Toronto or Winnipeg?

Neither city is a beach destination, and both give you only a short summer swimming season. Toronto's sand is right by downtown. Centre Island and Ward's Island are a short ferry ride away with the skyline behind you, and Woodbine Beach has a boardwalk in the east end.

Winnipeg's best beach is better looking. Grand Beach has white sand and dunes on Lake Winnipeg, but it is more than an hour away by car, and algae can spoil the water late in the season. Toronto's lake is the less reliable to swim in, because a change of wind can chill it overnight.

Toronto is the far richer place to eat. You can work through Chinatown on Spadina, the Danforth's Greek tavernas and the Korean places on Bloor, then head to the suburban plazas of Scarborough and Markham for some of the best Cantonese and Caribbean cooking in the country. It also has chef-driven restaurants and Ontario wine lists.

Winnipeg's table is narrower and homelier: perogies, cabbage rolls and farmer sausage from its Ukrainian and Mennonite settlers, honey dill sauce and late-night diners. It is good to try for a meal or two, but it is not the reason to choose the city.

The two cities are evenly matched, but their sights tell different stories. Toronto's strength is its big general museums, the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario with its Group of Seven paintings, set in a mostly modern city with little old fabric.

Winnipeg is more focused and more distinctive. It has the national human rights museum, a world-leading collection of Inuit art and the Exchange District, a whole quarter of grain-boom warehouses that has a stronger historic feel than anything in central Toronto. Each city needs two or three days.

Toronto has far more going on after dark. Each strip has its own character: wine and cocktail bars on Ossington, dressed-up clubs on King West, the gay village on Church Street and a looser crowd in Parkdale.

Winnipeg comes down to two areas, the Exchange District's craft-beer bars and Osborne Village's pubs, plus a few clubs. On a winter night it often means a single warm bar. Both cities are at their best on summer patios.

The two cities are fairly close here, with Toronto a little ahead because it has more within easy reach. Its wooded ravines along the Don and Humber run right through the city, the Scarborough Bluffs rise above the lake, and the Bruce Trail's waterfalls are about an hour away.

Winnipeg's outdoors is flatter and more seasonal. There are bison at FortWhyte Alive, migrating geese at Oak Hammock Marsh and the granite lakes of Whiteshell for canoeing. Its special season is winter, when skating trails open on the frozen rivers. In summer, expect a lot of mosquitoes.

Toronto has one excellent day out. You can see Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake with its wineries in a long day by train or car, and Stratford's Shakespeare season is about two hours away.

Winnipeg's choices are small and all need a car. You can visit the stone fur-trade post at Lower Fort Garry, the Icelandic fishing town of Gimli or the Mennonite village at Steinbach. They are pleasant but modest, and none is worth planning a trip around.

Toronto has more to keep children busy. There is the shark tunnel at the aquarium, the CN Tower's glass floor, a zoo big enough for a whole day, the little Centreville amusement park on Centre Island, and Canada's Wonderland's roller coasters within a short drive.

Winnipeg is smaller but easy going. The polar bears swimming overhead at the Assiniboine Park Zoo are the highlight, and the children's museum at The Forks is well done. In both cities winter pushes families indoors, and Winnipeg's colder months are harder going.

Toronto is much easier without a car. The flat downtown grid is walkable, the UP Express links the airport to Union Station, and the subway and red streetcars reach most neighbourhoods, though slowly. Under the core, the PATH keeps you out of the cold.

Winnipeg's compact centre has skywalks for the cold, but beyond it the city is built around the car and served only by buses. FortWhyte, the beaches and every day trip need a car, so most visitors end up hiring one.

Toronto offers much more. It has designer shopping along Bloor Street in Yorkville, the glass-roofed Eaton Centre, and independent designers and vintage on Queen West and Ossington. Kensington Market is good for a rummage.

Winnipeg has malls for everyday needs and a handful of independent shops in the Exchange District and Osborne Village. Its best purchase is Inuit and First Nations art from the specialist galleries. That is also the more meaningful thing to take home from Toronto.

Winnipeg is the easier city on your wallet, mainly because downtown rooms cost noticeably less than Toronto's. Toronto's hotels get especially expensive in summer and during the September film festival.

The gap narrows once you go out and about. Sit-down meals and bar drinks add up in both cities, because tax and tip come on top. Toronto's cheap suburban food courts and flat transit fare save money, while in Winnipeg the car hire or taxis you need to leave the centre cost extra.

Toronto is the bigger stage. Long-running musicals fill the Royal Alexandra, the Canadian Opera Company and National Ballet perform at the Four Seasons Centre, and Massey Hall and the Queen West clubs have live music most nights.

Winnipeg is impressive for its size. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is the country's oldest ballet company, and there is French-language theatre in St Boniface. In summer the Fringe takes over the Exchange District and the Folk Festival fills Birds Hill Park. On a short visit, though, Toronto gives you far more to choose from.

Winnipeg is the better place to slow down. Its large Nordic spa sits among trees within the city, and soaking in steaming outdoor pools in deep frost is one of the most memorable things to do here. The city's calm, uncrowded pace helps too.

Toronto has hotel spas around Yorkville and some Korean bathhouses in the suburbs, but for the outdoor hot-and-cold experience you have to drive into the countryside. In the city, a walk through the ravines or an afternoon on Ward's Island is the closest you get to rest.