Bari or Syracuse, Sicily?

Syracuse has the better sea on its doorstep. On Ortigia you swim off rocks and wooden platforms below the sea walls. The sandy bays at Arenella and Fontane Bianche lie just south, and Vendicari's undeveloped pale beaches are about forty minutes away, though a car makes all of this much easier.

Bari's own Pane e Pomodoro is a sandy, crowded city beach rather than a reason to come. The best swimming is at Polignano a Mare's pebble cove between the cliffs and in the inlets around Monopoli, which most visitors treat as half-day outings by train.

These are two strong regional kitchens, evenly matched, that differ in what they do best. Bari's is street food and home cooking: orecchiette rolled in the doorways of Bari Vecchia, focaccia barese, panzerotti and sgagliozze, and raw urchins and octopus eaten by the fishermen's pier.

Syracuse cooks from the Ortigia market, with swordfish, pasta with sardines or sea urchin and spaghetti alla siracusana. Breakfast is almond granita with a brioche, and the pastry shops make cannoli. Bari pours Primitivo and Negroamaro, while Syracuse has Nero d'Avola and the sweet Moscato.

Syracuse has much more history to see. There are the Greek temple columns built into Ortigia's cathedral, the rock-cut theatre and the Ear of Dionysius in the Neapolis park, the Paolo Orsi museum and Caravaggio's Burial of Saint Lucy. Together they fill two or three full days.

Bari's sights are grouped in Bari Vecchia around the Basilica di San Nicola, with the cathedral, the Norman-Swabian castle and the palazzi of the Murat quarter close by. It is an attractive old town rather than a great collection, and a day or two covers it.

Bari gives the better night out. Students and young locals fill Piazza Mercantile and Piazza Ferrarese late into summer evenings, the bars in the Umbertino streets and along the seafront stay open past midnight, and there are at least a handful of clubs.

In Syracuse an evening means an aperitivo on Ortigia's sea walls and then a few small bars. It is pleasant but low-key, and anyone who wants to go clubbing heads to Catania. In both cities the summer dancing moves to beach clubs on the coast, and winter nights are quiet.

Syracuse has far more to do outdoors. The Hyblaean gorges at Cavagrande and Pantalica offer real walks to pools and rock-cut tombs, and flamingos stop at Vendicari's lagoons on migration. The Plemmirio reserve is good for snorkelling and diving, and Etna is within a day out.

The country around Bari is gentler. It is a flat plain of olive groves, with quiet walking and cycling on the open Alta Murgia plateau, the Grotte di Castellana and easy rides through the Valle d'Itria, and there are no mountains nearby.

Both are superb bases, so the choice comes down to which region you want to see. From Bari you can reach Matera's cave dwellings, the trulli of Alberobello, the white towns of the Valle d'Itria, Castel del Monte and Lecce, much of it by regional train.

From Syracuse the draw is the Sicilian baroque of Noto, Modica, Ragusa Ibla and Scicli, along with Catania, Taormina and the mosaics of the Villa Romana del Casale. Here a car matters more, because buses and trains are thin on the ground.

Neither city is built around children, and both rely on the same simple pleasures: gelato, traffic-free old lanes and an afternoon at the beach. In Syracuse, gently shelving sandy bays, papyrus boat trips, puppet shows and the echoing Ear of Dionysius are all close at hand. In Bari the outings mean short trips out of town, to the Grotte di Castellana, the Fasano safari park and the trulli of Alberobello.

Bari is easier to get around. The old town, the Murat shopping grid and the seafront sit side by side on flat ground, and a rail link runs to the airport. The city is also the hub of several regional railways, though a car still helps for the Valle d'Itria.

You can cross Ortigia on foot in a quarter of an hour, but beyond it public transport soon runs thin. The beaches, gorges and baroque towns are realistically a drive away, while a car on Ortigia itself is more trouble than it is worth.

Neither city is a place to shop seriously, but Bari has a little more range, with Italian chains and a few upmarket boutiques along the pedestrian Via Sparano. Syracuse is smaller in scale and more about craft, with hand-painted ceramics, coral and silver jewellery, linen and papyrus paintings in Ortigia's lanes. In both, the best things to take home are edible: taralli and olive oil from Bari, and capers, almonds and pistachio products from Syracuse.

Both are good value by Italian standards, and both are cheapest at the table, where street food, trattoria lunches and local wine cost little. The difference is in rooms. Bari's get tight only in July and August, while Ortigia's guesthouses are in demand all summer and expensive in August, so in Syracuse it pays to stay on the mainland or come outside the peak months. In both, car hire for day trips adds up.

Bari has more on through the year. The Teatro Petruzzelli, one of Italy's largest opera houses, runs seasons of opera, ballet and concerts, and a summer jazz festival uses the piazzas and the castle.

Syracuse has one unique event: classical Greek drama staged each late spring and early summer in the ancient theatre, a tradition since 1914. Outside that season there is little more than Ortigia's puppet theatre and a few summer concerts.

Neither city is a place to come for wellness. Neither has thermal baths, and in both, rest comes from the slow southern pace of long lunches and evening walks by the sea. In Bari that pace is most of what there is. Spa treatments are largely limited to hotels, and anyone who wants real pampering has to head out to the countryside.

Syracuse is the more restful choice. Ortigia has a few day spas of its own, and outside August the island is quiet enough for a few unhurried days, with the sea walls and harbour sunsets a short walk from any room. In high summer the heat and crowds take much of that calm away.