Syracuse, Sicily or Turin?

For swimming there is no contest. In Syracuse the sea is part of daily life in summer: people swim from the rocks right below the old town, there are gently sloping sandy bays to the south, and the undeveloped beaches of Vendicari are about forty minutes away.

Turin is an inland city on the Po plain. The nearest sea, the Ligurian Riviera, is a long day out by train. In summer, local people cool off in small lakes such as Avigliana instead.

Turin is the better place to eat. Piedmontese cooking is rich and precise, from agnolotti del plin to bollito misto. The wine comes from the Barolo and Barbaresco hills, and in autumn there are white truffles from the Langhe. The city also has its chocolate tradition, the bicerin served in its historic cafés, and Porta Palazzo, one of Europe's largest open-air markets.

Syracuse's food is excellent but narrower in range. It is built on the Ortigia market: swordfish, sea urchin pasta, raw prawns, and almond granita for breakfast. It is cooking from the sea and very regional. Turin offers more variety and more serious kitchens.

The two cities are equally rich, but in different eras. In Syracuse you walk through Greek antiquity itself: temple columns built into the cathedral walls, a theatre cut into the rock at Neapolis, and the finds in the Paolo Orsi museum, all set within Ortigia's baroque lanes.

Turin's strength is its museums and its role as a royal capital. The Museo Egizio holds one of the world's great Egyptian collections. Add the Savoy palaces, the Shroud, the cinema museum in the Mole, and modern art at Rivoli and the GAM. Turin suits people who like galleries. Syracuse suits people who like ancient ruins in the open air.

Turin gives you more of an evening out. The aperitivo leads into crowded pavements in San Salvario, small cocktail bars in the Quadrilatero Romano, the slightly alternative Vanchiglia, and the riverside Murazzi in summer. There are also clubs in old industrial buildings.

Syracuse is mostly about a drink in a piazza or on the sea walls of Ortigia. Beach clubs add some dancing in high summer. In winter most nights end early, and anyone looking for a club drives to Catania.

Turin has the bigger outdoors on its doorstep. The Alps are an hour or so away, with ibex and high trails in the Gran Paradiso, hut-to-hut hiking in summer and the ski slopes around Sestriere in winter. Closer in, there are walking paths up to Superga and cycle routes along the Po.

Syracuse's outdoors is warmer and more coastal. You can snorkel and dive in the Plemmirio marine reserve, walk to the green pools at Cavagrande, watch flamingos at Vendicari and spend a day on Etna. Summer heat limits hiking to the early morning.

Both are excellent bases, and the choice depends on what you want from a day out. From Syracuse you can visit the honey-coloured baroque towns of Noto, Modica and Ragusa Ibla, the Greek theatre at Taormina, and the Roman mosaics at Piazza Armerina. You will need a car for most of these.

Turin's day trips are about wine and mountains. You can go to Alba and the Barolo villages in the Langhe, see the abbey of Sacra di San Michele high above the Susa valley, or visit Aosta and Genoa. Milan is only about an hour away by fast train.

Families will be equally comfortable in either city, for different reasons. In Syracuse, life revolves around gently sloping sand at Arenella and Fontane Bianche, plus small treats like the echoing Ear of Dionysius, papyrus boat trips and puppet shows.

Turin's appeal for children is mostly indoors and in the parks. Highlights include the glass lift up the Mole, the mummies in the Museo Egizio, and the car museum. The arcades are easy with a pushchair, and Zoom Torino is a short drive out of town. Neither city has a zoo or theme park of its own.

Ortigia is small enough to cross on foot in fifteen minutes, and on the island a car is more trouble than help, with restricted traffic zones and very little parking. Beyond the bridges, getting around is harder. City buses are infrequent, trains to Noto and Catania are slow, and most visitors end up hiring a car for the beaches and the Val di Noto.

In Turin you can do without wheels of your own for the whole stay. The flat grid of arcades takes you on foot from Porta Nuova to the Mole, a driverless metro line runs out to Lingotto, and trams cover the rest, if slowly. A car is only worth having for the wine hills and the mountains.

Shopping in Syracuse means small craft finds in the lanes of Ortigia: hand-painted ceramics, linen, coral jewellery and papyrus paintings, plus capers, almonds and pistachio products from the morning market. Apart from a few chain stores around Corso Gelone, there is little else.

For an actual day of shopping, Turin is the place. Via Roma's arcades hold the big fashion labels, Via Garibaldi has the high-street shops, antique dealers line Via Maria Vittoria and the Balon flea market fills the streets on Saturdays. The most memorable things to bring home are edible: gianduiotti from the chocolate makers, plus truffles and Piedmontese wine from the delicatessens.

Overall costs are about the same, but the money goes on different things. In Syracuse, market sandwiches, arancini and trattoria meals are cheap. Rooms on Ortigia get expensive in high summer, and car hire adds to the bill.

In Turin, hotels are fairly priced for most of the year except during big trade fairs. A generous aperitivo can replace dinner, and walking and cheap public transport mean you can manage without a car. Truffle season and fine dining are where the costs add up.

Turin has a full programme all year round. There is opera and ballet at the Teatro Regio, the RAI National Symphony Orchestra, concerts in Renzo Piano's Lingotto auditorium, theatre at the Carignano, and jazz in small venues around the centre.

Syracuse has one outstanding event: Greek tragedies staged at sunset in the ancient theatre each late spring and early summer. Apart from that, it offers only puppet theatre and a few summer concerts.

Neither city has a bathing tradition, and spa options are mostly hotel treatments. The difference is in what makes each one restful. Syracuse offers long lunches, sunsets over the harbour and quiet walks on the sea walls outside August.

Turin offers lingering coffees in historic cafés, strolls under the arcades and afternoons in Valentino park. Real thermal baths are within reach from Turin, at Acqui Terme or in the Aosta valley, each about two hours away.