Catania or Palermo?

The two are fairly evenly matched, but the swimming differs in character. Catania's long sandy beach, La Playa, starts just south of the centre and is easy to reach, but it is plain and lined with beach clubs. The more memorable swimming is off the black lava platforms of the Riviera dei Ciclopi, where you climb down ladders into clear water beside the sea stacks.

Palermo has no beach in town. Its prize is Mondello, a pale crescent of shallow turquoise water under Monte Pellegrino, about half an hour away by bus. It is a prettier beach than La Playa, though just as crowded on summer weekends, and Capo Gallo offers rocky, deeper swimming nearby.

Both are great street-food cities, and the difference lies in what you eat. Catania's specialities are cone-shaped arancini, fried crispelle, horse meat grilled over smoke on Via Plebiscito and pasta alla Norma. They come with pistachios from Bronte and some of Italy's most interesting wines from Etna's volcanic vineyards.

Palermo's cooking carries more of its Arab past, with raisins, pine nuts and saffron in pasta con le sarde and sweet-and-sour caponata. Its three old markets are full of fryers making panelle and crocchè, and its pastry is outstanding, from cannoli filled to order to cassata. Catania's food life centres on one dramatic fish market, La Pescheria, while Palermo's is spread across Ballarò, the Capo and the Vucciria.

Catania offers one coherent picture rather than many layers. It is a late-baroque city of dark lava stone and pale limestone, rebuilt after 1693, with the cathedral and elephant fountain, the church-lined Via dei Crociferi and the vast San Nicolò l'Arena monastery, plus Roman remains and Castello Ursino. Its museums are modest and a few days cover it, unless you arrive for the Feast of Sant'Agata in February.

Palermo is far richer. Its twelfth-century Arab-Norman monuments are unlike anything else in Europe: the gold mosaics of the Palatine Chapel under an Islamic wooden ceiling, the red domes of San Giovanni degli Eremiti and the mosaic interior of La Martorana. On top of these come Serpotta's stucco oratories and two strong museums, the Salinas, with the Selinunte metopes, and Palazzo Abatellis.

Evenings out are much alike, mostly drinks outdoors until well past midnight with little serious club life, but the crowd and setting differ. Catania's large university makes it younger and louder, with the lanes around Piazza Bellini and the Teatro Massimo packed with students.

Palermo's signature is the Vucciria market after dark, with cheap beer, smoking grills and music spilling from small bars, and wine bars in the Kalsa. In summer both cities head for the coast to dance, Catania to the beach clubs at La Playa and Palermo to Mondello.

Catania has the bigger landscape by some distance. Etna rises to about 3,300m, often smoking, and you can be on its slopes within an hour. Cable cars and off-road vehicles climb towards the summit craters, trails cross fresh lava, and there is even winter skiing with a sea view. The Alcantara Gorge and the lava coast for diving and kayaking add variety.

Palermo's outdoors is gentler and closer to the door. You can walk straight up Monte Pellegrino from the city or snorkel at Capo Gallo. The coastal trail at Zingaro and the beech woods of the Madonie are fine, but they are further away and need a car.

Both are excellent bases, and the choice depends on which half of Sicily you want to see. From Catania you reach the Greek and baroque east: Ortigia and the theatre at Siracusa, Taormina above the sea, the baroque showpieces of Noto, Modica and Ragusa Ibla, and the Roman mosaics at Piazza Armerina.

Palermo opens up the west. Monreale's mosaics are only half an hour away, Cefalù is an easy train ride, and the lonely temple at Segesta, hilltop Erice and the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento are all within reach. Palermo's nearest highlights work well by train, while Catania's baroque circuit is much easier with a car.

Catania comes out a little ahead, mostly thanks to the volcano. Walking on old Etna craters is a real adventure for older children, Etnaland's water park on the lower slopes rescues a hot day, and La Playa's gently shelving sand is right by the city.

Palermo's best offer for young children is Mondello's shallow bay, plus short puppet shows of knights and Saracens. Otherwise there is little aimed at children, and narrow lanes without pavements are hard going with a pushchair. Both cities are fierce in summer, so a base by the sea often works better.

In both cities the old centre is the part you can walk, and beyond it slow buses and heavy traffic take over. Catania's sights cluster along Via Etnea and Piazza del Duomo. It has a single metro line, regional buses to Siracusa, Taormina and the Etna refuge, and the slow Circumetnea railway around the volcano.

Palermo's centre is mostly flat, laid out along Via Maqueda and Corso Vittorio Emanuele, though scooters and missing pavements make the side lanes tiring. Its practical advantage is regional trains to Cefalù and Bagheria. Its trams mostly serve the suburbs. In both, a hire car is the easiest way to reach the inland sites.

Neither city is a shopping destination, but the browsing differs. Catania's Via Etnea is a long run of Italian chains, and the daily La Fiera market around Piazza Carlo Alberto is the livelier experience. The souvenirs to look for are Bronte pistachio creams, Etna wines, Caltagirone ceramics and lava-stone pieces.

Palermo has a little more polish, with fashion and a few luxury labels along Via Libertà. Its crafts are more distinctive, including handmade marionettes, moor's-head vases and coral and filigree jewellery, and there is a flea market near the cathedral for antiques.

The two cost much the same, and both are cheap for Western Europe. Street food makes a full meal for little money, trattorias are fairly priced, and rooms in the old centres are reasonable outside July and August.

The extra costs differ. In Catania it is the guided trip to Etna's summit craters and a hire car for the baroque towns. In Palermo it is seaside rooms around Mondello in high summer and the fish restaurants, which charge mainland prices.

Palermo has the fuller programme. The huge Teatro Massimo runs a season of opera, ballet and concerts, the nearby Politeama is home to the Sicilian symphony orchestra, and jazz has a long local following.

Catania's draw is Bellini himself. It is his birthplace, with a museum of his manuscripts and the grand Teatro Massimo Bellini, but there is less going on across a week of evenings. Both keep the Opera dei Pupi alive in small marionette theatres, and both move concerts outdoors in summer, Catania's sometimes into the region's ancient theatres.

Neither city is restful, since both are noisy and full of traffic with no bathing tradition of their own, so rest has to be found at the edges. From Catania that means hotel spas along the coast or a quieter base in the cooler villages on Etna's slopes.

Palermo has a real thermal town at Termini Imerese, about forty minutes away by train. In the city you can find quiet in its cloisters, the palm-filled Orto Botanico and the evening walk along the Foro Italico.