Canmore or Victoria?

Neither place is a beach destination, but Victoria at least has a shoreline to enjoy. Willows Beach and Gonzales Bay are sheltered sand for a stroll or paddling at the edge, and the Dallas Road coast is driftwood and pebble.

Canmore's only option is Quarry Lake, fed by snowmelt and bracing even in high summer. Victoria's Thetis Lake and the Sooke Potholes warm up enough for a proper swim, which gives it the edge on a hot afternoon.

Victoria eats better and with more variety: Dungeness crab, spot prawns and oysters, produce from the Saanich Peninsula and the Cowichan Valley, afternoon tea at the Empress and Canada's oldest Chinatown. Canmore keeps it simple with bakeries, brewpubs and a few kitchens doing Alberta beef, bison and game. It is good for breakfast and a meal after a hike, but for range you have to drive to Banff or Calgary.

The gap here is wide. Canmore's sights are the small mining museum, a few miners' cottages, the old Mounted Police barracks and the 1988 Olympic Nordic Centre, which take an hour at most.

Victoria offers a proper two or three days: the domed Parliament and the Empress around the Inner Harbour, the Royal BC Museum's First Nations collections, Craigdarroch Castle, Fan Tan Alley and the Emily Carr House. It is a modest city for sights, but next to Canmore it is rich.

Both are early-to-bed places built around the pub, but Victoria has more of them and more kinds. Its old brick streets around Wharf, Yates and Lower Johnson hold taprooms, British-style pubs, cocktail bars and a small weekend student club scene. In Canmore it's a brewpub with climbers and Calgary weekenders, perhaps a band, and quiet before midnight. Anyone wanting a later night there has to head up to Banff.

Canmore is one of the great mountain bases in North America. Ha Ling Peak, the Grassi Lakes and the Nordic Centre trails start in town, elk and bighorn sheep walk the streets, and Lake Louise, Moraine Lake and the Icefields Parkway lie up the valley. Summer and winter are both full seasons.

Victoria's outdoors is softer and coastal: orca and humpback trips from the harbour, beginner sea kayaking around Discovery Island, old-growth cedar at Goldstream and the Juan de Fuca coast. It is lovely, and you can be out all year, but there are no high mountains.

Victoria has more varied outings: Butchart Gardens, seaside Sidney, the wineries and cideries of the Cowichan Valley, Chemainus's murals, Salt Spring Island by ferry and even Vancouver by floatplane. Most involve water crossings, so they take time.

From Canmore, Banff with its hot springs and Whyte Museum is the obvious trip, with Calgary's museums and the Stampede an hour east. Past that, the surroundings are mountains rather than towns, which is wonderful for hiking but thin for sightseeing.

Both are safe, calm places with no zoo or theme park, but Victoria gives children slightly more to do. Beacon Hill Park's petting farm, the Royal BC Museum's replica old town, seaplanes in the harbour, whale watching and a small aquarium in Sidney all help.

Canmore is better for families who already love the outdoors: riverside bike paths, Grassi Lakes, elk spotting and winter sledding. It does need a car and some care about bears on the trails.

Victoria is much easier without a car. The harbour, museum, Chinatown and Beacon Hill Park are a short walk apart, harbour ferries hop between docks and protected bike lanes run through the centre. Only Sooke and the Cowichan Valley really call for a car.

Canmore's centre is walkable and the Bow River paths are good for cycling, and a bus runs to Banff. But the trailheads, Kananaskis and the Icefields Parkway are car territory, and winter mountain roads need proper tyres.

Canmore's Main Street is for replacing boots or a waterproof and browsing a few galleries of mountain art. Victoria gives shoppers more to explore: the restored storefronts of Lower Johnson Street, Market Square, Chinatown's tea and curio shops, second-hand bookshops, and specialist galleries selling Northwest Coast First Nations carvings and prints. Neither has luxury brands.

Both are expensive, but Victoria is somewhat easier on the wallet. Its compact centre means little spending on transport, and from November to March room rates drop well. Pub meals and Chinatown help on a budget.

Canmore's rooms are priced like those of a resort by a national park, and most visitors add a hire car and park passes on top. Hiking is free, and self-catering condos and spring or late-autumn visits soften the cost.

Victoria has a steady season in its historic Royal Theatre and McPherson Playhouse, with symphony, opera and ballet, plus contemporary theatre at the Belfry and summer jazz and Fringe festivals. Canmore's moment is the long-running Folk Music Festival on the August long weekend. Beyond that, it relies on its small arts centre, pub bands and the Banff Centre up the valley, and most evenings little is on.

Canmore is slightly better for unwinding, mainly thanks to its surroundings. The Banff Upper Hot Springs and the Nordic-style spa at Kananaskis Village, with outdoor pools under the peaks, are real treats after a day on the trails.

Victoria's calm comes from its pace instead: gardens, seafront walks and long afternoon teas in Oak Bay or James Bay. It has no thermal water, and spa time means hotel spas and a few waterfront retreats.