Juneau or Tofino?

Neither is a swimming destination, and both seas are too cold for a comfortable dip. The real difference is the shoreline. Juneau's coast is gravel, rock and tidal flats below steep forest, and Sandy Beach and Eagle Beach are places for a fire or for watching eagles at low tide.

Tofino has proper beaches. Long Beach in the national park runs for a great distance, a sandbar at Chesterman Beach leads out to Frank Island, Cox Bay has steady surf and MacKenzie Beach is calmer. Beach walks and surf lessons fill whole days there, which Juneau cannot match.

Both towns cook the same catch of salmon, halibut, Dungeness crab and spot prawns, and both have only a small number of places to eat. Juneau serves its seafood plainly, at fish-and-chips shacks by the harbour, at salmon bakes and in a few serious downtown restaurants. Much of its waterfront is aimed at cruise passengers.

Tofino gets more variety out of a similar size: fish tacos from food trucks, seafood rooms with ocean views, West Coast tasting menus, oysters from Clayoquot Sound and coffee taken seriously. Both shrink in winter, but Tofino keeps a food-minded visitor interested for longer.

Juneau has far more to see. The Alaska State Museum covers the state's Native cultures, the Russian period and the gold rush, and the Walter Soboleff Building is devoted to Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian art. The onion-domed St. Nicholas church, the Capitol and the Treadwell mine ruins fill a second day.

Tofino has no museums or historic landmarks. Its culture is the living Nuu-chah-nulth presence, seen in galleries and in carving you may catch in progress, plus the Kwisitis Visitor Centre. An afternoon covers it.

Neither town is a place for a night out, and both wind down early. Juneau's evenings have more character, with gold-rush saloons along South Franklin Street and winter bars where legislators and fishermen drink side by side. In Tofino an evening means a taproom, a pub or a restaurant bar full of surfers, and it more often ends at a beach fire or in a hot tub before an early tide.

Both are outstanding wild places and the main reason to go, so the choice comes down to the kind of wilderness you want. Juneau is ice and mountains: the Mendenhall Glacier with bears fishing at Steep Creek, helicopter landings and dog-sledding on the icefield, the fjord of Tracy Arm and humpbacks feeding in Auke Bay.

Tofino is ocean and old-growth forest: giant cedars on Meares Island and along the park boardwalks, grey whales, sea otters and bears on the shore, kayaking among the islands of Clayoquot Sound, surfing all year and storm watching in winter. Both are very wet, so bring good waterproofs to either.

Both towns are isolated, and in each the real outings go into the landscape rather than to other towns. From Juneau, the false-fronted gold-rush street and White Pass railway at Skagway, or quieter Haines, are a short flight or a long ferry day away. Tofino's only easy neighbour is Ucluelet down the peninsula, good for its lighthouse loop. The rest of Vancouver Island lies over a long mountain road.

Juneau works best with school-age children. Whale boats, bears fishing below the glacier, the Mount Roberts tram and the touch tanks at the Macaulay hatchery thrill older children, but many of these are long or pricey tours, and there is little indoors for the frequent wet days.

Tofino is easier with toddlers and younger children. Tide pools full of sea stars, driftwood forts, surf lessons in child-sized wetsuits and short boardwalk trails cost little and keep small children busy outdoors. Rainy days are just as hard to fill, though, and the winding road in can test young passengers.

Juneau can only be reached by plane or ferry, as no road links it to the rest of the continent. Once there, the steep, compact downtown is easy on foot, with the docks, museums and tramway close together, but the glacier needs a tour shuttle, taxi or hire car, since the local bus stops short of it.

Tofino is a drive in over the mountains, and most visitors keep the car for their stay, because the beaches, trailheads and resorts string out along the highway south of the village. In dry weather the paved path towards the national park makes cycling a pleasant alternative. In both towns the best outings go by boat or floatplane.

Neither is worth a trip for shopping, and in both the best buys are Indigenous art. Juneau's downtown is lined with cruise-ship jewellery and souvenir stores that close for winter, but you can find Tlingit and Haida carving at the Sealaska Heritage shop, along with smoked salmon and rain gear. In Tofino, galleries of Nuu-chah-nulth carving and silver sit beside surf shops and beach-style boutiques, which makes for a smaller, easier-going browse.

In Juneau most of the money goes on the excursions people come for: helicopter landings on the icefield, whale trips and floatplane flights. Food and drink are dear too, since almost everything is shipped or flown in, and summer rooms are scarce. Free trails and the local bus soften the bill a little.

In Tofino more of the cost falls on rooms, which command very high rates in summer and at long weekends, even in simple motels and cabins. Campgrounds offer a cheaper way in, the beaches and park trails cost little, and room rates drop noticeably in the stormy months from November to March.

Juneau has a real arts life for its size. There is a professional theatre company across the channel in Douglas, a community symphony, the free Alaska Folk Festival in spring and the Celebration gathering of Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian dance, held every two years. Much of this happens outside summer, when visitors mostly see Native dance performances.

Tofino has no theatre or concert venue. Live performance there means the odd band at a pub or brewery and a few community festivals in summer.

Tofino is built for slowing down in a way Juneau is not. Resort spas use local seaweed and cedar, yoga classes and small retreats are easy to find, and the trip by boat or floatplane to the geothermal rock pools of Hot Springs Cove makes a full, restful day.

Juneau has a few small day spas and the public pools. Its calm comes from rainforest walks and from the evenings after the ships have sailed. On a busy cruise day, downtown is anything but restful.