramics with the souvenirs. Wine can be bought straight from Nemea wineries, and the weekly markets in Kalamata and Tripoli are worth a look. Zakynthos comes down to Alexandrou Roma street in town, mantolato nougat, thyme honey and lace from around Volimes.

The Peloponnese is slightly cheaper, especially if you stay in family-run rooms in the Mani or Arcadian villages and eat in local tavernas. The extra costs are a hire car, fuel and entry fees at the big sites. Zakynthos keeps resort rooms at moderate prices thanks to package tourism, but boat trips, sunbeds and car hire add up over a week. On both, June and September offer the best value.

The Peloponnese has one experience of real stature: ancient drama on summer weekend nights in the theatre of Epidaurus, where the acoustics need no amplification. Kalamata's July dance festival adds to it. Zakynthos has nothing comparable to book. What it offers is local tradition, the kantades serenades sung in town and village tavernas and the omilies folk theatre at carnival, which you will find by luck rather than by ticket.

For rest with some bathing culture, the Peloponnese has more. It has the old spa towns of Loutraki and Methana, the warm sulphur-fed lake at Kaiafas and full spas at the Messinian resorts, with stone villages and empty spring coves to slow the pace further.

Zakynthos relies mostly on the quiet of the Keri hills, Vasilikos and the northern harbours. Its one natural curiosity is the cool sulphur springs entering the sea at Xigia, and calm there means keeping well away from Laganas.