Bend or Whitefish?

Neither town is a swimming destination, but Whitefish gives you a real lake beach on the doorstep. City Beach has sand, a dock and calm water within reach of downtown, and the pebbly state park shores of Flathead Lake are an easy drive away.

Bend's water life is the Deschutes, which is better for floating on an inner tube than for swimming, since it stays cool all summer. For a proper swim you head up to the Cascade Lakes, which are clear and beautiful but cold.

Bend eats and drinks noticeably better. Its brewpub culture is the backbone of the town, and food-cart pods, good coffee roasters and a solid run of Pacific Northwest restaurants in downtown and the Old Mill District give you real choice over a week.

Whitefish has more regional character, with bison burgers, Montana beef, trout and huckleberries in everything from pies to cocktails. The trouble is size: Central Avenue holds most of it, and by midweek you are back at the same tables.

Neither town is built for sightseeing, but Bend has more to fill a rainy afternoon. The High Desert Museum, with its Indigenous heritage, pioneer history and live animals, is a genuine half-day, and the old mill smokestacks and Tower Theatre add some townscape.

In Whitefish the Great Northern depot and its small railway museum are about the whole list, so an hour covers it.

Both towns go to bed early, and neither has clubs. The difference is in the setting. Bend's evenings centre on taprooms and food-cart courtyards, with a short strip of cocktail and dive bars downtown for later.

Whitefish feels more like the Old West, with saloons, pool tables and an après-ski crowd that drifts down from Big Mountain in winter, sometimes getting a little rowdy.

This is the strength of both, and they are close to equal, so it comes down to which landscape you want. Bend offers volcanic high desert and a long, dependable season, with Mount Bachelor for skiing, singletrack biking from the edge of town, Smith Rock for climbing and lava caves at Newberry.

Whitefish has Glacier National Park, with grizzlies, mountain goats, the Highline Trail and the Going-to-the-Sun Road, which is grander and wilder than anything near Bend. The catch is that the high country is reliably open only from July to September.

Both are weak on towns to visit and strong on landscapes to drive into. From Bend the best outings are the western main street of Sisters and the Warm Springs tribal museum, with Crater Lake as a long day out.

From Whitefish, Kalispell's Victorian Conrad Mansion, the galleries of Bigfork and the cherry orchards along Flathead Lake make gentler half-days.

Bend gives children more to do and asks less of them. River floats, the lantern-lit Lava River Cave, the otters and raptors at the High Desert Museum and the play lawns in Drake Park are all short hops, and there is a beginner area on Mount Bachelor in winter.

Whitefish has its summer zip line, alpine slide and calm City Beach, plus easy trails like the Trail of the Cedars. But children who don't like hiking may run out of things to do, and the drives into Glacier are long for small ones.

You need a car in both, and the compact centres are walkable in both. In Bend the extra is the bicycle, with a riverside path linking downtown to the Old Mill District and trails reaching out of town.

Whitefish's extra is the long-distance train stopping right at the downtown depot, which is rare in mountain country, and there is a free ski shuttle in winter.

Shopping is an afterthought in both, and the strength is outdoor gear. Bend has more of it, including ski, bike and climbing shops with consignment stores for used kit, plus mainstream chains in the old mill buildings and Oregon's lack of sales tax.

Whitefish is more about browsing Central Avenue for western wear, boots, wildlife art and huckleberry jam.

Neither is cheap, but Bend is somewhat easier on a budget. Food carts give you cheaper meals, most trails and rivers are free, and Oregon charges no sales tax.

Whitefish has scarce rooms that are priced hard in summer and ski season. The usual workaround is staying in Kalispell or Columbia Falls. In both towns, budget for a hire car and aim for spring or autumn.

Bend has the livelier stage. A large riverside amphitheatre in the Old Mill District brings touring rock, folk and country acts all summer, and the Tower Theatre keeps comedy, music and film going through the rest of the year.

Whitefish relies on its community arts centre, a summer theatre company and the valley symphony over in Kalispell. That is respectable for its size, but you would have to plan around it.

Neither has a bathing tradition, and rest in both means a soak or a massage after an active day. Bend's edge is the primitive hot springs in the Newberry caldera and the resort spas around Sunriver.

Whitefish has no thermal water close by, so it offers quiet lakeside mornings, lodge spas and yoga studios instead.