Kelowna or Vancouver?

For swimming, Kelowna clearly wins. In high summer Okanagan Lake is several degrees warmer than the sea at Vancouver. Hot Sands in City Park, then Gyro and Rotary further south, give you sand, clear fresh water and room for paddleboards and windsurfing, all close to downtown.

Vancouver's beaches are more about the city's life than the water. People go to English Bay and Kitsilano for picnics, volleyball and the sunsets, and to the long sweep from Jericho to Spanish Banks for the mountain views. If you want a proper swim, the saltwater pool at Kitsilano is the warm option.

Vancouver is the more rewarding place to eat. Its Cantonese dim sum and seafood in the city and Richmond, the sushi counters and Korean and Taiwanese cooking give it a range that Kelowna cannot match. Salmon, spot prawns and Dungeness crab add a local Pacific character.

In Kelowna, eating centres on the wine country rather than the town. The best meals are on winery terraces above the lake, with summer fruit from the farm stands. Downtown has a modest set of restaurants, and beyond it there are mostly chains. Vancouver's better wine lists often come from the Okanagan anyway.

Neither city is a sightseeing destination, but Vancouver has much more to see. The Museum of Anthropology, with its hall of Northwest Coast totem poles and canoes, is worth the trip on its own. Add Gastown's Victorian warehouses, the Dr Sun Yat-Sen Garden in Chinatown and the Emily Carr paintings at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and you have a couple of full days.

Kelowna's culture fits into a single afternoon. You can see the Okanagan Heritage Museum's Syilx and settler history, the small Kelowna Art Gallery and the log buildings at Father Pandosy Mission.

Vancouver is known as an early-to-bed city, but it still has the wider night out. There are cocktail and wine bars in Gastown's brick buildings, brewery taprooms around Main Street, clubs on the Granville strip and gay nightlife in Davie Village, and they keep going outside summer.

Kelowna's evenings mostly happen along Bernard Avenue, with pubs, taprooms, patios and a couple of clubs. In July and August they fill with students and stag and hen parties. Once the season ends, the town goes quiet.

Both are outdoor destinations, but Vancouver's setting is in a different class. The North Shore mountains rise across the harbour, with forest trails and lit ski runs less than half an hour from downtown. You also have Stanley Park's cedar forest, the canyons at Lynn and Capilano, whale watching, and the Sea-to-Sky Highway running up to Squamish and Whistler.

Kelowna's landscape is drier and gentler: pine-dotted hills, vineyards and a long lake made for wakeboarding and kayaking. Its standout outing is the trestle ride through Myra Canyon. Big White's dry powder is about an hour's drive away in winter.

The two are about level on day trips, but the trips themselves are very different. From Kelowna, almost every outing is a drive through more wine country. You can go south to Penticton and the Naramata Bench, further on to Oliver and Osoyoos with the Nk'Mip desert cultural centre, or north to Vernon and the O'Keefe Ranch.

From Vancouver, most outings go into the landscape. The one real city trip is Victoria, a long day that includes a ferry crossing to its harbour and Parliament Buildings. Steveston, Fort Langley, Bowen Island and Whistler make shorter options.

Vancouver has more for children to do. Stanley Park alone gives you the aquarium, a miniature train, playgrounds and a water park. Science World and the little ferries to Granville Island's children's market are central, and the suspension bridges and Grouse Mountain gondola make easy outings. The catch is rain on many days outside summer.

Kelowna is better suited to a summer family vacation on the water. It has shallow, warm beaches, paddleboards, pick-your-own orchards and the flat Myra Canyon trail. In winter, Big White's ski-in, ski-out lodgings work well for families. There is no aquarium or zoo, though, and you will be driving between attractions.

Vancouver is far easier without a car. The central neighbourhoods are walkable, the seawall makes for a lovely bike ride, and one tap-on card covers the SkyTrain from the airport, the buses and the SeaBus to North Vancouver.

In Kelowna, the stretch from downtown to the waterfront is compact, and a lakeside path leads south to the beaches. Beyond that, the city spreads out along Highway 97, and the wineries, Myra Canyon and Big White all need a car or a tour.

Vancouver has much more shopping, though few people visit for it. Robson Street has the flagship stores and Alberni Street the luxury names. Granville Island's studios, Main Street's vintage shops and the Asian malls in Richmond add variety. Northwest Coast Indigenous prints and carvings are the most distinctive things to take home.

Kelowna's shops amount to a few boutiques around Bernard Avenue and a regional mall. The best things to buy there are wine from the cellar doors and preserves from the farm stands.

Both are expensive, but Kelowna costs a little less. Outside July and August its rooms get noticeably cheaper, apart from ski weeks, and the beaches and trails are free. Car hire, tastings and boat rentals still add up.

Vancouver's downtown hotels are steep, especially in summer and the cruise season, and tax and tips push up restaurant bills. You can save with noodle shops, dim sum, reasonably priced public transport and a free day on the seawall.

Vancouver has a proper performing arts calendar. The symphony plays in the ornate 1927 Orpheum, and the opera and Ballet BC perform at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. In summer there is Bard on the Beach in Vanier Park, the Fringe on Granville Island, and the jazz and folk festivals.

Kelowna's programme is regional. The Okanagan Symphony and local companies perform at the Community Theatre, touring acts play the arena, and in summer there is music on winery patios. It makes a pleasant evening, but not a reason to go.

Vancouver is slightly better for unwinding, though neither city has hot springs or a bathing tradition. Vancouver offers a long-standing yoga scene, good hotel day spas, massage and reflexology in Chinatown and Richmond, and forest walks close at hand.

In Kelowna, relaxing means long lunches on vineyard terraces and quiet mornings on the lake, plus spas at the larger lakeside resorts. It is easiest outside the busy peak weeks of summer.