Nashville vs Vancouver

Nashville is built for a weekend. On Lower Broadway, neon-lit honky-tonks have live bands playing from late morning until well past midnight, usually with no cover, and the next great songwriter might be on stage at noon. A block away, the Ryman Auditorium, the 'Mother Church of Country Music,' offers daytime tours and some of the best acoustics in the country at night. Walk the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge over the Cumberland River at sunset for the classic skyline view, and fuel up on Nashville hot chicken, fried crisp and dusted with cayenne at whatever heat level you dare. Weekend mornings belong to brunch: grab a table in walkable 12 South, laid-back East Nashville or the sleek Gulch, then wander their murals and boutiques. Stay longer to tour the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, catch a show at the Grand Ole Opry, sip wine at the Belle Meade Historic Site and spend a day in Franklin, a charming Civil War-era town 30 minutes south. Spring and fall bring mild weather and packed music calendars, but Music City delivers year-round as long as you book shows and hotels early.

Vancouver combines a dense, walkable downtown with mountains and ocean visible from nearly every street corner. Stanley Park's seawall, the North Shore mountains for skiing or hiking, and a food scene shaped by Pacific Rim influences make it consistently ranked among the world's most liveable cities, if also one of the more expensive.