Genoa or Taormina?

Both offer pebble swimming in clear water rather than long sandy strands, but Taormina makes the better beach base. The coves at Mazzarò and Isola Bella, reached by cable car, are good for snorkelling, the sea is slightly warmer and stays swimmable into October, and Giardini Naxos and Letojanni add longer stretches of sand.

In Genoa, swimming is something the city offers alongside everything else: the little cove at Boccadasse, the platforms below Nervi's promenade and the bathing establishments of Corso Italia, with Camogli and Sestri Levante a train ride away. It works for an afternoon dip between sights, less well for whole days on the sand.

Genoa is the stronger place to eat, because it is a city with a deep repertoire of its own: trofie with pesto, pansoti in walnut sauce, focaccia dunked at breakfast and farinata or panissa from the old town friggitorie, with the Mercato Orientale showing where it all comes from.

Taormina has Sicily's bolder flavours, from granita and brioche to pasta alla Norma and cannoli, Etna wines that are among Italy's most interesting, and a better choice for a refined dinner with a sea view. But it is a small resort, and the tourist menus on the Corso mean good everyday meals take some finding.

Here the gap is wide. Genoa has one of Europe's largest medieval quarters, the UNESCO-listed palaces of Via Garibaldi with Van Dyck and Rubens, the striped cathedral, the Palazzo Ducale and the marble sculpture of Staglieno, enough for several full days.

Taormina has one great sight, the Greek theatre with Etna framed behind its broken stage, and a handsome Corso of Arab-Norman and Gothic palaces between two gates. It is unforgettable but done in a day, and serious museums mean a trip to Syracuse or Catania.

Neither is a party town, but Genoa has more life after dark. Students and locals fill the bars around Piazza delle Erbe and the university lanes on weekends, and in summer the evenings move out to Corso Italia and the beach clubs. Taormina's nights are an aperitivo in Piazza IX Aprile, the passeggiata and piano bars over the sea, with an older crowd of couples and a town that goes quiet after dinner out of season.

Both put serious outdoors on the doorstep, and they differ in kind. Genoa's is coast and ridge: the fortress trail above Righi, the cliff paths of the Portofino promontory down to San Fruttuoso, the Cinque Terre by train, and whale and dolphin watching in the Pelagos Sanctuary.

Taormina has a volcano. Etna's lava fields and Silvestri craters, with skiing in winter, and the basalt columns of the Alcantara gorges are an hour or less away, and the Isola Bella reserve adds snorkelling and diving among grottoes.

One railway line does most of the work from Genoa. Camogli, Santa Margherita and Portofino are under an hour east, Sestri Levante and the Cinque Terre a little further, and westward lies the walled town of Finale Ligure Borgo. Milan and Turin are near enough for a museum day, so a week of trips needs nothing more than a timetable, and that ease gives Genoa the edge.

Taormina's best outings involve more travel but are rich in history. Catania's black lava-stone baroque is about an hour away, Ortigia and the Greek quarries of Syracuse are about two hours south, Noto needs an early start, and Etna's wine villages such as Randazzo make for slow days of cellar visits. Closer to home, Castelmola and the film villages of Savoca and Forza d'Agrò make easy half-days.

Genoa is easier with children because of the Porto Antico. The large aquarium, the children's science centre, the glass biosphere and the walk-through submarine at the Galata can fill whole days, and the funiculars and public lifts are a treat in themselves, even if the old town is steep and short of parks.

Taormina welcomes children but has little made for them. Its steps and crowded pebble coves are hard going with a pushchair, so families often stay in Giardini Naxos instead, and Etna and snorkelling suit school-age children best.

Genoa has the fuller set of tools: a metro line, funiculars, a rack railway and public lifts up to the hills, and a coastal railway to Nervi and the Riviera, though the buses crawl through narrow streets. Taormina's pedestrian centre is a short walk from end to end, with a cable car to Mazzarò and the station down by the sea, but Etna and the inland villages realistically need a tour or a hired car. Both are built on slopes, so expect stairs either way.

Genoa gives a shopper more to work with, although it is not a city to plan a trip around for its shops. There are the arcades of Via XX Settembre and Italian labels on Via Roma and in the Galleria Mazzini, and the old town has long-established shops for candied fruit, olive oil and silver filigree.

Taormina's shopping comes down to one street, Corso Umberto. It is good for coral, cameos, Caltagirone majolica and Bronte pistachio cream, but most of the stock is aimed at visitors, and for anything more you go to Catania.

Genoa is much the cheaper stay. Street food is very cheap, trattoria lunches are fair, central hotels cost less than in Italy's best-known cities and the funiculars and lifts are inexpensive; only lounger hire and the smart Riviera resorts push the bill up.

Taormina is the dearest base in eastern Sicily, with grand sea-view hotels setting the level and resort prices on the main street. Granita and buses stay cheap, and sleeping in Giardini Naxos or Letojanni, or coming in spring or autumn, softens the cost.

Genoa offers a proper season: opera, ballet and symphony at the Teatro Carlo Felice on Piazza De Ferrari, Italian-language drama from the Teatro Nazionale, Paganini concerts and small clubs that keep its singer-songwriter tradition going. Taormina has one spectacular stage rather than a season, with summer concerts, opera and international acts in the Greek theatre against Etna, and very little once the summer ends.

Taormina is the calmer choice. Its large hotels have good spas with terrace pools and treatments using volcanic mud, citrus and almond, and the pace of long lunches and shady afternoons in the Villa Comunale gardens does the rest, though August crowds on the Corso break the spell.

Genoa has few spas beyond the better hotels and a busy port centre. For quiet you head to Nervi's promenade and villa gardens, or a little over an hour inland to the thermal waters of Acqui Terme.