What To Do During A Weekend Trip To Salt Lake City

While my weekend trip to Salt Lake City, Utah began as a last minute work trip to staff a Puppies & Ice Cream event at Hilton Salt Lake City Center (which was as cute and cuddly as it sounds!), it turned into so much more! This was my first time in Salt Lake City (SLC) and I was able to explore the best of the city, visit nearby Park City and catch up with a childhood friend I hadn’t seen in more than four years.

In case you ever find yourself in or close to SLC, here are my favorite things I did/top recommendations for your visit.

Attractions

Saturday morning, be sure to check out the farmers market in Pioneer Park. This was probably the biggest farmers market I’ve ever been to and it was so great; vendors ranged from arts/crafts, baked goods, fresh fruit and juices, food trucks, and even “old coots giving free advice” - my personal favorite.

For a few hours of outdoor/indoor shopping, check out City Creek Center, which boasts stores like Nordstrom, Free People, Anthropologie and more. There are even huge fishies in the man-made creek running throughout, which I thought were pretty entertaining to watch as they Nemo’d around.

Either before or after visiting City Creek Center, stroll through Temple Square to see the church the entire city was built around. Even if you aren’t religious or Mormon, the grounds are beautiful and it’s cool to see how in awe everyone there is of it’s significance. Just know, you may be approached by really nice missionaries while you’re there who will want to talk to you about the church.

Up the hill (a VERY steep hill at that) from Temple Square, you’ll find the Capitol. Go during sunset and you’ll be able to see the sky fill with pretty magical pink/orange hues over the city.

Hotel

I stayed at DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Salt Lake City Downtown (#client). Beyond it’s convenient location to downtown attractions (which I walked to directly from the hotel), since I was flying long distances to/from the east coast, the hotel’s big rooms with comfy beds and blackout shades were perfect for helping my body adjust to the time difference and rest after/before long days of travel.

Besides the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel, other popular hotels are The Grand America Hotel and Hilton Salt Lake City Center.

Transportation

Like I said, I walked to pretty much everything during my time in SLC which was great because of the beautiful weather with almost zero humidity. Uber and Lyft were also available, but my favorite transportation for the weekend was the electric scooters that recently took over the city! My friend and I rode them all around, visiting the Capitol, Temple Square and City Creek Center and of course, posing for #ScooterGang pictures along the way. Even though finding two scooters before other people scooped them up felt like the Utah version of the Hunger Games, it was so worth it and fun.

Dining

There were so many yummy restaurants in SLC, and my favorites were Gracie’s for American food, Blue Lemon in City Creek Center for beautiful/healthy options and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for a caramel apple dessert. I also loved the free dinner (everything tastes better when it’s free - am I right?!) I had at the end of my event, made at the to-die-for pasta station by the hotel’s chef.

Day Trips

If you have a rental car, want to ball out with Uber/Lyft or have a friend with a car in the area, definitely make time to visit Park City, which is about 40 minutes from SLC. A few people told me Park City was the Georgetown (in D.C.) of Utah, and after spending an afternoon there, I could definitely see that.

While I was there with my friend, we ate delicious Mexican food at Crystal Park Cantina and ice cream at Java Cow Cafe & Bakery before strolling through the adorable streets and stopping in boutique clothing shops. Although the exterior decor of the shops is definitely more mountain-themed than what’s found in D.C., the clothes were on par with the boujee things one would find in Georgetown - it took real effort for me not to drop my entire bank account on everything I saw!

Beyond shopping and food, Park City has awesome resorts that offer so many things to do in the winter and summer. Specifically, we went up to Park City Mountain Resort to listen to live music (played by a band of dads with longer hair than mine) and went down the mountain on an Alpine Slide. The Alpine Slide was basically a water slide with all the quick curves and turns, but without water and we were each on yellow sleds. This was definitely not something I’d ever known existed but I’m so glad I did it! Plus, the view from the gondola up to the top of the slide was unbeatable.

While I’m sad I only had a weekend to check out the city, I’m excited to hopefully come back one day! Maybe I’ll come during the winter for a totally new experience, but I’ll keep you posted. ;)