Sicily or Tuscany?

Sicily's coastline is longer and more varied. It has sand at San Vito Lo Capo and Marina di Ragusa, the white cliffs of the Scala dei Turchi, the reserve beaches of Vendicari and the clear coves of the Egadi and Aeolian Islands. The sea runs a little warmer too, and you can swim well into October.

Tuscany's best water is on Elba and along the pine-backed Maremma and Argentario shore, while Versilia is mostly rows of beach-club umbrellas. Its main sights are inland, so from Florence the beach becomes a day out rather than the heart of the trip.

Both eat very well, in different ways. Sicily's cooking has Arab and Spanish roots and is at its best eaten standing up: arancine and panelle in Palermo's Ballarò market, cannoli, and granita with brioche, plus local specialities such as Trapani's fish couscous and Modica's grainy chocolate.

Tuscany is plainer and built on meat and wine: Florentine steak, ribollita and wild boar pappardelle. Its real draw is the wine route through Chianti, Montalcino and Montepulciano, with cellar visits and estate lunches all along the way. Etna has fine wineries too, but in Sicily wine is not what a trip is built around.

Sicily's heritage spans more civilisations, from the Greek temples of Agrigento and Segesta to Palermo's Arab-Norman mosaics and the baroque towns of the south east. These are spread across the island, though, and seeing them takes a week with several bases.

Tuscany has more masterpieces, and they are closer together. Florence alone has the Uffizi, the David and Brunelleschi's dome within a walkable centre, and Siena, Pisa, San Gimignano and Lucca are all within easy reach.

Neither island nor region is a party destination, and in both, evenings revolve around a late dinner and the piazza. Sicily's liveliest streets are in Catania's historic centre, where students fill the squares until late, and around Palermo's Vucciria.

Tuscany's evenings centre on the steps of Santo Spirito and the wine bars of Oltrarno in Florence. In summer, the Versilia coast has a long tradition of beach clubs and dance halls that stay busy until dawn, a more established clubbing scene than Sicily's seasonal open-air venues.

The two are close for the outdoors, but the landscapes are very different. Sicily's is volcanic and wild: guided walks over Etna's lava fields, the evening climb to watch Stromboli erupt, the Zingaro cliff path and diving around the Egadi and Aeolian Islands.

Tuscany's countryside is gentler and farmed, best for cycling and walking between hill towns through Chianti and the Val d'Orcia. For rougher hiking, there are the ridges of the Apuan Alps above Carrara. Sicily's interior turns brown and is too hot for walking in high summer.

Sicily has good outings from any base: the baroque towns around Noto, Cefalù and Erice from Palermo, and ferries to Favignana or Lipari. Distances are long, though, and a car makes most of them easier.

Tuscany fits in more, and closer together. From Florence or Chianti, Siena, Lucca, Pisa and San Gimignano are all easy outings. Beyond the border there is more again: Bologna, Assisi and Orvieto, and the Cinque Terre.

Both welcome children warmly, and in either one they stay up for dinner. Sicily works best as a beach stay at shallow bays such as Mondello or San Vito Lo Capo, with Etna and the puppet theatre for older children. Long drives, steep towns and summer heat make moving around tiring.

Tuscany is the easier family trip. It combines a farmhouse with a pool and animals with lifeguarded sandy beaches, and adds a few things made for children, such as Collodi's Pinocchio park and cycling on Lucca's walls.

Sicily is hard work without a car. Trains are sparse and slow, inland roads wind, and driving in Palermo and Catania is chaotic. Intercity buses are often the better choice between the main towns, and rough seas can cancel ferries to the islands.

Tuscany is easier. Florence is walkable, and regional trains link it to Pisa, Lucca and Arezzo, so a car-free trip along that line works well. For Chianti, the Val d'Orcia and the Maremma you still need a car.

Tuscany is the better place to shop. Florence has leather workshops around Santa Croce, goldsmiths on the Ponte Vecchio, bookbinders in Oltrarno and the luxury houses of Via de' Tornabuoni. Elsewhere there is alabaster in Volterra and marble in Pietrasanta.

Sicily's shopping is mostly food and ceramics: majolica from Caltagirone, Modica chocolate, Bronte pistachio cream and Marsala wine. Fashion is limited to a few main streets in Palermo, Catania and Taormina.

Sicily is clearly the cheaper of the two. Street food and pastry cost little, and B&Bs in Palermo, Catania and the baroque south east stay fairly priced even in summer. Taormina and the Aeolian Islands are the main exceptions.

Tuscany is expensive throughout its season, from central Florence hotels to Chianti villas and the beach clubs of Forte dei Marmi. Trattoria meals and wine bought at the cellar door help, and Lucca or the Maremma cost less. In both, a hire car adds noticeably to the bill.

The two are evenly matched, and opera is at the heart of both. Sicily's strength is its settings: Palermo's Teatro Massimo, Greek tragedy in the ancient theatre of Syracuse, summer concerts in Taormina's theatre with Etna behind the stage, and the armoured marionette knights of the opera dei pupi.

Tuscany leans more towards music festivals. It has the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Puccini in Lucca and staged by the lake at Torre del Lago, and Siena's summer concerts in palaces and churches.

Tuscany has a real bathing tradition. There are the grand nineteenth-century pump rooms of Montecatini, the free warm cascades at Saturnia, the medieval bath in Bagno Vignoni's square and the white limestone pools of Bagni San Filippo.

Sicily has thermal water too, at Sciacca, near Segesta and in Vulcano's mud, but no bathing culture built around it, and most of its spas are in hotels. Rest there comes from slow islands such as Salina and a quiet agriturismo rather than from taking the waters.