Banff or Calgary?

Neither place is for a swimming vacation, and the difference lies in what you swim in. In Banff it means a brief, cold dip at shallow Johnson Lake on an August afternoon, or a warm soak in the hot springs. Calgary's warm-day pleasures are more about floating, either drifting down the Bow River on a tube or swimming at Sikome Lake in Fish Creek Park or at Chestermere Lake.

Calgary eats better, though beef is the main event in both. Banff's dining is mostly steaks, game, fondue and pub plates along Banff Avenue, with a few more ambitious hotel dining rooms, and the range is narrow for a town with so many visitors.

Calgary adds variety. You can order ginger beef in Chinatown, find Vietnamese, Filipino and Lebanese cooking in the suburbs, visit the breweries around Manchester and Ramsay, and have brunch in Inglewood or Kensington. Its farmers' markets offer the prairie produce that Banff lacks.

Calgary has more to see, though neither is a heritage destination. Banff's sights all tell one story, the founding of the park, from the Cave and Basin spring to the Banff Springs Hotel and the Whyte Museum, and a single day covers them.

Calgary needs about two days. The Glenbow covers western Canadian art, Studio Bell holds the national music collection, Heritage Park brings prairie settlement to life, and Stephen Avenue keeps its sandstone buildings from the 1880s. It also gives you easier access to the region's fossils and Indigenous sites.

A night out in Banff means one street. Seasonal workers and the ski crowd keep a handful of pubs and dance bars on and around Banff Avenue loud until late, with après-ski filling the early evening, and you can walk between them in minutes. It is cheerful for a few nights, then repetitive, and it thins out in the quiet weeks of spring and autumn.

Calgary's evenings are spread across several districts and offer real variety. There are cocktail bars and patios along 17th Avenue SW, bars in the East Village, a few clubs, and country bars with line dancing and a mechanical bull. Midweek is quiet, but in Stampede week the whole city stays out late for ten days.

Both are built around the Rockies. The difference is that in Banff you are inside them, and from Calgary you visit them. In Banff, Cascade Mountain fills the end of the main street, elk graze in town, and Lake Minnewanka, Johnston Canyon and the gondola are minutes away, with Moraine Lake and the Icefields Parkway further along.

Calgary gives you Kananaskis about an hour away, quieter than the national park, and Banff in about ninety minutes. Within the city, there are the river pathways, Fish Creek and the open grassland of Nose Hill. That is still excellent, but every mountain day starts with a drive.

Calgary is the far better base for varied outings. Drumheller's badlands and the Royal Tyrrell Museum's dinosaur collection lie to the north-east. To the south you reach the UNESCO-listed Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump and the ranching history of the Bar U, and Banff and Canmore make the mountain day.

From Banff almost every excursion goes deeper into the mountains, so towns are few. Canmore and the small stops at Field and Golden are pleasant but minor, and the main change of scene is a long drive back east to Calgary.

Calgary has far more built for children. There is the zoo with its life-size dinosaurs, the hands-on TELUS Spark science centre, steam trains at Heritage Park, Calaway Park's rides and the summer coaster at Canada Olympic Park. Drumheller's fossils make a strong day out for older children.

Banff relies on the outdoors to keep children happy. They can spot bighorn sheep from the car, ride the gondola, walk the Johnston Canyon boardwalk and toboggan in winter. That works well for active families, but on a wet day there is little made for them.

Banff is easier day to day. You can cross the flat town on foot in about twenty minutes, and Roam Transit buses reach the gondola, the hot springs, Lake Minnewanka and Lake Louise. You only need a car for the Icefields Parkway and remoter trailheads.

Calgary's downtown grid, Plus 15 skywalks and two CTrain lines cover the centre well, but the city sprawls and buses are slow. Its main outings are realistically reached only by car, so most visitors hire one at the airport.

What you take home is what sets the two apart: a piece of Indigenous art or a mountain painting from Banff, or a pair of hand-made cowboy boots from Calgary. Beyond its galleries, Banff's shopping is limited to Banff Avenue and a few side streets. It is mostly outdoor outfitters for anyone who arrived without proper boots, plus fudge and moose-and-maple souvenirs, and it fills a rainy afternoon.

Calgary can fill a proper shopping day. Its long-established western outfitters sell felt hats, belt buckles and saddlery as well as boots. CORE and Chinook Centre carry the major chains, and Kensington, Inglewood and 17th Avenue add independent boutiques, record shops and antique dealers.

Calgary is clearly the cheaper stay. Hotels cost less outside Stampede week, and suburban restaurants keep meals reasonable, although a hire car and park fees still add up once you head west.

Building limits inside the national park keep Banff's rooms scarce and dear, especially in summer and over Christmas, and restaurants charge resort prices. The trails and lakes cost nothing beyond the park pass. That is why many budget travellers sleep in Canmore or at a campground instead.

Calgary has a regular season. The Calgary Philharmonic plays the Jack Singer Concert Hall, Theatre Calgary performs at the Werklund Centre, and Calgary Opera stages a short season. In July there is the Folk Music Festival on Prince's Island and the Stampede grandstand show.

Banff's arts life revolves around one institution, the Banff Centre on Tunnel Mountain, with concerts and dance mostly in summer. In autumn comes the Mountain Film and Book Festival, which is a real draw for adventure fans. Otherwise it is bands in pubs.

Banff is the more restful stay, simply because the springs are on your doorstep. You can soak in the open-air pool of the 1930s Upper Hot Springs bathhouse as snow falls after a day's skiing, the grand hotels have mineral pools and full spas, and evenings are quiet.

Calgary has hotel spas and yoga studios, but no bathing tradition of its own. Its best relaxation means driving an hour to the Nordic spa in Kananaskis, or out to Banff itself.