Syracuse, Sicily or Venice?

Syracuse is the place to swim. You can go in off the rocks and wooden platforms below Ortigia's sea walls in clear Ionian water. Families use the sandy bays at Arenella and Fontane Bianche, and the reserve beaches at Vendicari have no buildings behind them.

Venice does have the Lido, long fine sand on the open Adriatic and shallow enough for small children. But much of it is rows of cabanas and the water is greenish, so it suits one hot afternoon rather than a beach trip.

Both cities cook from a great fish market, the Rialto in Venice and the morning market on Ortigia, but Syracuse eats better at the table. Its trattorias serve pasta with sardines or sea urchin, rolled swordfish and caponata, with granita for breakfast and good-value Nero d'Avola.

Venice is at its best standing at a bacaro counter, with cicchetti such as creamed salt cod and a spritz, and with lagoon dishes like black cuttlefish risotto. For a sit-down meal, though, the tourist restaurants around San Marco make a good one harder to find than on Ortigia.

Venice goes deeper. The whole city is a sight, palaces and churches standing on water around San Marco, the Doge's Palace and the Grand Canal. Its painting runs from Titian and Tintoretto in the Frari and San Rocco to modern art at the Peggy Guggenheim, enough for a week.

Syracuse is about ancient Greece rather than painting. Highlights are a Doric temple built into the cathedral, the rock-cut theatre at Neapolis and the Paolo Orsi museum, with Caravaggio's Saint Lucy as the main work of art. Two or three days cover it well.

Neither city is made for a big night, but Syracuse stays up later. On summer weekends the wine and cocktail bars in Ortigia's lanes stay busy past midnight, and the beach clubs to the south add some dancing in July and August.

Venice is liveliest at aperitivo time, in the bacari on the Fondamenta della Misericordia and around the Rialto, with Campo Santa Margherita the main place to go later. After midnight the canals fall silent.

Syracuse has far more for an outdoor trip. Inland there are limestone gorges, with green pools at Cavagrande del Cassibile and easy trails past the rock-cut tombs below Pantalica. On the coast you have the Vendicari lagoons, snorkelling in the Plemmirio reserve and Etna about an hour and a half north.

In Venice the outdoors means the lagoon. You can kayak or row through the salt marshes around Torcello and cycle the sea walls of the Lido and Pellestrina. Beyond that the land is flat, and the Dolomites are more than two hours away.

Both are excellent bases, and the real difference is how you get about. From Syracuse the trips are to the baroque Val di Noto towns, Noto, Modica and Ragusa Ibla, and north to Catania and Taormina. A hired car makes most of them much easier.

From Venice, fast trains reach Padua, Vicenza and Verona without any driving, and the vaporetto takes you to Murano, Burano and Torcello. That makes it the easier base for travellers who would rather not drive.

Syracuse works better with children, mainly because of its sandy beaches, which shelve gently, and Ortigia's small, largely car-free lanes. The Ear of Dionysius, the papyrus boat trips and a puppet show also go down well. Plan the beach for hot summer afternoons.

Children love the idea of Venice, with its boats and car-free alleys, but the stepped bridges make pushchairs a struggle and the summer crowds are tiring. It suits a short stay with older children.

Venice is the easier city to get around without a car. You walk almost everywhere in the centre, vaporetti run along the Grand Canal and out to the islands, and trains end at Santa Lucia, right in the city. The stepped bridges and crowded boats are the main hardship.

In Syracuse, Ortigia is easy on foot and the archaeological park is a short taxi ride away. Beyond that, buses are infrequent and trains are slow, and you realistically need a hire car for Vendicari or the gorges.

Venice is the better place to shop. Real workshops in Dorsoduro, Castello and Murano make glass, lace, papier-mâché masks and marbled paper, and the big fashion names line Calle Larga XXII Marzo. On the main routes, though, you need to tell genuine craft from imported copies.

Syracuse's shopping is small-scale: ceramics, coral jewellery and papyrus paintings in Ortigia's lanes, plus capers, almonds and pistachio products from the market.

Syracuse is much the cheaper stay. Market sandwiches, granita and trattoria meals with local wine cost little. Ortigia rooms in high summer and the hire car are what push the bill up.

Venice is among the most expensive places to stay in Italy. Most sights charge for entry and the boats are priced for visitors. To save money, eat cicchetti at a bar counter, sleep in Mestre and come in late autumn or winter.

Venice has a far fuller evening programme. La Fenice runs a season of opera, ballet and concerts, Vivaldi is played in churches and scuole grandi, and the Biennale holds festivals of contemporary music, theatre and dance.

Syracuse has one unforgettable event, Greek tragedy staged in the ancient theatre in late spring and early summer, along with the Sicilian puppet theatre on Ortigia. For most of the year, there is little else on.

Neither city has a spa tradition of its own, and in both the restful part is the slow pace. Venice has grander hotel spas in palazzi and on Giudecca, and the old thermal towns of Abano and Montegrotto are about an hour away.

In Syracuse the calm comes from long lunches and sunsets on Ortigia's sea walls, best outside August. In Venice it comes from quiet early mornings in Castello and Cannaregio, away from the crowds at San Marco.