Calgary or Jasper?

Neither is a beach destination, but Jasper has the better swim. Lake Annette and Lake Edith, a few minutes' drive from town, are shallow enough to warm up in July and August, and their small sandy beaches face a ring of mountains.

Calgary's water is more suburban leisure than scenery: Sikome Lake in Fish Creek Park, Chestermere Lake on the eastern edge, or a lazy float down the Bow on an inner tube.

Calgary gives you more to explore. Ranch-country beef fills its steakhouses, ginger beef is a local claim to fame, and the suburbs cook good Vietnamese, Filipino and Lebanese food. Add the breweries around Manchester and Ramsay and farmers' markets selling bison and Saskatoon berry pie.

Jasper feeds hungry hikers well enough from a short list of pubs, burger and pizza places along its main streets. Summer queues and a shorter off-season mean many visitors simply self-cater.

Calgary is a young city, but it has two good days of sights: western Canadian art at the Glenbow, instruments and music archives at Studio Bell, the pioneer village at Heritage Park and the 1880s sandstone fronts of Stephen Avenue.

Jasper's cultural side takes an hour on foot. It covers the 1914 stone and timber information centre, the small museum of fur traders and railway history, the station and a totem pole.

Calgary has a real night out. There are pubs and cocktail patios along 17th Avenue SW and in the East Village, and country bars where line dancing and a mechanical bull are part of the evening. In July the Stampede keeps the whole city out past midnight for ten days.

Jasper's evenings are a brewpub and a few pubs full of seasonal staff. Its best night-time outing is stargazing in the dark-sky preserve.

Both are superb mountain bases, but Jasper has the edge because the wilderness starts at the end of the street. Bears, bighorn sheep and mountain goats are seen along the valley roads. Maligne Lake, Mount Edith Cavell and the Whistlers tramway are all close, and the Columbia Icefield is down the Parkway.

From Calgary you reach Kananaskis in about an hour and Banff in about ninety minutes, so the scenery comes with a daily drive. In return the city has riverside pathways along the Bow and Elbow and the open grassland of Nose Hill, with views over the mountains.

Calgary has far more variety within a return drive. To the west are Banff and Canmore, to the north-east are the badlands and the Royal Tyrrell Museum at Drumheller, and to the south are Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump and the Bar U Ranch.

Jasper's outings all lead into the park. Hinton and Valemount are working towns with little to see, and Banff is too far for a return day, so most travellers move on and stay there instead.

Calgary is built with children in mind. Besides the zoo and TELUS Spark there are the paddlewheeler at Heritage Park, Calaway Park and the zip lines at Canada Olympic Park, and in July the Stampede midway.

Jasper works for outdoor families. Children can spot elk from the car, cross the bridges over Maligne Canyon, camp and paddle at the lake beaches. There are no zoos or children's museums, though, and the long, winding drives suit children old enough to enjoy them.

Both really need a car for the mountains, but Calgary is much easier without one. Downtown is a compact grid linked by the Plus 15 skywalks, two CTrain lines reach the zoo and Stampede Park, and cycling paths run between Kensington, Inglewood and the Beltline.

Jasper is only a few blocks across and has a station on the transcontinental line. Beyond town, though, there are only seasonal shuttles and tours.

Calgary has the range: the major chains at CORE and Chinook Centre, independent boutiques and record shops in Kensington and Inglewood, and its signature buy, hand-made cowboy boots, felt hats and saddlery from long-standing western outfitters.

Jasper's two streets cover the forgotten fleece and a souvenir bear. The galleries of Indigenous art and wildlife photography are the more interesting stops.

Neither is cheap, but Calgary costs less. Outside Stampede week its hotels are reasonable by Canadian standards, and food courts and family restaurants keep meals in check. The big costs come once you head into the mountains.

Jasper starts out expensive because rooms are scarce in a small town inside a national park, and meals and fuel cost more than in the city. Camping, self-catering and visiting outside summer make the biggest difference.

Calgary has a dependable programme. The Philharmonic plays in the Jack Singer Concert Hall at the Werklund Centre, Theatre Calgary performs next door, and Calgary Opera puts on a short season. In summer the Folk Music Festival comes to Prince's Island and the Stampede grandstand show combines chuckwagon races and fireworks.

Jasper has no stage at all. Live music means a guitarist in a pub on some nights and a few events during its seasonal festivals.

The two are broadly level, and neither has a bathing culture in town. In both cities the best soak is about an hour's drive away. From Calgary that means the Nordic spa in Kananaskis or Banff's historic Upper Hot Springs, while Jasper has Miette Hot Springs, the hottest in the Canadian Rockies, open only in the warmer months.

The difference is the setting. Calgary adds day spas and yoga studios to a practical working city, while Jasper offers quiet: lakeside walks, mornings without traffic and dark night skies.