Syracuse, Sicily or Tunis?

Syracuse is the better place for a swim. You can step into clear water from the platforms below Ortigia's sea walls without leaving the old town, the sandy family beaches at Arenella and Fontane Bianche are close by, and the empty pale sand of Vendicari is about forty minutes south.

In Tunis you have to ride the suburban train out to La Marsa or Gammarth for clean water, because the sea near the port and the lagoon is best avoided. The strands there are long and sandy but busy with locals at weekends. For a real beach day you need the hour's drive to Hammamet.

Syracuse eats better, and it is easier to see why at the table. Everything comes from the Ortigia market: sea urchin pasta, swordfish rolls, raw prawns and granita with brioche for breakfast, washed down with Nero d'Avola and Moscato from nearby vineyards.

The pleasures of Tunis are cheaper and quicker, and spicier too. Think harissa, brik with a runny egg, lablabi at breakfast and Friday couscous, with mint tea in the cafés. Wine is available but plays a minor part, and the best sit-down meals are the seafood places in La Goulette and La Marsa.

The sightseeing is equally rich in both, but each tells a different story. Syracuse is about Greek antiquity layered under baroque. A temple to Athena stands inside the cathedral, a vast Greek theatre is cut into the rock at Neapolis and the Paolo Orsi museum holds the finds, all within a compact area.

Tunis is a living Islamic old city, with the souks and madrasas around the Zitouna Mosque, next to the French boulevards of the Ville Nouvelle. Add the mosaics at the Bardo and the ruins of Carthage, which are scattered and need more imagination than Neapolis.

Neither is a party city, and the evenings feel different. In Syracuse, after an aperitivo by the sea walls you can wander between wine and cocktail bars in Ortigia's lanes, all within walking distance. Tunis evenings revolve around cafés, mint tea and shisha, and the mixed bar and beach-club scene is out in La Marsa and Gammarth, so you need a taxi and it is mostly a summer thing.

Syracuse has far more to offer outdoors. Inland are the gorges of the Hyblaean plateau and the rock-cut tombs of Pantalica, while the coast has the lagoons and dunes of Vendicari and the clear water of the Plemmirio reserve for diving and kayaking. Etna makes a day on a volcano possible as well.

The setting of Tunis is pleasant rather than wild. You can watch flamingos on the lagoon, take short climbs on Bou Kornine and walk the clifftops at Sidi Bou Said. Ichkeul is a fine spot for birds, but trails and guides are thin on the ground.

Both make good bases, and Syracuse is the stronger one. Noto, Modica, Ragusa Ibla and Scicli, the UNESCO-listed baroque towns, are mostly within an hour or so. Catania and Taormina lie to the north, and the hire car you will probably have anyway gets you to them.

From Tunis the outings feel more varied but involve longer journeys. Dougga and Kairouan are each about two hours away. Closer in are Hammamet, the potters of Nabeul and Punic Kerkouane, and the trips usually depend on a hired driver or a louage minibus.

Syracuse is the easier choice with children. The gently shelving sand at Fontane Bianche, Ortigia's largely car-free lanes, papyrus boat trips and the echo in the Ear of Dionysius make a full few days, even without a zoo or theme park.

Tunis welcomes children warmly, but the city fights you on practicalities. Traffic is heavy, pavements are broken and a pushchair is hard work in the medina. Beyond Belvedere Park and its small zoo there is little in town, which is why many families stay on the coast instead.

The two are much the same overall, but they work differently. In Syracuse the core is tiny: you can cross Ortigia on foot in fifteen minutes, but buses are poor and the beaches and gorges really need a car. Tunis has proper public transport for a visitor, with the TGM train running out to Carthage, Sidi Bou Said and La Marsa and plenty of cheap taxis, but the traffic and pavements make walking beyond the centre unpleasant.

Tunis is the place to shop. The souks are still partly arranged by trade, from the felt chechia makers to the perfumers by the Zitouna Mosque, and the deeper lanes reward a patient haggle for kilims, brass and leather.

Syracuse is far more modest. You will find Sicilian ceramics, coral jewellery and papyrus paintings in Ortigia's lanes, plus capers and pistachio products from the market. Beyond that it is ordinary chain stores on Corso Gelone.

Tunis is much cheaper. Meals where locals eat, taxis and train rides cost very little, and a restored medina guesthouse costs a fraction of a boutique room on Ortigia. Prices only approach European levels in the smart hotels and seafood restaurants of Gammarth.

Syracuse is good value for Italy, especially for food and site entry fees. But summer accommodation on the island and the car you will probably hire make it the dearer trip by some way.

Both cities have little on outside a festival season, and each festival is tied to an ancient theatre. Syracuse has the Greek tragedies staged in its rock-cut theatre in late spring, plus the Sicilian puppet theatre on Ortigia the rest of the year. Tunis has a slightly fuller calendar: the summer Carthage festival in the Roman theatre, malouf concerts at Ennejma Ezzahra and a programme at the Art Nouveau Municipal Theatre.

Tunis has a real bathing culture, which Syracuse lacks. You can choose between the thalassotherapy spas of Gammarth's resort hotels, the plain, steamy neighbourhood hammams of the medina and the springs at Korbous that have run since Roman times.

In Syracuse relaxation comes from the pace rather than any treatment. Long lunches, a sunset walk on the sea walls and a calm Ortigia outside August are what it offers, along with a few hotel spas.