Calgary or Toronto?

Calgary is a prairie city about 1,000km from any coast. In summer people swim at Sikome Lake and Chestermere, or float the Bow River on an inner tube. The turquoise lakes in the Rockies are glacier-cold and better for a canoe than a swim.

Toronto at least has proper sand. The Toronto Islands and Woodbine Beach on Lake Ontario give you a summer afternoon on the shore with the skyline behind you, although the water temperature is unreliable and the season is short.

Calgary eats best at a steakhouse supplied by Alberta's ranches. It also has ginger beef in Chinatown, craft breweries around Manchester and Ramsay, and farmers' markets selling bison and Saskatoon berry pie. It is solid cooking, but it will rarely shape a trip.

Toronto's eating follows its communities: dim sum and Hakka in Scarborough and Markham, Portuguese bakeries on Dundas West, tavernas on the Danforth, and peameal bacon at St Lawrence Market. Chef-driven restaurants along Ossington add a more ambitious tier, so the city rewards anyone willing to plan meals around neighbourhoods.

Both are young cities with little old fabric. Calgary covers its own story in compact form: the Glenbow for western Canadian art, Studio Bell for music, Heritage Park's pioneer village and the 1880s sandstone on Stephen Avenue. Its most striking heritage, the dinosaur fossils and Blackfoot sites, lies out on the plains.

Toronto's museums are the bigger draw. The Royal Ontario Museum and the Group of Seven paintings at the Art Gallery of Ontario fill a day on their own, and the Aga Khan and Bata Shoe museums reward a second visit.

Calgary goes out mainly at weekends, on 17th Avenue SW and in the East Village. Its signature is the country bar, with line dancing and a mechanical bull, and it comes fully to life for the ten days of the Stampede.

Toronto has more to choose from on any night of the week. You can drink wine and cocktails on Ossington, go somewhere looser in Parkdale, dress up for the King West clubs, or head to Church Street's gay village. Last call at 2am does keep the nights shorter than the city's size suggests.

This is where Calgary pulls far ahead. From the city you can reach the high trails and golden September larches of Kananaskis, the canyons and elk of Banff, and ski areas such as Sunshine and Lake Louise. At home, the Bow River pathways and the grassland of Nose Hill look out to the peaks.

Toronto's green space is gentler and closer to the city: wooded ravines along the Don and Humber, the oak savannah of High Park, and the pale Scarborough Bluffs above the lake. For real wilderness such as Algonquin, you need to set aside a weekend.

The day trips are about equal, but they are different kinds of outing. Calgary's spread wider in every direction: the mountain towns of Banff and Canmore to the west, the badlands and dinosaur fossils of Drumheller to the north-east, and Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump to the south. Nearly all of them need a car or a tour.

Toronto's list centres on one big day at Niagara. The train takes you as far as the Falls, and you need a car, bus or tour to reach Niagara-on-the-Lake and the wineries around it. Stratford's Shakespeare festival is a second option during the theatre season.

Both cities are safe and easy with children, and Toronto has a slight edge. Its aquarium shark tunnel, the CN Tower's glass floor, the ferry to Centreville and the big coasters at Canada's Wonderland are hard to beat, and many of them sit close to downtown.

Calgary answers with a zoo full of life-size dinosaurs, steam-train rides at Heritage Park, summer zip lines at Canada Olympic Park and the Stampede rodeo. Drumheller makes a memorable outing for older children, though most of these involve driving.

Toronto is much easier without a car. Downtown is flat and walkable from the waterfront to Yorkville, the PATH runs underneath in winter, and the subway, red streetcars and the UP Express airport train link most of what a visitor wants.

Calgary's core is compact, with the Plus 15 skywalks and two CTrain lines, and its riverside paths make cycling between Kensington and Inglewood pleasant. Its main draws lie in the mountains and badlands, though, so most visitors pick up a hire car at the airport.

Toronto offers far more range. It has luxury houses on Bloor Street in Yorkville, the glass-roofed Eaton Centre, Canadian designers and vintage on Queen West, and the secondhand clutter of Kensington Market.

Calgary is mostly malls, along with a few independent boutiques in Kensington and Inglewood. Its one real speciality is western wear: hand-made boots, felt hats and saddlery from long-established outfitters.

Calgary is the somewhat cheaper stay, with hotels that cost less than Toronto's outside Stampede week. The savings tend to go on the mountains, though: car hire, park entry, Banff hotels and lift passes add up quickly.

In Toronto the big costs are downtown rooms and drinks in bars. On the other hand, a flat transit fare, cheap meals in the suburban plazas and free walks through the ravines help balance the budget.

Calgary has a dependable regional programme: the Philharmonic and Theatre Calgary at the Werklund Centre, and a short opera season. Its own character comes out at the Folk Music Festival on Prince's Island and in the chuckwagon races and fireworks of the Stampede grandstand show.

Toronto is in another league. Long-running musicals fill the Royal Alexandra, the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet share the Four Seasons Centre, and Massey Hall and the clubs along Queen West and College put on live music most nights.

Calgary has the better places to unwind, thanks to the mountains. The Nordic spa in Kananaskis, with hot pools facing the peaks, is about an hour away, and the historic Upper Hot Springs on Sulphur Mountain in Banff is a little further.

In Toronto, relaxing mostly means hotel spas around Yorkville or a Korean bathhouse in the suburbs. The Nordic spas are a drive away in countryside towns, so an afternoon on Ward's Island is the easiest way to slow down.