Canmore or Whistler?

Neither town has a coast, but Whistler's lakes make a better swimming afternoon. Lost Lake has a sandy shore and a dock within walking distance of the village, Alta and Alpha Lakes have rafts and jetties, and the shallower lakes can reach about 20°C in a warm spell.

Canmore has Quarry Lake, a small grassy shore on the edge of town where the water stays bracing even in July. Expect a quick, cold dip there rather than an afternoon lying by the water.

Whistler eats a little better. Its village restaurants cook Pacific Northwest produce such as spot prawns and BC salmon, back them with some of the deepest wine cellars in the province, and have ramen and sushi counters alongside. Canmore's strength is breakfast and the meal after a hike: bakeries and coffee shops on Main Street, brewpubs, and a few kitchens doing Alberta beef, bison and game.

Neither town has much range or any market culture to speak of. From Canmore, though, Banff is twenty minutes away and Calgary is the place for a serious meal, while Whistler leaves you eating around the same few streets.

Sightseeing is thin in both towns, but Whistler has more worth a few hours. The Audain Art Museum holds Emily Carr paintings and Northwest Coast First Nations masks, and the Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre tells the story of the two nations whose land this is.

Canmore's sights are its coal-mining past: a small museum, miners' cottages and the old Mounted Police barracks. Its richer heritage, Banff's museums and the Cave and Basin site, is a drive up the valley.

Whistler is the town for a night out. Après-ski fills the patios as the lifts close, and later a handful of clubs and late bars in the village stay loud until the early hours on winter weekends. The crowd is young and beery, and outside the ski season and the summer bike festivals the village quietens early.

Canmore's evenings are a pint in a brewpub with climbers and Calgary weekenders, perhaps with a local band, and most places wind down well before midnight. Anyone after a later night takes the bus to Banff.

Both are first-rate mountain bases, but they suit different trips. Whistler is built around the lifts. Whistler and Blackcomb are joined by the Peak 2 Peak Gondola and get deep Coast Mountains snow, the lower slopes become a famous downhill bike park in summer, and gondolas carry hikers up towards the high trails and the turquoise lakes of Garibaldi.

Canmore is about going up on foot. Scrambles on Ha Ling Peak, climbing routes and the Grassi Lakes trail start from town, and Banff National Park, Lake Louise, the Icefields Parkway and the quieter peaks of Kananaskis are all within a drive. Skiing here means touring, Nordic trails and the resorts around Banff, not a mountain at the end of the street.

Canmore has the better outings. Banff is twenty minutes up the valley, with its museums, the Cave and Basin site and the Upper Hot Springs. Calgary, a little over an hour away, adds Heritage Park and the Stampede in July, and Lake Louise and the railway town of Field make smaller stops.

From Whistler the choices are Squamish and its gondola, farming Pemberton and the Britannia mining museum on the way south. Vancouver is the big draw, but at two hours each way it is a long day.

Whistler is set up for families. The village is car-free, ski schools are large and gentle runs suit beginners. In summer there are lake beaches, mini-golf and an adventure park at the base of Blackcomb. Its drawback is the noisy après crowd in the evenings.

Canmore is calmer and works best for families who already like the outdoors. There are riverside paths for pushchairs and bikes, elk in the streets, and a pool and climbing wall for wet days. Most outings beyond the town need a car, and neither place has a zoo or aquarium.

Whistler is far easier without a car. The village is pedestrian-only, the gondolas leave from its edge, free shuttles run along the valley and the Valley Trail links the lakes on foot or by bike. You only need a coach or a car to arrive from Vancouver or to leave the valley.

Canmore's centre is small and walkable, and buses run up to Banff, but much of the reason to come is out of reach without a car. That includes many trailheads, all of Kananaskis and the Icefields Parkway. In winter that means driving mountain roads on proper tyres.

Neither town is a shopping trip, but Whistler's village is better stocked. It is full of ski, board and bike shops with specialist tuning and rental, plus galleries selling Indigenous prints and carvings.

Canmore's Main Street has outdoor clothing, gift shops and galleries of mountain landscapes, enough to replace a pair of boots. For a proper shop, people go to Calgary.

Both are costly, but Canmore is the gentler on the wallet. You pay for a hire car and park passes, and rooms fill up in summer and the ski season. Still, hiking costs nothing, and condos and picnics keep spending down.

Whistler is in another league in winter. Its lift passes are among the world's most expensive, slopeside rooms climb steeply over Christmas, and rentals and lessons add up fast for a family. Spring and autumn are its cheaper seasons.

Canmore has more to offer here. Its Folk Music Festival, one of Canada's oldest, fills a riverside park over the August long weekend, and the Banff Centre up the valley adds classical concerts, theatre and the Mountain Film Festival.

Whistler offers free summer concerts in Olympic Plaza, buskers in the village and cover bands in the ski season, with no theatre season or orchestra. For a real concert or play, you have to go down to Vancouver.

Both towns are good places to rest tired legs, but in different ways. Whistler's large Nordic-style spa sits in the forest right in the valley, a silent evening of hot pools and cold plunges among the cedars. The village around it, though, is loud on peak winter weekends.

Canmore's calm is steadier, with quiet streets and early evenings. For bathing, you drive to the natural mineral water of the Banff Upper Hot Springs or to the outdoor spa at Kananaskis Village.