Palermo or Tunis?

Palermo has better swimming. Mondello's pale sand and shallow turquoise water are about half an hour from the centre by bus, and the rocks towards Sferracavallo and Capo Gallo offer deep, clear water for anyone who prefers snorkelling to sunbathing.

Tunis has its own sandy strands at La Marsa and Gammarth, reached easily by the suburban train, but the water near the port and lagoon is less clean, and the really good beaches are an hour away at Hammamet. Here the sea is more of a pleasant extra than a reason to go.

Palermo is one of the great eating cities of the Mediterranean, and it comfortably beats Tunis here. Its markets are full of fryers, sfincione vans and spleen sandwiches, and the cooking brings Arab sweet-and-sour flavours into Italian pasta. Its convent pastries, granita and local wines turn every day into a long tasting.

Tunis is good for spicy, cheap and quick food: brik, lablabi for breakfast, fricassé sandwiches and Friday couscous, with fish at La Goulette. It's simpler fare, though, and alcohol sits at the edges of the culture rather than on every table.

The two cities are broadly level for sights, and the Arab past shapes both, though in different ways. In Palermo it shows in the Arab-Norman churches, where Byzantine gold mosaics sit under Islamic carved ceilings in the Palatine Chapel, with Serpotta's baroque stucco and strong museums alongside.

Tunis offers a living medina of souks and madrasas around the Zitouna Mosque, the Bardo's Roman mosaics and the scattered ruins of Carthage. Palermo is about dazzling single buildings, while Tunis is about walking through a whole old city and a deep layer of antiquity.

Palermo has much more going on after dark. The Vucciria becomes an open-air bar with grills and music, and the wine and cocktail bars of the Kalsa and the streets off Via Maqueda stay busy past midnight, though clubs are few.

In Tunis, evenings centre on cafés, mint tea and shisha, and a mixed bar scene exists mainly in the lounges and summer beach clubs of La Marsa and Gammarth. Outside summer weekends, there is little to go out for.

Palermo's setting is far more dramatic. Monte Pellegrino rises straight above the streets, Capo Gallo and the Zingaro reserve have cliff paths and coves, and the Madonie offers real mountain walking among beech woods close to 2,000m.

Tunis is gentler: flamingos on the lagoon, short hikes on Bou Kornine and clifftop walks at Sidi Bou Said. The standout is birdwatching at Ichkeul, a wetland of world importance, but trails and outfitters are thin on the ground.

Both make excellent bases, and Palermo has a slight edge because so much is close. Monreale's mosaics are half an hour away, Cefalù is an hour by train, and Segesta, Erice and Agrigento's temples fill longer days, with Ustica reachable by sea.

From Tunis the journeys are longer but the rewards are big: Roman Dougga on its hillside, the holy city of Kairouan, Andalusian Testour and Punic Kerkouane. Most are easiest with a hired driver or a louage.

Neither city is built for children, but Palermo is a little easier. Mondello's shallow sandy bay is ideal for small swimmers, and the short puppet shows of knights and Saracens go down well with older children.

Tunis has Belvedere Park with its small zoo, the La Marsa beaches and Carthage's open ruins to clamber over. Heavy traffic and broken pavements make the centre hard work, and the bigger attractions are an hour away around Hammamet.

There is little between them, but they work differently. Palermo is mainly a walking city: its sights line up along Via Maqueda and Corso Vittorio Emanuele, while buses beyond the centre are slow and day trips often need a car.

Tunis has the TGM railway, a simple line out across the lagoon to Carthage, Sidi Bou Said and La Marsa, plus plenty of cheap metered taxis, which makes the main sights outside the centre easier to reach without driving.

Tunis is slightly better for bringing something home, because its medina souks still work by trade. Chechia makers, perfumers, kilims, brass and leather reward anyone willing to bargain.

Palermo's best buys are edible, such as capers, pistachio pesto and almond paste from the markets, along with painted ceramics, marionettes and coral jewellery. Via Libertà adds Italian fashion that Tunis lacks.

Tunis is clearly cheaper. Street food, taxis, train rides and even comfortable medina guesthouses cost far less than elsewhere on the Mediterranean, and only the smart end of Gammarth and La Marsa approaches European rates.

Palermo is good value for Italy, with market grazing and family trattorie easy on the wallet, but summer at Mondello, fish restaurants and a hire car for day trips quickly add up.

Palermo has more to see on an ordinary night. The Teatro Massimo runs a full season of opera, ballet and concerts, the Politeama hosts the Sicilian symphony orchestra, and the Opera dei Pupi puppet theatres keep a tradition alive that is unique to the island.

Tunis comes alive mainly at festival time, with summer concerts in Carthage's Roman theatre and malouf recitals at Ennejma Ezzahra in Sidi Bou Said. Otherwise the programme is thin, and most of it is in Arabic or French.

Tunis is much better for rest and pampering. Gammarth's thalassotherapy hotels offer full seawater spas, the medina hammams are steamy and still used by locals, and the Korbous springs on Cap Bon have run into the sea since Roman times.

Palermo has no bathing culture of its own and is loud from morning to night. Its quiet moments come from the Orto Botanico, the cloisters and the evening walk along the Foro Italico, but proper treatment means a trip out to Termini Imerese or Sciacca.