Naples or Syracuse, Sicily?

In Naples the sea is mostly a view. Swimming in town means the rocks under the Lungomare or small Posillipo lidos, the water by the port is not always clean, and the clear coves are out on the islands and the Sorrento peninsula.

Syracuse makes swimming part of the day. Locals dive off platforms beneath Ortigia's sea walls, there are gently sloping sandy bays at Arenella and Fontane Bianche, and the pale, undeveloped beaches of Vendicari are about forty minutes south.

Naples has the stronger and more varied local food. Neapolitan pizza was born here, and the city adds fried pizza, seafood cones, sfogliatelle and babà, ragù and genovese. You also have two markets, Pignasecca and Porta Nolana, to explore.

Syracuse eats well too, but with a narrower, sea-led focus. Think swordfish and sea urchin pasta from the Ortigia market, almond granita for breakfast, Nero d'Avola and sweet Moscato. Neither city offers much beyond its own regional cooking.

Both were great Greek cities, but Naples offers more. Its huge historic centre is still laid out on the Greek street grid, the National Archaeological Museum holds the finds from Pompeii and Herculaneum, and you can add the Veiled Christ, the tunnels below the streets and several royal palaces and castles. That is a week's worth.

Syracuse is more compact and easier to take in. The cathedral is built around a Greek temple's columns, the Neapolis park has its rock-cut theatre, and the Paolo Orsi museum and a Caravaggio fill two or three rewarding days.

Naples has the livelier nights. Students crowd Piazza Bellini until late, the bars of Chiaia spill into the alleys after midnight, and the streets stay social all year, though proper clubs are rare.

Syracuse is built for an aperitivo on the sea walls and a glass of wine in Ortigia's lanes. It gets busy on summer weekends, but most winter nights end early, and anyone after dancing ends up in Catania.

Both have rewarding landscapes, but of different kinds. Around Naples the scenery is volcanic: you can climb to the crater rim of Vesuvius, walk the oak-filled crater of Astroni in the Phlegraean Fields, and hike the Path of the Gods above the Amalfi Coast.

Syracuse's outdoors is limestone and wetland. There are green pools at the bottom of the Cavagrande gorge, flamingos on the Vendicari lagoons, papyrus along the Ciane river and diving in the Plemmirio reserve, with Etna a longer drive north.

Naples has the edge, and the deciding factor is how easy it is. Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis and Sorrento are all on the Circumvesuviana line, Caserta is a short train ride, and hydrofoils from Molo Beverello reach Capri, Ischia and Procida. You can do it all without a car.

Syracuse's day trips are just as worthwhile but harder to reach. Noto, Modica, Ragusa Ibla and Scicli form a whole baroque circuit, and Taormina and the Piazza Armerina mosaics are further afield, but buses are thin and a hire car does most of the work.

Syracuse is easier with children. Ortigia's lanes are largely free of cars, the sandy beaches south of town shelve gently, and the Ear of Dionysius and the papyrus boats appeal to young visitors.

Naples has more built attractions, including Edenlandia, a zoo and a science museum, but scooters in the lanes, broken pavements and steps make it tiring with a pushchair. Many families stay in Sorrento and visit the city for the day.

Naples is the easier city to get around without a car. Metro Line 1 and four funiculars connect the centre with Vomero and Posillipo, and trains and ferries reach the main sights outside the city, even if buses crawl and the Circumvesuviana is crowded.

Syracuse is simple within Ortigia, which you can walk across in fifteen minutes. Beyond the island, infrequent buses and slow trains mean that most visitors hire a car for the beaches and baroque towns.

Naples gives shoppers much more to do. Chiaia has its tailoring workshops for suits, shirts and ties, there are boutiques on Via dei Mille, and you can browse the Galleria Umberto I arcade and the nativity-figure workshops of San Gregorio Armeno.

Syracuse has a few small craft finds on Ortigia: ceramics, linen, papyrus paintings and capers or pistachio products from the market. Beyond those there is little more than ordinary chain stores.

Naples is the slightly cheaper base. It has plenty of modest B&Bs in the centre, transport costs little, and pizza and street food are very cheap. The costs rise once you head out to the islands or the Amalfi Coast.

In Syracuse, meals and site fees are good value, but rooms on Ortigia are in short supply in summer, and the car you will probably hire adds to the bill.

The Teatro di San Carlo, the oldest opera house in Europe still in use, gives Naples a full season of opera, ballet and concerts. The San Pietro a Majella conservatory and the churches of the historic centre add chamber music. Neapolitan song turns up at small concerts and from musicians moving between trattoria tables, though most spoken theatre is in Italian or dialect.

Syracuse's great moment is the season of Greek tragedy and comedy in the ancient theatre each late spring and early summer, a tradition running since 1914. For the rest of the year there is little beyond the Sicilian puppet theatre on Ortigia and a modest municipal programme, so evenings out are much thinner.

Thermal water and a slow pace are the two kinds of rest on offer here. Naples itself is loud and crowded, but its volcanic ground feeds the springs at Agnano, used since Roman times. Ischia's terraced thermal parks are about an hour away by hydrofoil, which is why many visitors who want to unwind stay on the island.

Syracuse has no baths of its own, only hotel treatments and a few day spas. Outside high summer, though, Ortigia is calm enough to rest properly, with long lunches and sunset walks along the sea walls. August heat and crowds take some of that calm away.