Edmonton or Jasper?

Neither place is a swimming destination, but Jasper has the nicer dip. Lake Annette and Lake Edith are a few minutes from town, with small sandy beaches and mountains behind them. They are warm enough for a swim in July and August, though the water stays refreshing rather than warm.

From Edmonton, lakes such as Pigeon and Wabamun are an hour's drive away, and blue-green algae can close them late in summer. A swim there usually means the mall's indoor wave pool or one of the city's outdoor pools instead.

Edmonton eats better by some distance. There is Alberta beef, Ukrainian perogies and cabbage rolls, and Vietnamese, Ethiopian or Filipino cooking in the strip malls, so there is real range to explore. Whyte Avenue, 124 Street and the Old Strathcona Farmers' Market are the places to start.

Jasper's dining is a short run of brewpub, steakhouses, pizza and bakeries along the main streets, with formal dinners in the resort lodges. It feeds hungry hikers well enough, but tables book up in summer and many visitors simply cook for themselves.

Edmonton has the sights, modest as they are. The Royal Alberta Museum with its First Nations galleries, the steel-and-glass Art Gallery of Alberta, the domed Legislature and Fort Edmonton Park's living history fill two days. In Jasper, the 1914 stone-and-timber information centre, a small museum of fur-trade and railway history, the station and a totem pole make up a single short stroll.

For going out, Edmonton is the place. Whyte Avenue's pubs, dive bars and small clubs fill with students at weekends. The streets around the arena are busy on hockey and concert nights, and 124 Street suits a quieter glass of wine.

In Jasper, a brewpub and a few pubs serve seasonal staff and skiers, and most visitors go to bed early so they can be out for wildlife at dawn. The better night out there is under the stars, in one of the largest dark-sky preserves in the world.

This is where Jasper is in its element. Black bears, bighorn sheep and elk are seen along the roads. Maligne Lake and Spirit Island, the hanging glacier on Mount Edith Cavell and the Icefields Parkway to the Columbia Icefield put it among the great mountain parks, and in winter there is skiing at Marmot Basin.

Edmonton's North Saskatchewan River Valley is a ribbon of trails and ravines through the city, wilder than most city parks, and the bison of Elk Island are 40 minutes away. Beyond those, the land is flat farmland.

Neither town is a good base for excursions, but Edmonton has a few more. The onion-domed churches of the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village and the vintage cars and aircraft at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum are each within an hour, and St Albert and Lacombe make pleasant stops.

From Jasper, nearly every outing goes into the park itself. Hinton and Valemount have little to see, and Banff and Lake Louise are too far down the Icefields Parkway for a return trip in a day.

Edmonton is the easier place to bring children of any age. Through the long winter, West Edmonton Mall's waterpark, roller coasters and ice rink sit under one roof, and the TELUS World of Science adds hands-on galleries and a planetarium. In summer, Fort Edmonton Park's steam train and costumed interpreters and the compact Valley Zoo make good outings.

Jasper suits families who already love the outdoors, with elk and bears to spot from the car, paddling at the town lakes and the bridges over Maligne Canyon. Nothing there is built for children, though, and the drives are long and winding, so it works best once they are old enough for walks.

Neither is easy without a car. Edmonton at least has the LRT linking downtown, the university and the southern suburbs, walkable areas in downtown and Old Strathcona, and pedways for the coldest days. Its sights are spread out, though, so most visitors still rely on a car or ride-hailing.

Jasper town is a few walkable blocks with a railway station, and that is all. The lakes, canyons and trailheads lie along valley roads served only by seasonal shuttles and tours, so a car decides how much of the park you see.

Edmonton has far more to buy. There are hundreds of chain stores in West Edmonton Mall, vintage clothing and records on Whyte Avenue, and small boutiques and galleries on 124 Street. Jasper's two main streets have outdoor gear, plush-bear souvenirs and some wildlife photography and Indigenous art, which is enough for a forgotten fleece or a gift.

Edmonton is noticeably kinder to the wallet. Hotels are moderately priced outside the festival weeks, car hire is cheaper, and the river valley and many of the summer festivals cost nothing.

Jasper has few rooms and charges a lot for them in summer, and meals and fuel cost more than in the cities. On top of that come a park pass and usually car hire. Camping, cooking for yourself, or coming in the shoulder seasons or winter narrows the gap.

Edmonton has a real stage life, and Jasper has almost none. The August Fringe, the largest of its kind in North America, takes over Old Strathcona, and the Folk Music Festival fills Gallagher Park. The Citadel Theatre, the Winspear Centre and the Jubilee Auditorium carry symphony, opera and ballet through the rest of the year.

In Jasper, a performance means an occasional guitarist in a pub, plus a few concerts during the town's seasonal festivals.

Jasper is the more restful choice, although neither is a spa destination. Miette Hot Springs, an hour east, has the hottest springs in the Canadian Rockies in a forested valley, open in the warmer months only. The town's quiet mornings and dark skies do the rest.

Edmonton has Nordic-style spas with saunas, cold plunges and outdoor hot pools, at their best in winter with snow all around, plus hotel spas and leisure centres. The city is calm, but you need a car to reach most of these spas.