Seattle or Whistler?

Neither place is somewhere to go for the beach, and in both the real swimming is in lakes that reach about 20°C in high summer. The difference is the setting. Seattle also has sandy strips on salt water at Alki and Golden Gardens, which are good for bonfires and sunsets over the Olympics but too cold for most swimmers. Its lifeguarded beaches on Lake Washington make easy city afternoons.

Whistler has no sea at all. What it offers is Lost Lake, Alta Lake and Alpha Lake, with docks and rafts, a short walk or bike ride from the village, so a swim fits neatly after a hike.

Seattle eats much better, and the gap shows on any visit longer than a weekend. Pike Place Market, the raw bars serving oysters and Dungeness crab, the serious coffee roasters and the Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese cooking in the International District give you real range, plus the local teriyaki shops for cheap meals.

Whistler has a few ambitious kitchens with strong British Columbia wine cellars, and its après patios are fun. But there is no market or street food, and after a few nights you are eating along the same streets again.

Seattle has a good deal more to see. That means the Space Needle and the Museum of Pop Culture at Seattle Center, the Asian art in Volunteer Park, the brick blocks of Pioneer Square and the vast Museum of Flight, enough for two or three full days.

Whistler fills a morning or two. The Audain Art Museum's Emily Carr paintings and First Nations masks and the Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre are both worth a visit, and the 2010 Olympic venues are worth a look. After that, sightseeing gives way to the mountains.

Seattle offers the broader night out. Capitol Hill's Pike and Pine streets have cocktail bars, dive bars, dance floors and the city's LGBTQ+ scene. Ballard and Fremont add brewery taprooms and relaxed pubs, though things wind down at last call.

Whistler's nightlife depends on the season. In winter, après-ski on the gondola-base patios runs into a few clubs packed with seasonal workers and groups, and they stay loud late. Outside the ski season and the summer bike festivals, dinner is usually the whole evening.

Both are excellent bases for the outdoors, but Whistler puts it on the doorstep. Whistler and Blackcomb offer more than 200 runs, glaciers and deep Coast Mountains snow, and you reach them from the village by gondola. In summer the lower slopes become a downhill bike park and Garibaldi's turquoise lakes are within hiking reach.

Seattle's nature is spread wider and takes more driving. Snoqualmie's trails and ski areas are under an hour away, Mount Rainier is about two hours, and the Olympic rainforest lies across the Sound. In town, kayaking on Lake Union and walks in Discovery Park fill the gaps.

Seattle has many more easy outings. Ferries cross to Bainbridge Island, Whidbey Island and Victorian Port Townsend, the Woodinville tasting rooms are half an hour away, and Tacoma's glass and railway-station museums are about an hour south.

From Whistler, what lies within reach is mostly wilderness. Pemberton, Squamish's Sea to Sky Gondola and the Britannia mine museum make short stops. Vancouver is the one big outing, and at about two hours each way many people stay the night.

Both work well with children, but in different ways. Seattle is a city vacation built on attractions: Woodland Park Zoo, the aquarium on the waterfront, the Pacific Science Center and the Museum of Flight, with the monorail and the ferries as treats in themselves. Its steep streets and wet months take some planning.

Whistler is an activity vacation. The car-free village, large ski schools, tubing and sledding fill winter days, and in summer there are lake beaches, mini-golf and gondola rides to spot marmots and bears. Self-catering flats make family meals simple. On a rainy day, though, there is no museum to fall back on, and the youngest usually do better in July than in freezing midwinter, when the village patios get loud after the lifts close.

Whistler is simpler to get around once you are there. The village is pedestrian-only, the gondolas leave from its edge, and free shuttles and the Valley Trail cover the rest. Leaving the valley, though, means a coach or a car on a highway that can be hard going in snow.

Seattle needs more effort. The centre is walkable, though hilly, and light rail links the airport, downtown and Capitol Hill. But water and hills split up the neighbourhoods, buses to Ballard or Alki are slow, and you need a car for the national parks.

Seattle gives you far more to browse. Downtown has department stores and big outdoor gear shops, and Pike Place has makers' stalls. Capitol Hill has vintage and record shops, Fremont has a Sunday market and Ballard has design stores, with Bellevue's malls across the lake for luxury.

Whistler's village is mostly ski, board and bike shops, very good for gear and tuning, with a few galleries selling Indigenous prints and carvings. For much else you will come home empty-handed.

Neither place is cheap, but Whistler costs more. Its lift passes are among the world's most expensive, slopeside rooms climb steeply over Christmas, and village meals, rentals and lessons quickly add up for a family. Kitchens, free shuttles and spring or autumn dates help.

Seattle is expensive too, with high hotel rates in summer and tax and tipping on every restaurant bill. Still, transit, food halls and staying near the light rail outside the centre keep a city break within easier reach.

Seattle is far ahead here. Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet perform at McCaw Hall, the Symphony plays a full season at Benaroya Hall, and the 5th Avenue and Paramount stage musicals. The city of Hendrix and grunge still has bands playing in Belltown, Capitol Hill and Ballard most nights.

Whistler offers free summer concerts in Olympic Plaza, buskers and pub cover bands. For a play or an orchestra, you would drive down to Vancouver.

Whistler is better for rest and treatments. Its Nordic-style outdoor spa among the cedars, with hot pools, saunas, cold plunges and a rule of silence, is a reason to book in itself. Hotel spas and massage studios cater to sore legs after the slopes.

Seattle has hotel spas and a few Korean-style bathhouses in the suburbs. Its relaxation is mostly informal: slow coffee-house mornings and quiet hours in the Japanese Garden and the Arboretum.