Toronto or Vancouver?

Vancouver makes more of its shoreline. English Bay, Kitsilano and the long run of Jericho, Locarno and Spanish Banks are part of the city itself, facing the mountains, and summer evenings there end with sunsets over the water. The sea is cold, though, so a swim is a quick dip unless you use the saltwater pool at Kitsilano.

Toronto's lake can actually be warmer at the height of summer, but it is less dependable: a wind shift can chill it overnight and swimming is sometimes advised against after heavy rain. Its best sand is on the Toronto Islands, a ferry ride away, or out east at Woodbine Beach, so a beach day takes more planning than in Vancouver.

The two are evenly matched at the table, but they eat differently. Toronto's strength is range: Chinatown on Spadina, Little India on Gerrard, Portuguese bakeries, Greek tavernas on the Danforth, and some of the best Hakka, Sri Lankan, Caribbean and Persian cooking out in the Scarborough and Markham plazas, plus St Lawrence Market and the peameal bacon sandwich.

Vancouver goes deeper in fewer directions. Cantonese dim sum in the city and Richmond, sushi counters and Taiwanese snacks lead the way, and the local salmon, spot prawns, oysters and Dungeness crab give its better kitchens a sense of place that Toronto, with no seafood coast of its own, does not have.

Toronto has the fuller list of sights. The Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario, with its Group of Seven painting, are large collections, and the Bata Shoe Museum and Aga Khan Museum add good smaller visits, while the Distillery District and Casa Loma supply what historic fabric there is.

Vancouver's list is shorter but has one standout of its own: the Museum of Anthropology, where Northwest Coast totem poles and canoes fill a glass hall, a thread that carries on at Brockton Point and in Indigenous galleries. Gastown's cobbles and the Dr Sun Yat-Sen Garden fill out the rest, and in both cities a couple of days covers the essentials.

Toronto gives you far more to choose from after dark. Ossington and Dundas West are lined with cocktail and wine bars, Queen West and Parkdale are looser, King West has the dressed-up clubs, and Church Street anchors a large gay village, with summer patios lifting every strip.

Vancouver lives up to its early-to-bed reputation. A pleasant evening means a Gastown cocktail bar or a brewery taproom off Main Street, and the clubbing is mostly the loud weekend crowd on Granville Street, with Davie Village as the gay quarter. Neither city stays up very late, but Toronto feels like a night out and Vancouver like an evening.

This is the biggest gap between the two. Vancouver has Grouse, Cypress and Seymour across the harbour, with forest trails in summer and lit ski runs in winter, Stanley Park's cedar forest and seawall, rainforest canyons at Lynn and Capilano, and whales, kayaking and salmon runs on the water. Whistler's alpine country and Squamish's granite walls are about two hours up the Sea-to-Sky.

Toronto's green space is more modest: wooded ravines along the Don and Humber, High Park's oak savannah, the Scarborough Bluffs and cycling on the Islands. The Bruce Trail gives rocky hiking within an hour, but the land is flat and real wilderness like Algonquin is a weekend away.

Both cities have one good day out and a thin list after it. From Toronto it is Niagara, where the Falls pair with the wineries and 19th-century streets of Niagara-on-the-Lake in one long day, with Stratford's Shakespeare season as a second option.

Vancouver's headline is Victoria, with its harbour and Parliament Buildings, but the ferry makes it a long day. Most of its other outings, Steveston, Fort Langley and Bowen Island, are small, and the best excursions here head into the landscape rather than to towns.

Both work well with children, in different ways. Toronto has the bigger set pieces: the shark tunnel at the aquarium, the CN Tower's glass floor, a large zoo, the Royal Ontario Museum's dinosaurs, Centreville on the Islands and Canada's Wonderland's roller coasters about 40 minutes away.

Vancouver puts more of the day outdoors. Stanley Park holds the aquarium, a miniature train, playgrounds and the flat seawall for scooters, and the canyon suspension bridges and the Grouse gondola are memorable, though there is no theme park. Toronto's winters push families indoors, while Vancouver's problem is rain.

Vancouver is the easier city to get around. The driverless SkyTrain runs straight from the airport to downtown, the SeaBus crosses to the North Shore, one card covers both, and the seawall makes a hired bike a real way to travel. Kitsilano, the university and the mountains still mean buses.

Toronto's flat downtown grid is easy on foot, and the PATH beneath the core helps in winter, with the UP Express linking Pearson to Union Station. Beyond the centre the few subway lines and slow streetcars stretch thin, and reaching the zoo or the suburban food plazas takes a long ride.

Toronto offers more shopping. Bloor Street through Yorkville is the luxury stretch, the Eaton Centre and Yorkdale hold the big brands, and Queen West, Ossington and Kensington Market supply Canadian designers, vintage and secondhand finds.

Vancouver's Robson and Alberni streets cover chains and fashion houses on a smaller scale. Its strengths lie elsewhere: technical outdoor clothing and the athleisure labels born here, artists' studios on Granville Island, and Northwest Coast Indigenous prints and carvings, a better souvenir than anything Toronto sells as its own.

Neither is a cheap stay, but Toronto is the less punishing of the two. Its savings lie in the noodle shops, roti spots and food courts of the suburban plazas, a flat transit fare and free walks through the ravines and neighbourhood strips.

Vancouver has fewer cheap beds near the centre, and the paid attractions on the North Shore add up quickly for a family. Dim sum and casual sushi keep meals reasonable, Stanley Park and the beaches are free, and coming outside summer brings rooms down noticeably.

Toronto is the stage city of the pair. Long-running musicals fill the Royal Alexandra and the other big houses, the Four Seasons Centre hosts the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet of Canada, and Massey Hall and the clubs along Queen West and College put on live music most nights.

Vancouver's arts are solid but local, with the Symphony in the ornate 1927 Orpheum and opera and Ballet BC at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Its best moments come in summer, when Bard on the Beach plays Shakespeare against the mountains and the jazz and Jericho Beach folk festivals take over.

Vancouver is the easier place to slow down. The pace is calm, yoga is part of everyday life, and a slow walk on the seawall or through cedar forest is never far away, with massage and reflexology on offer in Chinatown and Richmond.

Toronto's everyday rhythm is busier, and unwinding means a hotel spa in Yorkville or a Korean-style bathhouse in the suburbs. Neither city has its own bathing tradition, and in both the outdoor Nordic spas need a drive out of town.