Taormina or Turin?

Here the gap is as wide as it gets. Taormina has the Ionian right below its terrace, with glassy coves at Mazzarò and Isola Bella for snorkelling and longer sand and shingle at Giardini Naxos and Letojanni a short bus ride away. The beaches near town are narrow and pebbly, but the sea is the whole point of a summer stay.

Turin has no coast at all. The Ligurian Riviera is nearly two hours away, so locals swim in lakes such as Avigliana or Viverone. Anyone who wants the sea should base themselves elsewhere.

Turin is clearly the better place to eat. Piedmontese cooking brings agnolotti del plin, vitello tonnato and white truffles from the Langhe in autumn, with Barolo and Barbaresco on the wine list. The city also gave Italy vermouth, the aperitivo, gianduiotti and bicerin, and Porta Palazzo market adds cheap everyday food.

Taormina has real Sicilian flavours: swordfish, pasta alla Norma, granita with brioche and the wines of Etna. In such a small town, though, the choice soon runs out. Corso Umberto leans towards tourist menus, and the best everyday food is in the side streets or down in Giardini Naxos.

Taormina has one great sight. The Greek theatre, with Etna framed through its broken stage, is unforgettable, and the Duomo, Palazzo Corvaja and the Villa Comunale fill out a slow day. There are no major museums, though.

Turin is a former royal capital with enough to fill a week. There is the Museo Egizio, the Royal Palace and the Savoy residences out to Venaria, the cinema museum inside the Mole, the car museum and the Lingotto, and contemporary art at Rivoli and the GAM.

Neither is a party town, but Turin gives an evening far more places to go. After the aperitivo, people head to the wine bars of the Quadrilatero Romano, the pavement crowds of students in San Salvario or the Murazzi by the Po in summer, and some clubs are in old industrial buildings.

In Taormina an evening means an aperitivo in Piazza IX Aprile, a stroll along the Corso and a piano bar over the sea, plus a few beach clubs in August. It suits couples, and out of season the town goes quiet after dinner.

Both have superb outdoors on the doorstep, of very different kinds. Taormina pairs volcano and sea. You can walk over lava and around the Silvestri craters on Etna, see the basalt Alcantara gorges, climb the footpaths to Castelmola, and snorkel, kayak or dive in the Isola Bella marine reserve.

Turin looks to the Alps. Gran Paradiso has ibex and high trails, the Susa valley has hut-to-hut walks and climbing, and there are big ski areas around Sestriere. Etna has skiing too, but the Alps offer far more of it. Closer in, Turin has cycling along the river and the Superga hills, though the city itself is flat.

Both are excellent bases, and Turin has the edge in variety and ease. The Langhe wine villages, Alba and Barolo are about an hour away, and so is Milan by fast train. The Sacra di San Michele, Aosta and Genoa are each about two hours away.

Taormina offers fewer days out, but grand ones: baroque Catania an hour away, Ortigia and the Neapolis theatre at Syracuse, Noto with an early start, and film villages such as Savoca nearby. The Etna wine villages are best reached on a tour or by car.

Turin is the easier choice with children, largely because of its layout. The streets are flat and on a grid, the arcades are good for pushchairs, and older children enjoy the glass lift up the Mole, the mummies, the planetarium and the rack railway to Superga. There is no zoo or theme park in the city, though, and Zoom Torino means a drive.

Taormina welcomes children warmly but is mostly set up for couples. It sits on a steep slope full of steps, and its pebble beaches are crowded in August. School-age children will love Etna and snorkelling, but families with small children do better staying in Giardini Naxos.

Turin is the simpler place to get around. Its centre is flat and easy to walk under the arcades, a driverless metro line runs south to Lingotto, and the main stations have good trains to the rest of Italy.

Taormina's centre can also be walked, but it is tiny and steep, with stairways on every outing and a cable car down to Mazzarò. The coastal railway reaches Catania and Syracuse, but for Etna and the inland villages you realistically need a tour or a hired car.

Turin has a real city's shopping. Luxury labels line the arcades of Via Roma, the big chains are on Via Garibaldi, and antique dealers cluster around Via Maria Vittoria, with the Balon flea market on Saturdays. The best buys are food: chocolate, truffles and Piedmontese wine.

Taormina's shopping is one street of browsing. Corso Umberto sells coral and cameos, linen and painted Sicilian ceramics, plus pistachio cream and Etna wine to take home, but much of it is aimed at visitors.

Turin is clearly the cheaper stay. Central hotels are fairly priced for most of the year, apart from big trade fairs, a generous aperitivo can replace dinner, and public transport costs little.

Taormina is the most expensive town in eastern Sicily. Sea-view hotels set the tone, and the Corso charges resort prices. Staying in Giardini Naxos or Letojanni, or coming in spring or autumn, keeps the bill down.

Turin has a full year-round programme. The Teatro Regio stages opera and ballet, the RAI orchestra plays in its own auditorium, the Lingotto hall hosts concerts, and there are jazz clubs in the centre and long-running music festivals.

Taormina has one unforgettable summer stage. On summer nights the Greek theatre hosts concerts, opera and ballet with Etna behind it, which few venues can match. For the rest of the year there is little on, and serious opera means going to Catania.

Neither has a public bathing culture, so in both rest comes from the slow pace. Taormina's hotel spas have pools on terraces above the sea and treatments with volcanic mud. The Villa Comunale gardens and Etna at dusk make for gentle days in May, June and late September, though the August crowds spoil the calm.

In Turin, rest comes from the city itself: long coffees in historic cafés, walks along the Po and quiet afternoons in Valentino park. For thermal baths you travel about two hours to Acqui Terme or the Aosta valley.