Banff or Canmore?

Neither town is a place to swim. The water is snowmelt in both, and a dip in either is quick and bracing even in midsummer.

The difference is in the lakes. Banff's warmest option is Johnson Lake, a short drive east, which is shallow enough to take the chill off on an August afternoon. Canmore has Quarry Lake on the edge of town, with clear water and a dog-friendly shore you can reach without driving far.

The two eat at about the same level, but the meals differ. Banff leans towards dinner: steakhouses serving bison and elk, fondue, and the more ambitious dining rooms in the grand hotels.

Canmore is better at mornings, with bakeries and coffee shops on Main Street for people setting off on a hike, and casual brewpubs afterwards. It also has a summer farmers' market, which Banff lacks.

Banff has the history of the place. The Cave and Basin, the Banff Springs Hotel, the Whyte Museum's mountain art and the Luxton museum's Indigenous collections easily fill a day.

Canmore's story is coal mining, told by a small museum, some miners' cottages and the old Mounted Police barracks, and you can see all of it in an hour or two. Most visitors to Canmore end up driving to Banff for their sightseeing.

Banff has a real late-night scene for a small town. Young seasonal workers and the ski crowd keep a few pubs and dance bars on Banff Avenue going late, après-ski fills the early evening, and the hotel lounges suit a quieter drink.

Canmore goes no further than a pint in a brewpub, sometimes with a band, and most places are quiet before midnight. People there who want a later night take the bus or drive up the valley to Banff.

Both sit in some of the finest mountain country in North America, so the choice comes down to the kind of outdoors you want. Banff is inside the national park: the Sulphur Mountain gondola, Lake Minnewanka and Johnston Canyon are close at hand, Lake Louise and Moraine Lake are nearer, and three ski areas are within a short drive.

Canmore sits just outside the park and is the town for climbers and scramblers. Ha Ling Peak and the Three Sisters rise straight above the streets, the Nordic Centre has trails for mountain biking and cross-country skiing, and the quieter peaks of Kananaskis Country lie to the south.

Canmore has the better day trips, largely because Banff, with its museums and hot springs, is twenty minutes up the road. Calgary is also a little closer from Canmore.

From Banff, the natural outing is Canmore itself, which is pleasant but quieter. Beyond that, Calgary is about an hour and a half away and the railway hamlet of Field and the town of Golden are small stops. In both towns, almost everything else within reach is wild country rather than places to visit.

Both are safe, easy places for children who like being outside, and both lack a zoo or aquarium, which means a trip to Calgary. Banff has a few more ready-made outings: the gondola, the boardwalks through Johnston Canyon and a family soak at the hot springs.

Canmore's strengths are gentler. It has flat paths along the Bow River for pushchairs and bikes, the short walk to Grassi Lakes, and a recreation centre with a pool and climbing wall for a wet day.

Banff is the easier place to manage without a car. The flat centre can be crossed on foot in about twenty minutes, and local buses run to the gondola, the hot springs, Lake Minnewanka and Lake Louise.

Canmore's downtown is walkable and its riverside trails are good for cycling. Even so, many trailheads and all of Kananaskis Country are only realistic by car, and a car becomes close to essential. From either town, the Icefields Parkway is best done with your own wheels or on a tour.

Banff Avenue gives you more to browse: outdoor outfitters, Canadian clothing labels, fudge shops and galleries selling Indigenous art and Rocky Mountain painting. It is still something for a rainy afternoon rather than a reason to come. Canmore's Main Street has a smaller version of the same mix, good for replacing boots, and serious shoppers head to Calgary.

Both towns are expensive, but Canmore is a little easier on the wallet. Building limits inside the national park keep Banff's rooms scarce, and that is why many Banff visitors on a budget sleep in Canmore instead.

Canmore's advantage comes from its self-catering condos and supermarket picnics, though most visitors there also pay for a hire car. In both towns the trails are free beyond the park pass, and spring and late autumn cost noticeably less.

Banff has more live performance because the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity is right there on Tunnel Mountain. It stages concerts, dance and visiting artists, and hosts the autumn Mountain Film and Book Festival.

Canmore's big event is its long-running Folk Music Festival on the August long weekend, by the river. Outside that weekend, Canmore offers a small arts centre and pub bands, and its residents drive to the Banff Centre for anything more.

The two are about level for rest and recovery, but the bathing is in different places. Banff has the Upper Hot Springs on Sulphur Mountain in town, along with large spas in the grand hotels.

Canmore is half an hour from those springs. It has its own calm, with yoga studios, massage therapists and quiet evenings, and a large Nordic-style spa with outdoor hot and cold pools is a short drive away in Kananaskis Village.