For all the surrounding bucket-list national parks and desertscapes, Salt Lake City is a destination that’s earned visiting rights of its own – and it brims with under-the-radar attractions that rival any gateway in the US.
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Why go to Salt Lake City?
The drama of Utah’s red rock canyons, sandstone buttes and hoodoo-filled national parks rightly draws the crowds, but the smart travel advice is to not rush off too soon on a road trip to Arches, Bryce Canyon, Monument Valley and Zion – the state’s most visited destinations. Instead, hip city culture, rare food and spirit-raising architecture is the reward for a few days in this lesser-visited state capital.
Indeed, not so very long ago most visitors to Salt Lake City tended to be pilgrims of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – Utah is famous for Mormons and Salt Lake City is home to the church’s global HQ, Temple Square. Nowadays, however, as well as preachers and evangelists, there’s a vibrant mix of outdoor types (mountain wonderlands Park City, Deer Valley, Snowbird and Sundance are all within easy reach), as well as Silicon Valley transplants (the city is now a bonafide tech hub – cue the nickname Silicon Slopes). 'Different by nature’ is the city’s slogan and it seems there’s enough of that to keep everyone happy.
Top things to do in Salt Lake City
Visit Temple Square
Park your preconceptions at the gates to the colossal Temple Square complex. Like the Vatican City in Rome, Temple Mount in Jerusalem or Mecca in Saudi Arabia, this divine precinct of sacred temples, tabernacles and assembly halls is a place for both daily ritual and symbolism. Here the sounds are of whispered prayers, free midday organ recitals and missionary sisters explaining the Mormon backstory to curious, sometimes baffled, visitors.
Regardless of your faith, it’s a terrific area to wander around and its real treasure is the bamboozling LDS Conference Center, a theatre-style auditorium that rewards all visitors with dazzling architecture.
Discover 9th and 9th
For all Temple Square’s buttoned-down appeal, Salt Lake City has another side and it can be discovered in the hip-shaking hipster-ville of the 9th and 9th district. Hanging out here is feel-good with a capital F and the neighbourhood brims with boutiques and a strip of restaurants, bars and ice cream parlours – the result is rainbow flags, vegan menus and locals with beards and sleeve tattoos.
From the Out of the Blue sculpture – a multicoloured humpback breaching out of a roundabout – to Liberty Park, the main drag leads visitors to packed outdoor tables and locals scoffing monstrous portions of Southern fried chicken and gelato. Among the places to single out are Salt and Honey Market, for only-in-Utah souvenirs, and East Liberty Tap House, for craft pours on the all-day patio.
Track down Utah’s state cuisine
If you think you know your way around an American menu, think again: this is one state where the usual norms don’t often apply. Instead of hot dogs and deep dish pizzas, foods here reveal plenty about the state’s history – like funeral potatoes, a fridge-raid gratin casserole synonymous with Mormons and made of crushed potatoes, cheese, onions, cream soup and sour cream (often cornflakes are sprinkled on top for texture).
For the backstory, the recipe was originally served to comfort grieving family members post-funeral as a symbol of compassion, but nowadays it’s equally popular as a comfort food staple. Try the Mormon Burger topped with funeral potatoes at Fat Jack’s Burger Emporium, or carb-load with the funeral potatoes baptised in hot oil at Garage on Beck.
Along the same lines is frog eye salad: a sweet pasta salad with cream, oranges, pineapple, coconut and marshmallows. It’s hardly what you’d expect from your usual downtown diner.
Read up on your family history
It turns out Salt Lake City is home to the largest on-site collection of genealogical data in the world – who knew? Which is to say the Family History Library is an unrivalled place to dig into your family background and getting lost for an hour or two here is an art form.
Best of all though, the service is free and open to everyone. The facility’s microfilms, books, serials, periodicals and electronic resources are managed by the Latter-day Saints, whose Temple Square is just round the corner. Still, a word of caution: you never know what you might find out.
See the city from on high
Of all the landmarks in Salt Lake City, Utah State Capitol is the one to save for later in the day. Self-guided tours of its Corinthian-style grand halls and chambers can be taken throughout the day, but the best time to visit is before the doors are locked around 6-8pm, a time when you can combine a trawl through state government history with a sucker-punch sunset from the gardens overlooking the downtown sprawl.
For a deeper dive, free and insightful tours take place every hour from 10am-3pm, Monday to Friday.
Where to stay in Salt Lake City
Americans love a hotel with a ghost story and The Peery Hotel is said to be haunted by a banshee-like apparition, who’s been heard moaning in the hallways and elevator. In truth, it’s more likely the creaky pipes, as this landmark property was first built more than 110 years ago. Here, both Prairie and Classical Revival styles whisk you back to the early 1900s.
Every US city has a dime-a-dozen downtown Hilton, but the Hilton Salt Lake City Center is an unlikely wonder worth bookmarking. For a kick off, it’s home to around 40,000 worker bees on the roof (with chefs using their hive-fresh honeycomb for breakfast and craft cocktails). Then, it’s where carnivores pig out at the city’s most celebrated steakhouse (Spencer’s). Finally, don’t miss the second-to-none views of the skyscraper-sliced skyline from the upper floor doubles and suites.
READ MORE: The best new hotel in every US state
Where to eat in Salt Lake City
While many travellers to the US tend to be in the grips of barbecue and burger fever, Salt Lake City has plenty of surprises in store. One of these is Eva’s Bakery, a little slice of Paris’ Saint-Germain-des-Prés brought to the Utah capital. Artisan breads are an art form here, as are stuffed French toasts, macarons and chocolate eclairs. The only snag? Don’t be surprised if you have to join the snaking queue out the door to get a table.
The 9th and 9th district offers a great snapshot of modern Salt Lake City and Pago, with its creative clientele and wild-to-table philosophy, is one of the hippest places in the city. The magic of its sustainable menu can be found in dishes like braised beets, house-made gnocchi and short rib stroganoff, but seasonality means it changes frequently throughout the year. This being America, it’s not all about the health kick, though, and rarely does Utah get more devilish than an upside-down peanut butter cheesecake. To stay close to downtown Salt Lake City, check out sister restaurant Pago on Main on South Main Street.
Need to know
Salt Lake City is a major hub on the Delta network, with the carrier recently extending its service and now operating non-stop flights from London Heathrow to the city year-round.
Alternatively, for a road trip that takes in the stirring national parks of Southern Utah first, Virgin Atlantic flies daily from London Heathrow to Las Vegas, Nevada – Salt Lake City is then a six-hour drive north.
Visit Utah is an excellent resource for planning a trip, and its official tourism portal gives highly recommended itinerary suggestions for exploring the city and wider region.
READ MORE: How to save money on multi-destination visits to the USA
Lead image: Sean Pavone/Shutterstock