Pisa or Taormina?

Taormina is the better place to swim. The coves at Mazzarò and Isola Bella have clear, glassy water made for snorkelling, though the beaches are narrow pebble strips that fill early. For longer stretches of sand and shingle, Giardini Naxos and Letojanni are a short bus ride away.

Pisa's coast offers the opposite: the long, wide sandy beaches of Tirrenia and Calambrone, backed by pine woods, with shallow water that suits paddling. The sea is cooler, and murkier near the Arno mouth. For most visitors it is a summer afternoon off from sightseeing, not the point of the trip.

The two are evenly matched, but they eat in very different styles. Pisa cooks plain Tuscan food: ribollita, game, salt cod and hot cecina from wood ovens. The best of it is in the student trattorias around the Vettovaglie market, where it is honest and cheap but not ambitious.

Taormina has more Sicilian flavour and more polish at the top: swordfish, raw red prawns, pasta alla Norma, granita with brioche for breakfast and Etna wines on every list. The catch is the resort pricing along Corso Umberto. In both towns the best meals are away from the main sights.

Pisa is far stronger here. The cathedral, baptistery, tower and Camposanto make one of Italy's great ensembles, and beyond them lie Piazza dei Cavalieri, Santa Maria della Spina and the medieval art of the San Matteo museum.

Taormina has one world-class sight, the Greek theatre framing Etna and the coast, plus a pleasant run of medieval palazzi along the Corso. A day of slow walking covers it, and there are no major museums.

Neither town is a reason to travel for nightlife, but Pisa has more going on after dark, thanks to its students. During term the squares around the old market fill with people drinking outside small bars until past midnight.

Taormina's evenings are older and quieter: aperitivo in Piazza IX Aprile, piano bars on sea-view terraces, and a few beach clubs near Mazzarò in summer. It is romantic rather than late.

Taormina has the bigger landscapes. Etna is an hour away for walks over lava flows and the Silvestri craters, guided trips towards the summit, and skiing in winter. The Alcantara gorges and the marine reserve at Isola Bella add basalt canyons and sea grottoes to explore.

Pisa's outdoors are gentler. The San Rossore park begins at the city's edge, with pine forest, wetland, dunes and fallow deer, and the olive-terrace paths of Monte Pisano rise just to the east. Real mountain hiking means going further, to the Apuan Alps.

Pisa is one of the best day-trip bases in Italy. Florence is an hour away by train and Lucca under half an hour, and the Cinque Terre, Viareggio and the marble towns of Carrara and Pietrasanta are all reachable on the same rail network. With a car, Volterra, San Gimignano and Siena are added to the list.

Taormina has fine excursions of its own: Catania's lava-stone baroque, Syracuse and Ortigia, and the wine villages on Etna. The best of them, though, take two hours or an early start, and fewer are as simple to do without a car.

Pisa is the easier choice with children. The centre is flat, the tower lawn gives them space to run, and the sandy, shallow beaches at Tirrenia suit small swimmers, though younger children cannot climb the tower.

Taormina works best for school-age children, who will enjoy snorkelling at Isola Bella and the craters on Etna. Its steps, pebble coves and couple-focused hotels make it hard with toddlers, and many families stay down in Giardini Naxos instead.

Pisa is much simpler to get around. It is small and flat, a shuttle train links the airport to the station, and you can walk everywhere that matters. As a regional rail hub, it makes most outings possible without a car.

Taormina's centre is pedestrian and compact, but it sits on a slope, so every outing involves stairways. You use the cable car to reach the sea, and the railway station is down on the coast. Etna and the inland villages realistically need a tour or a hired car.

Both are modest for shopping, and in both the serious shopping is a trip away, in Florence or Catania. What you find differs. Pisa offers everyday Italian high-street shopping on Corso Italia, smarter shops under the arcades of Borgo Stretto and a monthly antiques market by the river.

Taormina packs everything into Corso Umberto, which is aimed at visitors but more distinctive. Look for Caltagirone majolica, moor's-head vases, coral and cameos, and Bronte pistachio cream to take home.

Pisa is clearly the cheaper stay. Central rooms are mid-range, the student trattorias are good value and walking costs nothing. The main expenses are the tower climb and the beach loungers in summer.

Taormina is the most expensive base in eastern Sicily, with grand hotels, scarce mid-range rooms in summer and resort prices on the main street. Granita and buses stay cheap, and sleeping in Giardini Naxos or coming in spring or autumn makes a real difference.

The two are close, but their seasons don't overlap. Pisa's Teatro Verdi stages opera, concerts and ballet in a 19th-century horseshoe theatre from autumn to spring, an easy and unpretentious night out.

Taormina comes alive for performance in summer, when the Greek theatre hosts concerts, opera and international acts with Etna behind the stage. The rest of the year it has little beyond piano bars.

Both are calm places once you step away from the crowds. Pisa has thermal water nearby: the 18th-century bath palace at San Giuliano Terme and the larger public pool at Casciana Terme.

Taormina relies on hotel spas, many with terrace pools above the sea and treatments using volcanic mud and citrus. Its restful mood depends on avoiding August, when cruise crowds fill the Corso.