Puppets or a sunset cruise?

Quick verdict

With only one evening, children in tow, or a wish to see the art Sicily put on UNESCO's heritage list, take the pupi. If you have one evening and want the island at its most beautiful, glass in hand, take the boat. Neither replaces the other. The theatre is a window into a tradition UNESCO lists as heritage of humanity; the cruise is the coast of Ortigia seen from the water as the light goes. With two evenings, book both, and put the cruise on the night with the calmer forecast.

What the puppet evening gives you

Ninety-odd minutes in a small traditional theatre in Ortigia. Wooden knights in metal armour act out an episode from the legends of Charlemagne's paladins, with fast battle scenes, music and the odd dragon, and every word is in Italian. A guided visit behind the stage, with a guide who speaks English and Italian, shows you how the pupi are built and worked, and you can try holding one. Children up to two go in free. There is no food or drink in the ticket.

What the sunset cruise gives you

About two hours by boat, leaving the small port and running along the Ortigia coast. The plan includes coves and sea caves, among them the Coral Caves and the Grotta dell'Amore, a stop to swim near the Castello Maniace, prosecco and a platter of typical Sicilian produce, and music played on board. After the sunset the boat comes back under the Umbertino Bridge. The live guide speaks Italian, English and Spanish, and you can change and leave bags at the local partner's office before you sail.

The same island from two sides

Either way you see Ortigia, just from different sides. The cruise's planned route passes the Castello Maniace, the thirteenth-century fortress at the island's tip, and the seafront below the Fountain of Arethusa, a freshwater spring where papyrus grows, before it slips back under the Umbertino Bridge. The puppet evening keeps you inside the old town: you walk its lanes to the theatre and come out among them afterwards, with the cathedral square and the seafront promenade within reach for a late dinner. One shows you the island's walls from the water; the other shows you what goes on behind them.

Weather and sea

This is the biggest practical difference. The puppet theatre is indoors, so the show goes ahead whatever the sky is doing. The cruise depends on the sea: the planned stops are only a guide and may be altered, which in practice means the skipper may skip a cave or look for calmer water. If your days in Syracuse are limited and the forecast is unsettled, book the cruise for your calmest evening and keep the pupi for the other. Either booking can be dropped without charge until 24 hours beforehand, which leaves room to follow the forecast.

Language

On the cruise, a live guide speaks Italian, English and Spanish. At the puppet theatre, the show is in Italian only, and the English arrives in the backstage visit. If no one in your group speaks any Italian and the idea of a play you cannot understand puts you off, the cruise is the easier evening. If you like the idea of following a story through action, music and costume, the language gap is part of the charm, and a little reading on the paladins closes most of it. On the boat, much of the pleasure needs no words at all: light, water and the old town's walls going gold.

Food and drink

The cruise includes prosecco and a platter of Sicilian produce served on board, which makes it an aperitif rather than a dinner. The puppet ticket includes no food or drink at all. Either way, dinner is on you afterwards, and Ortigia is the place to find it. If you want food to be the point of the evening, the street-food walk on this site's booking cards is the third option worth weighing, since it builds a full meal out of tastings across the old town.

Children and families

The puppet show is the family pick. Under-threes get in free, there is no water to worry about, and the duels and monsters work without words. The cruise suits families with confident older children who will enjoy a swim stop and a boat ride into caves; parents of small children should think about two hours on a boat, swimming in open water and an evening return. The Castello Maniace, built for Frederick II between 1232 and 1240 at the tip of the island, is a sight from either evening, by water or on foot.

Doing both on one trip

Showtimes at the theatre vary by season, and the cruise is timed around sunset, which also moves through the year. Because of that, the safest plan is to put them on different evenings rather than squeeze both into one. Check the time each booking gives you before you commit. If you have only one evening, decide by the forecast and by who is travelling: rough sea or small children point to the pupi; a still, clear evening points to the boat. A group that cannot agree can split for an evening and meet afterwards in Ortigia for dinner, since both end on or beside the island.

Who each one isn't for

Be clear about the trade-offs before you pay. Neither outing is a dinner, and neither promises a particular show or a particular cave on a given night. Both reward a little flexibility, and both are easy to move: each can be called off at no cost a full day ahead, so a change in the weather or in the mood of the group need not cost you anything.

• Pupi: anyone who must understand every word, or wants a meal included.
• Cruise: anyone prone to seasickness, or travelling with very young children.
• Both: anyone who needs a fixed programme; the episode and the route can change.

Booking both

Both are booked on GetYourGuide from the cards on this site, neither has to be paid for at the moment you reserve, and each is refunded completely when cancelled through GetYourGuide 24 hours or more in advance. The puppet theatre asks you to arrive about fifteen minutes before the show; the cruise gives its departure time with your booking. Hold the dates you want first, then watch the forecast and adjust before the free-cancellation window closes. If the boat is the evening you care about most, book it for early in your stay, so that a rough sea still leaves you another evening to try again.

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