Pisa or Syracuse, Sicily?

Syracuse is the swimming city of the two. On Ortigia you step off the rocks and wooden platforms below the sea walls into clear water, with the old town behind you. The pale, undeveloped sand of Vendicari is within a short drive, and Arenella and Fontane Bianche cater for families.

Pisa's coast is about 12km away. Tirrenia and Calambrone have long sandy beaches backed by pines, mostly divided into rented beach establishments, and the water near the Arno mouth is rarely clear. It makes a pleasant summer afternoon off from sightseeing, not the reason for the trip.

Syracuse has the more distinctive food. The Ortigia market supplies swordfish, sea urchins and capers, and you meet them again in pasta with sardines or sea urchin. Breakfast is almond granita with a brioche, and the local wines are Nero d'Avola and the sweet Moscato. Among the trattorias are a few ambitious kitchens.

Pisa cooks plainer Tuscan food: ribollita, game, salt cod and hot cecina from wood ovens, best eaten around Piazza delle Vettovaglie, where students keep the trattorias honest. It is filling and good value but offers less variety, and the menus near the tower are best avoided.

Syracuse has more to see. Its Greek past runs from the temple columns built into the cathedral to the rock-cut theatre at Neapolis and the Paolo Orsi museum. On top of that come baroque Ortigia, Castello Maniace and a Caravaggio, which fill two or three full days.

Pisa's Piazza dei Miracoli is one magnificent group of buildings standing on a lawn. The Lungarni, Piazza dei Cavalieri, Santa Maria della Spina and the San Matteo museum fill a second day, and most visitors never get that far. It is a smaller visit overall.

Neither city is for a big night out, and their scenes are about the same size. What differs is who sets the tone. In Pisa it is the students, drinking outside small bars around the old market during term, and the city goes quiet when term ends. In Syracuse it is the summer: aperitivo on Ortigia's sea walls and some dancing at the beach clubs in July and August, while winter nights end early. For proper clubbing, people go to Catania.

Syracuse has the more varied outdoors, and much of it involves water. You can snorkel or dive in the Plemmirio marine reserve, kayak around Ortigia, walk down to the green pools at the bottom of the Cavagrande gorge and watch flamingos at Vendicari. Etna is close enough for a day on the volcano.

Pisa's nature is gentler and closer to town. The pine forest and dunes of San Rossore begin at the edge of the city and are good for cycling and spotting deer, and the olive-terrace paths of the Monte Pisano are nearby. For real mountain hiking you have to go out to the Apuan Alps.

Both are good bases, but Pisa's day trips are easier and offer more. Florence is about an hour away by train and Lucca under half an hour. The Cinque Terre, Viareggio and the marble towns are all on the railway, so you can fill a week without a car.

Syracuse is the gateway to the baroque Val di Noto towns, Noto, Modica and Ragusa Ibla, with Catania and Taormina to the north. It is a superb set of trips, but the distances are longer and most of them are much easier with a hire car than by bus.

Both cities are manageable with children rather than built for them, and in both the beach does much of the work. Syracuse adds the echoing Ear of Dionysius, papyrus boat trips and puppet shows. Pisa offers the tower photo, a big lawn to run on, and cycling or riding in San Rossore. In both, the midsummer heat means sightseeing early and late.

Pisa is far simpler to get around. The centre is flat and can be walked from end to end, a shuttle train links the airport to the station, and the station is a rail hub for western Tuscany.

Syracuse is easy only on Ortigia and in the archaeological area. Beyond them, buses and trains are infrequent. Vendicari and the inland gorges realistically need a car, and a car is a burden inside the old town's restricted traffic zones.

Pisa is the place for ordinary clothes shopping, Syracuse for crafts. Corso Italia has mid-range fashion and high-street chains, the arcades of Borgo Stretto have smarter shoes and clothes, and once a month an antiques market sets up along the river.

In Syracuse the better finds are in Ortigia's lanes: hand-painted ceramics, coral jewellery and papyrus paintings made from the plant that grows on the Ciane. Capers and pistachio products from the morning market are good to take home too. Neither city is worth the trip for shopping alone.

Overall costs are much the same, but they fall in different places. In Pisa the expensive parts are the tower climb and the cafés beside the monuments, while student trattorias keep meals cheap and walking makes getting around almost free. In Syracuse eating is the bargain, but summer rooms on Ortigia and the hire car most trips need push the total up.

An evening out in Pisa means the Teatro Verdi, a 19th-century horseshoe-shaped opera house. From autumn to spring it runs opera, concerts and ballet, which gives you more to choose from through the cooler months.

An evening in Syracuse is about one occasion: Greek tragedy and comedy staged at sunset in the ancient theatre each late spring and early summer. Ortigia also keeps the Sicilian puppet theatre going in small family-run houses. Outside the festival season, though, there is little on.

Neither is a wellness destination, but Pisa has something Syracuse lacks: thermal springs. The 18th-century bath palace at San Giuliano Terme is just outside the city, and Casciana Terme has a larger public pool. In Syracuse the rest comes from the pace: long lunches and sunset walks on Ortigia's sea walls, except in August, when crowds and heat make it less restful. Spa treatments there are mostly found in hotels.